Limited Edition Doritos Sour Cream & Onion and Salsa Rio Tortilla Chips

I’ve become quite accustomed to Doritos coming out with crazy new flavors. It’s kind of their thing; it’s what they do.

However, last year they went in the opposite direction and introduced a blast from the past: Taco Flavor Doritos. This flavor originated in 1967 and persisted at least into the late 1970s, but was eventually retired.

The re-introduction of the Taco Doritos was an instant hit. Originally packaged as a limited edition, Doritos almost immediately announced that they would be keeping it on store shelves, and to this day I still see that alluring retro bag as I walk down the chip aisle.

The Taco Doritos did not come without controversy, however. Billed as the original flavor, the comments section of my review blew up. Battle lines were drawn. Some loved them, said they tasted just like the original, and expressed nostalgia as they remembered eating them ask kids.

Others were not so pleased. “These taste nothing like the original!” They shouted angrily from the rooftops of their Internets. “There’s sour cream in these! There was no sour cream in the original Taco flavor!”

It was a tortilla chip nation divided. However, to Doritos, it was money in the bank. Going off the business model that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, they’ve recently released two new/old limited edition retro flavors: Sour Cream & Onion and Salsa Rio, complete with retro packaging. I swear, the packaging is the real allure. Even I cannot resist its siren song.

Sadly, like Taco Flavor Doritos, I never had the opportunity to try either of these flavors, so I’m flying blind as far as their authenticity when compared to the originals. And again, like the Taco Flavor, I ask you, the reader, to tell me in the comments section if they got it right or not. I am looking forward to it. Imagine I just said that in a Mr. Burns voice with my fingers steepled. Muahahahaha.

Limited Edition Doritos Sour Cream & Onion

Those who so hated the addition of sour cream to the Taco Doritos won’t have a leg to stand on here. Personally, I had some trepidations about this flavor. I don’t know why, but it just seems like sour cream and onion should stick to potato chips and leave the tortillas out of it.

It must just be me, though, because there’s an entire Facebook page devoted to bringing them back. Congratulations to the 511 people who Liked this page! You succeeded! Or it was just a coincidence. Either way, now your page is USELESS.

From what I can tell on the Internet, these were introduced in the late 70s and were discontinued in the early 80s. Because of this, I can legitimately say that I never had a chance to experience the original Sour Cream & Onion Doritos, unless I had an irresponsible mother who fed me Doritos as a baby. From what I know, that did not happen.

As a fun treat, I found this delightful old commercial for Sour Cream & Onion Doritos, wherein a Gene Shalit lookalike (I’m sure he gets lots of work) knocks over a table and causes a butler to faint with the power of Doritos crunch. You’re welcome.

Like the Taco flavor, I can tell from several websites even beyond Facebook that there are people passionate about these Doritos and they must all be over the moon that they’ve been re-released. I’m sorry that I can’t give you a comparison, but I can give you my opinion. And pictures of chips.

I’m happy to report that sour cream and onion isn’t weird at all on a tortilla chip. At least, not the way Doritos makes them. Unfortunately, they taste almost indistinguishable from Cool Ranch Doritos. Honestly, if I were blindfolded and forced to eat these chips, first of all, I’d be terrified and confused, and second, I would immediately guess Cool Ranch. If a gun were to my head, I would be dead. Over Doritos.

If I really stretch it, I guess there’s a little bit more of an onion flavor than in Cool Ranch. I was pleased to see some heavily powdered chips in the bunch. There’s something about seeing a Dorito loaded with little flavor bits that makes me happy. But…what’s that? Red? What’s red doing on a sour cream and onion chip? Is the onion red? Ah well, who cares. Slightly more oniony Cool Ranch. You could do worse.

Limited Edition Doritos Salsa Rio

There’s also a big following for Salsa Rio on the Internet. I should probably just stop mentioning that, because I’m beginning to think that every discontinued junk food has about 500 “BRING IT BACK” websites and petitions. Some of these people sound almost desperate. It’s creepy.

Salsa Rio apparently had a short run from the late 80s to early 90s, which means I technically could have tried the original, but I was still young enough that I have the excuse that I had no idea they existed. My dad did all the shopping, and once I expressed an interest in a certain junk food, he would always make sure I had it. Forever. I think it took me three years to get him to realize I was tired of Cool Ranch. God bless him for trying.

