Aldi: Snackrite Ridged Cheese & Onion

The Aldi Snackrite range has always straddled the line between familiar and faintly uncanny — crisps that look like the ones you grew up with, but with branding that feels like it’s had the serial numbers filed off.

And in the case of the Ridged Cheese & Onion, you’re essentially getting a tribute act to McCoy’s, just with a few corners shaved off (not literally, the ridges are still very much there).

First impression

The bag does the job — bold green with a suggestion of flavour and not much else. It won’t win any awards for design, but that’s not why you’re here. You’re here for big crunch and nostalgic flavour. And in that respect, Aldi more or less delivers.

The texture is where these crisps shine. The ridges are deep and satisfyingly sharp, giving a really good crunch — the kind that leaves little bits between your teeth in a way that feels both annoying and reassuringly real. They’re not greasy either, which is a welcome surprise.

Not my flavourite

Flavour-wise, though, things get a bit less consistent. The cheese note is there, but it leans synthetic — more of a processed cheddar tang than anything artisanal. The onion is surprisingly sweet and slightly musty, almost like dried chives that didn’t get fully invited to the party.

There’s a fleeting moment where it works: you get that creamy-onion-y zing and think, “yep, solid.” But then the aftertaste creeps in — oddly stale, slightly dusty — and it pulls the experience down.

They’re not bad. In fact, for the price, they’re doing an admirable job mimicking a pricier product. But they lack the boldness, the depth, and that strange umami magic that the big brands seem to bottle so well.

Would I buy them again? Well probably only if the Aldi Specially Selected Ridges were’nt in stock. But even then more as a sandwich sidekick than a snack worth savouring.