Burts Lentil Waves Review: Big On Flavour

A pile of 6 packets of Burts Lentil Waves

If like me you are an absolute snack fiend, it’s always a relief when a product comes along that is just that little bit healthier. Of course in an ideal world we’d all be eating fruit or carrot sticks for our mid morning snacks or as part of our lunches, but come on let’s get real here for a moment, sometimes we want something a bit less virtuous.

I get sent a LOT of food to review, and in most cases I think “yeah they’re nice and everything, but I’m not sure I’d buy them again”, however these new lentil based crisps are definitely going to be added to my weekly shopping list, ‘cos they is mighty fine!

Burts Lentil Waves are being billed as a tasty and better for you alternative to the bog standard potato based crisp. Indeed if you look at the nutritional info, the calories per pack are roughly 50-100 calories less than your average bag of crisps. How they manage to convert lentils into crisps I have absolutely no idea, but what I can tell you is that they are light, flavoursome and pack a right old crunch!

Available in three flavours – Sour Cream & Chive, Thai Sweet Chilli and Lightly Salted you are guaranteed to find a flavour to suit every family member. Which is good news as it means there will never be some rogue flavoured packet left festering at the end of a multipack because nobody wants to eat it!

Here’s what I thought when I gobbled my way through the flavours – well, someone’s gotta do it 😉

Thai Sweet Chilli

In my eyes you can’t get much better than a sweet chilli crisp (although maybe prawn cocktail I do love a prawn cocktail crisp 😉 ), as there’s just something so delicious about the combination of sweet yet spicy – it’s probs my sweet tooth talking! These do not disappoint. Just the right side of spicy for my liking, with a heat that grows as you get through the bag, leaving you with a warming satisfied sensation when you suddenly realise you’ve polished off the whole packet. Pep up your packed lunch with a spicy chicken wrap and some of these bad boys on the side and suddenly lunchtime just got way more interesting.

Sour Cream & Chive

Smooth, crunchy, slightly sweet (yes there is sugar in them I’m afraid!), if I’m being completely honest I found these ones a bit much after a while. But hey I did say there is a flavour for everyone and well this one just ain’t for me. Don’t let that put you off however, because if strong flavours are your thing then you can’t get much stronger than this. Cool, creamy, all kinds of chivey oniony, try them crushed up and sprinkled over a bowl of tomato soup, liven up your salad… or you could just eat them from the bag of course 😉

Lightly Salted

Whereas the other two varieties are ALL about the flavour, these lightly salted ones are just about as plain as you can get. So of course you could enjoy them on their own, if you’re a flavour dodger like my 8 year old daughter, or you could tart them up a bit and go dip crazy. The perfect partner to hummus, baba ganoush and amazing with guacamole, lightly salted Lentil Waves are for people who know what they like and like what they know. For me the biggest selling point of this flavour however is the fact that they are made from just 5 ingredients – lentil flour, potato starch, pre-cooked potato starch, salt and sunflower oil. That’s pretty incredible by today’s standards.

Burts Lentil Waves are all GM free, less than 99 calories per bag, free from MSG, hydrogenated fat, artificial flavourings and colourings, suitable for vegetarians and both the Lightly Salted and Thai Sweet Chilli flavours are also suitable for vegans.

But there’s one thing I haven’t talked about yet, and it’s something which is a massive deal with these crisps, and that is the CRUNCH!

According to small and taste researcher Alan Hirsch:

“Humans love crunchy, noisy snacks, that loud rattling that travels to our inner ear via air and bone conduction and helps us identify what it is we’re consuming. Depending on the snack, the noise can reach 63 decibels (to give you a comparison, normal conversations are around 60 dB and the sound of rustling leaves is roughly 20 dB.) The noise draws attention to the mouth in the way something silent does not. If you’re eating pâté, your attention can drift elsewhere, to a television or to a dining companion. But a crunch will draw your attention to what you’re eating, making you concentrate on it. Noisy foods make you think about them.”

So you see, crunchy foods really do matter; it makes us eat more mindfully, something we’re being told to do all the time. And the way I translate that is, basically we’re being told to eat crisps – although healthier ones like these obviously 😉

Tasty, with a satisfying crunch and a fab fun curly wurly appearance which will deffo make them appeal to kids, Burts Lentil Waves were a big hit in my house and I’ll be buying them again for sure.

Burts Lentil Waves are available as single bags and as multipacks from local retailers and Waitrose with prices ranging from 99p up to £1.80.

*product gifted for review

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