I have no awesome Gene Shalit-related videos for Salsa Rio, but I like the fatass tomato on the front of the bag and the name itself. Salsa Rio. River of Salsa. It evokes Willy Wonka-esque visions in my mind of salsa rivers running through fields of flowers made of tortilla chips. The grass is luscious, fragrant cilantro. There’s wallpaper that tastes like onions and garlic when you lick it.

I should probably just stop there.

Man, these chips look muy caliente! This bright red is usually reserved for something like a Tapatio or Flamin’ variety of chip. What really hits you first, though, is the tomato flavor. That may not sound appealing, but there was a strong backup team of onion, garlic, and a variety of spices that I couldn’t identify but knew were participating.

There actually is a bit of heat, although nowhere near the mouth-blistering heat that the eye-searing color might indicate. There’s no substitute for a real, quality salsa, but Salsa Rio does its best to replicate it in powder form. All the flavors blended really nicely, and I found myself reaching into the bag more than I thought I would.

There’s nothing wrong with Limited Edition Doritos Sour Cream & Onion; I just can’t get over how similar they taste to Cool Ranch Doritos. Maybe it was those three years it took to convince my dad to buy a different flavor of Doritos for me, but my mouth got bored with Sour Cream & Onion pretty quickly. I’m sure the bag won’t go to waste, but they just didn’t bring anything new to the table.

There are many flavors of Doritos that I haven’t had in a few years, but I found Limited Edition Doritos Salsa Rio to be a refreshing change of pace from the usual recycled flavors that Doritos spits out. The flavors were bold, the powder was plentiful, and all the different salsa-like elements worked well together. That little kick of heat was like icing on the cake.

Sour Cream & Onion could remain limited and I wouldn’t mind that, but I’d actually like to see Doritos go the Taco Flavor route and keep Salsa Rio around. At least until my Junk Food Betty and the Salsa Factory fantasy comes true.

Limited Edition Doritos Sour Cream & Onion and Salsa Rio Tortilla Chips

  • Score (Sour Cream & Onion): 3 out of 5 Cool Ranch rip-offs
  • Score (Salsa Rio): 4.5 out of 5 giant tomatoes
  • Price: $4.29
  • Size: 11 oz. bag
  • Purchased at: Fry’s Foods
  • Nutritional Quirks: Despite neither Sour Cream & Onion or Salsa Rio having cheese as detectible flavors, both list cheddar and Romano cheeses as key ingredients.  Doritos makes lactose intolerant consumers sad.

27 thoughts on “Limited Edition Doritos Sour Cream & Onion and Salsa Rio Tortilla Chips”

  1. I beg to differ. Sour cream and onion doritos came out long before cool ranch, so cool ranch is a rip off of sour cream and onion. I loved the sour cream and onion as a kid till it was discounted. I have been having cool ranch now, but it just isn’t the same. I have had some of the retro sour cream, but it doesn’t taste the same as the ones I had as a kid.

    1. I agree with you. Cool ranch does not come close to the sour cream & onion Doritos. They really need to bring them back. A lot of people I spoke to never tried the sour cream & onions Doritos. They would love to try them.

      1. Hello, I was sitting here this evening when I decided to see if I could find any info on the orginal Doritos sour cream and onion chips. And was amazed at how many people were talking about these chips. And I don’t know what happened but I totally spaced the reintroduction of these chips. I am so saddened by that. I just wanted to say that I totally agree in wanting them back. Do you know if there is a current blog or petition to sign to get Doritos to bring them back. Any info would be appreciated. I am 61 years old and still remember being in love with them chips. Nothing like a night watching movies having friends over and a couple bags of those chips and ice cold pespi or coke in them 16 oz glass bottles. O’my those were the bomb. It is so refreshing to read the stories and comments people are saying about them. Thanks for .making me so happy this evening. And yes I now have a glimmer of hope and confidence that they will bring them back.
        Tim

    2. I totally agree. I lived on those 25¢ bags for Doritos in the 70s as a kid and sour cream and onion were awesome. I thought I was so mature and like a sophisticated young kid eating my sour cream and onion Doritos in front of other 9-11 year old kids because anything with onion in it even in the title scared the pants out of most kids then (and now too I imagine). I would pay a premium to have these sour cream and onion Doritos back on the shelves. The cool ranch flavor is not the same and has too much salt or salt flavor on the tongue. Sour cream and onion had the right combination and flavor profile that you could not get tired of eating. I will write Frito lay and maybe they can sell these on line direct to customers if their concerned about limited shelf space. But if I were Frito lay I would dump some of those odd ball flavors like sweet chili and add back sour cream and onion.

