Old Dutch Pretzel Bites – Jalapeno Ranch

I’m not shy about being clear about my disdain for plain old pretzels. I love pretzel buns, big soft pretzels, and flavoured pretzel pieces. But the standard packaged snack of pretzel sticks or knots is just not for me. It feels like filler in party mixes and used to pad out the weight. I do however love myself some pretzel bites, the most prominent brand being Snyder’s. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that I have disdain for the plain, boring packaged pretzels, and like most other forms of it.

I was excited to see an established brand like Old Dutch do a take on pretzel bites. Excited and a bit wary because other brands have tried, but none have really captured my heart the same way that Snyder’s has. I imagine I’m not the only one as they are the only brand still around after all this time. But as the old saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So here we are.

These smell very strong of ranch with some sort of hint of something else. It has an almost banana quality to it, which is usually jalapeno in my experience. They look quite big and are quite uneven in how they were broken, so you end up with some really big pieces, and some tiny ones.

These are hard. Like hard tack level hard. If you have anything loose in your jar or have weaker teeth, you might want to avoid these. If however, you enjoy a good jaw work out and the thrill of potentially chipping something, then these are for you. Unlike the usual Snyder pretzel pieces I’m used to, these really do look and feel like the made a giant pretzel, and broke it into pieces. I’m finding a lot of pretty big, sizeable pieces where the dough is folded over itself.

The flavour of these is not exactly ranch. The jalapeno part is very noticeable, very forward and the burn is strong. The ranch flavour is not really that present, and I would describe it more as just being salty. Salty in the same way as a typical pretzel, with the big grains of salt you end up munching on. There is a bit of savoury, almost tangy flavour which is reminiscent of something dairy, but I’m not sure I would consider it ranch. These taste good though, despite being on the salty side. I mean, if you like normal pretzels, these are a lot like that bit with a kick to them.

While I do feel a bit deceived by the lack of ranch flavour, these have a decent enough flavour that I enjoy them and would get again. If like me you enjoy a challenge when eating a hard snack, these are definitely for you.