If I had to list my Top 3 favourite food groups, it would probably go something like Number 3: Eggs, Number 2: Rice and Number 1: Potato. I love the humble potato in all the many forms it comes in, mashed, crisps, baked and of course in chip form too. If I had to pick a meal off a menu, I’m pretty fine so as long as there are some chips on the side.
So, my authority on the issue now established, you will see now why it only seemed right that I take the lead on reviewing these chunky chips from Lidl. At £2.50 in the frozen section, these chips are comparable in price to brands such as McCain and some supermarket own brands. Most chips from Lidl come under the £1 mark so at double the price, I was expecting a big differece in quality and taste.
These chips are labelled as chunky and they really weren’t exaggerating. They’re probably the chunkiest chips I’ve ever bought from a shop before, almost the size of a small potato itself. I underestimated their girth the first time I made them and filled a whole tray with a layer of chips to cook in the oven. It turned out to be too much though and we struggled to finish the lot, even me the self proclaimed potato lover. So on subsequent times, we have literally put two or three chips per person to go as a side to whatever main we were having for our meal.
Due to their size, they took a very long time in the oven to cook fully and go nicely crisp and golden, which isn’t great if you’re after a quick chuck in the oven meal. When cooked through until golden and crisp, they taste great with a sprinkle of salt and is nice and fluffy on the inside.
On to taste, they were nice, but nothing really outstanding enough to warrant the deluxe label or the doubled price. If I’m honest, I have enjoyed Lidl’s cheaper chips and fries a bit more. I like a good fat chip that you get from the fish and chip’s shop, but there’s a difference when they’re not deep-fried. I found them to be a bit overwhelming unless eaten in very small quantity, to the point that it was a little bit claggy and making my throat go dry. I am not quite sure if such chunky chips are suited to oven baking and perhaps they would have tasted more deluxe if they were for a fancy twice or thrice fried method.
We have a little bit of the bag left in the freezer which I’m sure we will be finishing soon but I don’t really see us buying these again any time soon and would probably just stick to Lidl’s standard range which are cheaper and taste better in my opinion.
Lidl Deluxe Maris Piper Chunky Oven Chips
£2.50
Pros
- Fluffy
- Crispy
Cons
- Too chunky
- Dry and claggy
- Takes a long time to cook
Welcome to Mr and Mrs Reviews. Run by Imran and Abida, we are a husband and wife duo reviewing a range of food, lifestyle and parenting products.
That is expensive. They’re £1.99 about £1.33 per kg when I bought them
Lovely big chips for the price per kg they’re not bad value
I usually buy aunt bessies homestyle for £1 800g so works out similar price. Also I fry mine so can’t say much for oven but given size I’m sure they take a lot longer to cook than it says on the packet just like many roast potatoes.
Thanks for the comment Matt. Yes, we felt it was a bit on the pricy side for Lidl.
And deep fried Homestyle chips sounds indulgent and delicious!
You’re supposed to cook them before you eat them. By the looks of that photo they’re barely warmed. They should be a deep golden brown and best deep fried.
Hi James, as they said oven chips on the packet we thought they would be fine being oven cooked. I think our editing has bleached the lighting a bit but also we were so hungry and it was taking so long for them to cook!
Wow. I was so surprised with your negative review. These are incredible chips. Super chunky, very moist and crispy on the outside. Simply turn oven on max and bung in for 20mins. These are far from ‘dry and claggy’ they steam when you bite in! The maris piper really lends itself to an overn chip and really tasty…plus reletively low in fat. Im so happy a supermarket has done this type of chip! Very odd you give it a bad rap! Oh well we all have different tastes but I think these are utterly superb for oven chips!
You don’t actually say and it doesn’t show what weight they are (I’ll assume it’s 1kg coz somebody else mentions that weight) so you’re right it is expensive. I’m not a chip fiend so I can normally restrict myself to wait until I can get a good deal. (Best I’ve managed is Aunt Bessies 1.5kg for £1.50) They’re also pretty big but cook ok following the instructions. Anyway keep up the good work Missus lol
We have these every week and yes they take longer to cook but are lovely to eat. The last 4 bags we have brought for some reason have 60% Chunkey & 40% frech fries which we thought might have been a supply issue. Has anyone else had this problem. Lidl are looking into it for us.
Hi Paul thanks for the comment. We have not shopped at Lidl in a long time now due to lockdown but I am definitely thinking to give these another go after reading some of the comments here. We have an airfryer now so may try in that.
– Mrs Reviews