  2. That burly, mustachioed man in the old commercial is the late comic actor Avery Schreiber, who was the Doritos pitchman back in the ’70s (I mostly remember the commercial in which the Doritos crunching causes a pool player to rip the pool table felt with the cue), in addition to all his other TV appearances – including “The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour”. So yes, he did get a lot of work back then.

    Even to this day I can’t see Gene Shalit without thinking of Avery Schreiber.

  3. Hey, thanks Adam! I probably would have never found that out on my own. I will file that away in my “facts that I may need if I’m on Jeopardy” file. (It’s a big file.)

  4. I grew up in the era with sour cream and onion doritos, they were my favorite and I would like to see them come back on the shelves in the stores in Maryland. I’ve been talking about them forever.

  5. I was a very disapointed child when the stopped making the sour cream and onion doritos. I have yet to find them since bringing them back:0(… Are they still available and if so where they heck are they sold!?

  6. I really wish you would bring back the sour cream and onion doritos back the y are the best sour cream and onion chips i have ever had

  7. Hello! I want to know is the salsa rio doritos comming back for good? And if not, where can i find them on-line? Those are some really good chips.

  8. I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOUR CREAM AND ONION DORITOS HIT THE SHELVES AGAIN BECAUSE I ALSO GREW ON THEM N THEY ARE DELICIOUS

  9. I am so happy so that at my local store,you would’nt belive how much I talk abofut those chips to my childern! “I say those chips yall eat now days are’nt any compared to SOURCREAM AND ONION DORITOS! THANKS FOR LETTING US ENJOY !

  10. SC&O Doritos are better than Cool Ranch, which is a derivative of the original SC&O variety. I hope Frito-Lay realizes this and moves SC&O back to permanent status.

  11. hope you continue to make and supply us endlessly with the sour cream onion flavor so so happy to see that flavor has returned and also loving the taco flavor!!!please continue to make these flavors.These are my two happy flavors!!!love love them!!!Thank you for bringing them back.

  12. The reviewer said he’d be dead if they put a gun to his head in a “blindfold test” between Cool Ranch and Sour Cream and Onion Doritioes. I say find someone with better taste buds, as there is really no comparison between the two: Sour Cream and Onion takes the cake! The flavor is so much BETTER than Ranch (and I do like Ranch), and clearly defined as a distinctive flavor, that I’d actually beg them to pull the trigger if I could not tell the difference between the two! Don’t worry, the trigger would NEVER be pulled, as the distinctive taste is obvious, and should be to anyone even a half a slobber short of brain dead in the taste section of their mind. Why they made taco flavor permanent over Sour Cream and Onion escapes my logic. In the Sour Cream and Onion trial on the shelves of our local stores they flew off, then disappeared. If they sold so good, why did they not become permanent as did the Taco variety, which to me is as crazy as having “Toasted Corn” on the roster of flavors…sheesh. Well, perhaps not quite, but I hope everyone gets my point…lol. I really hope they make them permanent. As a side note, I like the little rolly polly balls of flavoring that you find at the bottom of the bag in the Sour Cream and Onion variety. And, for the record, being a Doritoes connoisseur (I’m now 47 years old) all my life, they are just as good as I recall as a kid. I still remember the last time I pedaled my bike to the store to get a bag, and they were gone…that was in the mid to late eighties I believe. What a letdown. I lamented that until my brother Roger called and said they were back on the shelves as a Limited Edition. But now they are gone again. Fiendish on the part of Frito Lay! But perhaps a saint at the company will see the light and bring them back for good!

  13. Sour cream and onion doritos was my favorite. Eat those chips with a Nugrape soda and a chocolate bubble Yum bubble gum, it was just great to me.

  14. WHY DID DORITOS STOP MAKEING SOUR CREAM & ONION CHIPS I WOULD LIKE THEM TO COME BACK I LIVE IN TEXAS I LOVE SOUR CREAM & ONION CHIPS I WOULDLIKE THEM TO COME BACK PLACE

  15. I’m a product o f the 70/80s and would love to see the sour cream and onion brought back. Absolutely the best

  16. Salsa Rio was my favorite in the variety pack. I was in elementary school circa 1991 and my mom would pack one 25 cent size bag in my hard plastic Batman lunch box. The bag had a drawing of a sliced onion amongst other ingredients on the label. I tried Salsa Verde recently, mistaking the name, but it wasn’t the same thing. I’d love to try Salsa Rio again!

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