Baked Blue Corn Chips with Flaxseed from Garden of Eatin

Okay, despite trying to stay away from processed grains, it’s hard to resist eating tortilla chips every now and then.

In the past,  most health-conscious people reserved corn chips for ”cheat days” or special occasions. Loaded with high-glycemic carbs, fat and sodium, corn chips generally aren’t considered a “health food.”

However, with the new crop of baked chips that have hit the market over the past few years, it’s become possible to find corn chips that not only taste good, but can be part of a healthy diet.

That doesn’t mean all baked corn chips are created equal, or even taste particularly good. I’ve had plenty of baked corn and potato chips that ranked only slightly above paperboard on the taste and texture scale. And many baked chips are simply too fragile to hold up to a thick dip.

Garden of Eatin Baked Blue Corn Chips: Finally A Healthy Corn Chip!

So imagine my surprise when I took a chance on a new brand of baked corn chips and discovered probably the tastiest non-fried tortilla chip that ever found its way to a bowl of fresh salsa: Garden of Eatin Baked Blue Corn Chips Tortilla Chips.

There are a couple of things I really like about these corn chips.

First, they are certified USDA organic. While that alone wouldn’t make up for a bad tasting baked chip, it’s definitely a plus (I especially like the fact that they are made without any genetically-engineered grains.)

The chips also are made with organic blue corn, organic brown flaxseed and organic soy grits, which not only ups the protein a bit on these chips, but it also provides 300 mg of Omega-3 per serving (a vegetarian source of the healthy Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil.)

The use of blue corn also provides some of the same compounds (namely anthocyanins) that make blueberries antioxidant powerhouses.

Of course, the fact that Garden of Eatin Bake Blue Chips have 50% less fat (and zero trans fat) than regular, fried tortilla chips — but still taste fantastic — is what should really get healthy eaters excited.  The 3 grams of dietary fiber also doesn’t hurt.

The chips themselves are light and crispy and hold up fairly well to even thick dips – provided you are gentle when you scoop up that (healthy version) of Mexican Cheese Dip. You should have no issues with chips breaking with salsa.

The bag of Garden of Eatin baked flaxseed corn chips I bought were a bit saltier than I’m used to, but it may have just been this particular bag (the nutritional information on the bag indicates that a 1 oz serving has 120 mg of sodium.)

Baked Corn Chips That Taste Good?

I ran these chips past the taste-buds of a couple very choosy (and difficult to impress) fried tortilla chip fanatics and before I knew it, the bag was nearly empty. A pretty good testimonial, I’d say, considering that at least one of them wouldn’t hesitate to spit out a half-chewed baked corn chip if it didn’t pass her exacting standards. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and everyone agreed they’d buy these corn chips.

Baked Chips That Are So Good You’ll Want To Eat the Whole Bag, But Don’t!

While these chips are clearly more healthy than a fried corn chip, it’s still important not to go overboard. Like most snack foods, the chips are made with processed grain flours, which means the carbohydrates in the corn chips are still the simple kind, which you want to try to minimize in any healthy diet.  The addition of the flaxseed increases the fiber content of these chips, which will reduce the glycemic index of the corn chip, however, so these chips are definitely better choices than the usual fare in the snack and chip isle.

Where to Buy Gardin of Eatin Corn Chips

Gardin of Eatin offers a full line of organic corn snack products, including pita chips and organic popcorn, organic corn shells and taco kits, and five varieties of corn chips (including a red corn chip.) Not all of their products are baked. In fact, their website doesn’t even show the baked blue corn chips yet.

Gardin of Eatin Baked Blue Corn Chips are available at grocers and health food stores nationwide. Their website has a store finder if you are looking for a local grocer that carries the product. You can also buy them online from at Garden of Eatin.com, although the baked corn chips still aren’t available at their online store.

A 7 oz bag of Garden of Eatin Baked Blue Chips with Flaxseed cost approximately $2.89. They contain about seven 1 oz/28 gram servings (around 17 chips.)

Garden of Eatin Baked Blue Corn Chips Nutritional Facts

Serving Size: 1 oz (28g/about 19 chips)
Servings Per Container: About 7

Calories: 120
Total Fat: 3g
Saturated Fat: 1g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 120mg
Total Carbohydrates: 20g
Dietary Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 0g
Protein: 3g

Vitamin A: 0%
Calcium: 2%
Vitamin C: 0%
Iron: 4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Ingredients:
Organic Blue Corn, Organic Brown Flaxseed, Organic Soy Grits, Organic Canola Oil and/or Organic Safflower Oil and/or Organic Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt