Savoury Snacks – Tried and Tasted

By WLR's Jenny Fletcher

Not of all of us are sweet-toothed when it comes to snacking, and when that mid-morning hunger hits some of us crave a savoury snack of our favourite crisps rather than a chocolate treat.

But whilst those crisps might taste delicious, they’re high in calories and fat and could break the calorie bank!

But don’t let your penchant for savoury snacks get you down. The Tried and Tasted Team have come to the rescue! They’re here to plough through those piles of unappetising healthy snack foods to find the delicious gems that will leave you feeling satisfied and saintly!

This week we have been on the hunt for a delicious low fat snack, 110 calories and under, that’s quick and easy, and will fill you up when you’re feeling a bit peckish and on-the-go. As usual the Tried and Tasted team have tasted it all, and with their exacting standards you can feel safe in the knowledge that you’re always getting the best! So take a look and see which low fat snack they recommend to get you through the day.

Our Taste Team rated all the savoury snacks out of 5 and they have been ranked in order according to their score.

Table 1: Low Fat Savoury Snacks Compared

Product Name	Morrisons Salt and Vinegar Rice Cakes	Sainsbury’s Be Good to Yourself Cheese & Red Onion Soya & Potato Snacks	Weight Watchers Nacho Cheese Flavoured Tortillas
Ranking	1	2	3
Appearance	Let’s face it, rice cakes never look that appealing and these were no different. A bit anaemic with some strange yellow bits in! But we gave them the benefit of the doubt and ate them anyway!	These rice cakes actually looked quite good, as far as rice cakes go. They looked like they would be packed full of flavour and even a bit spicy. We were intrigued!	They looked just like mini-Doritos! Yum!
Smell	We definitely got a whiff of salt and vinegar which was surprising as most of these savoury snacks smelled of nothing.	Uh oh – a bit cheesy. Perhaps not as intriguing and exotic as we first thought!	Another cheesy one – or maybe one of the Taste Team had stinky feet!
Taste	Zingy! The salt and vinegar flavour was strong but we loved it! This low fat snack was definitely moreish and those pesky Tasters hung around for seconds!	Cheesy! We were a bit disappointed as we were expecting something different from this low fat snack, but in the end the cheese was pretty good. A slightly synthetic after taste but we liked that there was plenty of flavour and the packet was quickly finished which is always a good sign.	‘Surprisingly nice’ was the general verdict. We liked the cheese and they did taste like real nachos, not a low fat alternative snack. Again the cheese was slightly artificial but overall they were tasty!
Filling/Satisfying?	Unless you eat a lot, rice cakes are never going to fill you up completely, but these ones weren’t bad. You seem to get a good bagful compared to some of the other offerings (see Weight Watchers’ low fat snack for our portion size shocker!)	Quite thin and airy (as you might expect from a low fat snack), and much less substantial than Morrison’s rice cakes, so you didn’t get the same satisfaction when eating them. Having said that, they have a great crunch and didn’t seem stodgy or sticky.	The serving size is very, very small compared to the other savoury snacks, so you might struggle to find yourself full after eating them. Unsurprisingly, 18g of Nachos doesn’t amount to much!
Texture/ Consistency	Light and airy with a good crunch. They were fairly thick so you felt like you were eating a really good snack rather than low fat airy nothingness!	Crunchy and light! Yum.	Good crunch and nice and light.
Conclusion	A surprise victory for Morrisons who championed over all the other savoury snacks. We loved that there was plenty of flavour and you definitely felt you were getting a good snack. These rice cakes are third highest in calories and fat, but they’re still not bad for a savoury snack and come with a good serving size. We loved them!	Although we were a bit unsure at first, these rice cakes won us over with their delicious cheesiness! Good flavour and a nice crunch. A bit different to your usual rice cake so you won’t get bored. They’re fairly easy on the calories but watch out for the higher fat content. Overall a good healthy snack food option.	These nachos were definitely better than we were expecting. The texture and flavour was good but the serving size really let Weight Watchers down. At only 18g for a packet, they’re bound to be the lowest in calories but 18g of nachos is unlikely to fill you up. The Tasters were even more shocked when they discovered that this tiny 18g portion contained 2.9g of fat, the highest out of all the products tasted! This is not a good low fat snack option! Best look elsewhere!
Serving Size	1 bag – 30g	1 bag – 25g	1 bag – 18g
Calories	122	97	83
Fat	2.6g	2.2g	3.3g
Price	£0.39	£0.36	£0.40

Table 2: More Low Fat Savoury Snacks Compared

Product Name	Ryvita Minis Salt and Vinegar	Boots Shapers Sour Cream and Chive Mini Pretzels	Marmite Breadsticks
Ranking	4	5	6
Appearance	Like Ryvita – but smaller! We all know Ryvita looks like cardboard – there’s no escaping it! These savoury snacks will need to taste pretty great to counter their appearance!	Well . . . it’s a pretzel. We can’t think of much more to say about it than that!	They didn’t look great – like mini breadsticks which had been burned! Not a good start!
Smell	Yes, it smells like cardboard too!	No smell! (Maybe the Taster with the smelly feet had left by then).	Nope!
Taste	This snack divided opinion amongst the Tasters (who are very opinionated!) Some loved it, but some just couldn’t get the Ryvita preconceptions out of their heads. It has a yummy salt and vinegar flavour, but a few Tasters were put off by that typical ‘Ryvita taste.’	These didn’t really taste of anything. We detected a slight hint of cheese but it wasn’t great – the kind that tastes artificial and unhealthy. These didn’t seem like a nice healthy snack food for us to munch.	Everyone thought these breadsticks tasted burnt! No one detected the Marmitey taste, and when told that this was the secret ingredient, everyone agreed there needed to be much more Marmite! The Taste Team were very disappointed that the Marmite flavour we all love (or hate) had not been captured. A bit of a let-down in our low fat snack search.
Filling/Satisfying?	These tasted like good, healthy snack food and were substantial. We felt that they would fill you up pretty well! For some Tasters this low fat snack would fill them up all day (because the chewy Ryvita got stuck to their teeth!)	You get quite a few in a pack, but they are very boring, so you probably won’t bother finishing them.	The serving size is good so a bag would probably fill you up. However they are a bit bland, so you might need a dip to liven them up!
Texture/ Consistency	Chunky and crunchy, but a bit indigestible.	Crunchy but dry – let’s face it, everything about these pretzels was pretty boring!	Like a breadstick – bready and sticky!
Conclusion	Whether you like these savoury snacks or not really depends on what you think of Ryvita. If you’re already a fan then you’ll definitely like their mini flavoured versions, but if you’ve never liked Ryvita’s overwhelming cardboardiness, then these are not the snacks for you! They came joint fourth in the opinion of our Tasters, but as they’re great as a reduced calorie and low fat snack they might be worth a try if you’re a Ryvita-lover.	In conclusion, we were thoroughly bored by this savoury snack! It looked boring, tasted boring, smelled boring, and we got bored before we finished the pack! But they’re low in calories and fat and if you’re desperate they would probably fill you up for a bit, so it’s not all bad!	We wanted more Marmite! If you love Marmite you’ll be disappointed that these breadsticks don’t actually taste of it. If you hate Marmite, well, you were never going to love these anyway! They don’t make a great low fat snack on their own, and are at the high end for calories and fat. We were disappointed!
Serving Size	1 bag – 30g	1 bag – 25g	1 bag – 30g
Calories	113	93	116
Fat	2.3g	0.7g	1.6g
Price	£0.45	£0.40	£0.39

Table 3 : More Low Fat Savoury Snacks Compared

Product Name	Snack a Jacks Sour Cream and Chive
Ranking	7
Appearance	Anaemic and pale as you would expect.
Smell	A bit cheesy!
Taste	Although one Taster (a true Snack a Jacks fan) loved these, everyone else was left feeling slightly sick! We just couldn’t work them out! They tasted cheesy but with a sweet aftertaste as well! They seemed to be a mixture of sweet and savoury – it just wasn’t right.
Filling/Satisfying?	You get a big serving and they are fairly chunky and substantial. If you can stomach them then they’d make a filling savoury snack.
Texture/ Consistency	Light and airy – as you’d expect!
Conclusion	It was a real surprise that this market leader came in last! We’re not sure if it was just the flavour choice, but a sweet/cheesy combination just doesn’t work! Okay for calories and fat, but we think you’d be far better with Morrisons version.
Serving Size	1 bag – 26g
Calories	107
Fat	2g
Price	£0.45

Morrisons scored a victory with their delicious Salt and Vinegar rice cakes. We loved them! In fact, overall we were fairly impressed with the low fat snack round – we think we found some excellent options that are quick and easy and will fill you up until lunch time! You won’t be reaching for the crisps with these delicious savoury snack options! So eat up and enjoy – but don’t forget to log them!

Remember, if you’re looking for healthy snack food, WLR can help! We have plenty of snack ideas and meal plans which will help you feel full throughout the day! Try it free for 24 hours!