Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch Doritos Review

Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch Doritos?? According to my friend Marvo, these existed in 2006 and then 2012, and there’s a Facebook Group dedicated to the return of these chips that has existed since 2013… but I only have a vague memory of them. The bag looks familiar.

Man – I feel like it’s been a while since they’ve trotted out a new Doritos flavor / brought a flavor back. They’ve added more Dinamitas flavors, rolled out Doritos Mix, tried to expand the JACKED line, but a new or refreshed flavor for the regular chip line? I feel like I hasn’t seen a new flavor since Doritos Roulette – which came out in May of 2015, over 1.5 years ago. TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH, DORITOS.

The last time Doritos had a buffalo flavor, it was one in the JACKED line of goods – and they were not…great. I’m a buffalo flavor fan; being from Upstate NY, I’m a purist. I typically don’t dip my wings in ANYTHING, preferring to get that Frank’s Red Hot flavor directly into my veins. “Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch Doritos” indicates that, like the JACKED version, there’s gonna be a lot of creaminess involved. Hm.

I opened the bag of Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch Doritos and inhaled – my nostrils didn’t sting like when I inhale Frank’s, but there was a tanginess I smelled. I smelled plenty of herb/spices too – these smelled like Cool Ranch Doritos, sort of, with something else involved.

When I first munch a bunch of these Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch Doritos, my immediate impression was SPICY COOL RANCH DORITOS. I wasn’t getting enough Buffalo flavor at all. There was definitely a spicy kick at the end, and the more I ate, the more the overall tanginess of the chip came through – but despite the tang, I was missing that distinct Buffalo vinegar and cayenne pepper flavor.

However, these definitely tasted good. I tried to rationalize it by saying that this is exactly what a Buffalo Wing dipped in ranch tastes like – like the Buffalo flavor had been muted by the creaminess of the ranch. So, in that sense, these weren’t too “off” from the flavor profile – and, again, they were tasty tasty overall.

After a few hours, I made a second go of these Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch Doritos – this time around, I definitely sensed a bit more Buffalo flavor. I was able to imagine a Buffalo sauce mixed with a Ranch dressing, resulting in the flavor I tasted. More and more, I could taste the flavor profile Doritos was seeking. I think for me, personally, I am just so used to eating Buffalo Wings alone with no additional creaminess that these threw me off a little.

Stepping back, I thought these were still very tasty. Easy to eat, and just the right amount of heat. I’m glad these are back.