Jonesing for the taste of lime-flavored Tostitos

March 13, 2008 4:48 PM

I love lime-flavored Tostitos. How can I duplicate that tongue-curling oh-so-nasty salty/lime-y taste at home?

If I were making a lime-y flatbread/cracker, what would I sprinkle on it? How would I flavor it?

(I can't believe I'm using my question on this, but there it is. Darn you, ourobouros, for tempting me to thoughts of lavosh on the spicy/seedy side...)

posted by MonkeyToes to food & drink (18 answers total)

Easy! I discovered this when I realized that the Lime Tostitos had MSG.
You want this. I'm able to find it in the baking section of my grocery store. 3-4 packets will do an entire bag o' chips.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:56 PM on March 13, 2008 [2 favorites]

I'm pretty sure the key ingredient you want is powdered citric acid. Here's one source. You might check the ingredients list of the Tostitos to confirm this, but I'm pretty sure I'm right.

Plus salt of course.
posted by hihowareyou at 4:59 PM on March 13, 2008

1 cut and fry tortillas
2 salt resultant chips
3 cut lime in to wedges
4 squeeze wedge over chips
5 eat top layer of chips till lime flavor runs out
6 go back to 4
posted by subtle_squid at 5:00 PM on March 13, 2008

Cat Pie Hurts' suggestion looks good too; it's basically just citric acid with lime/lemon flavoring and some stabilizers.
posted by hihowareyou at 5:02 PM on March 13, 2008

oh wait you are looking for an oh-so-nasty flavor. In that case disregard my earlier comment.
posted by subtle_squid at 5:08 PM on March 13, 2008

Cat Pie Hurts, thank you! IT EXISTS!

DH and I were in the bulk foods aisle when we spotted a tub of "cheese-flavored" powder... you know, the florescent orange stuff on cheese puffs and other snack foods. I started looking for its lime equivalent but no joy. Now I know that it really is out there!

Subtle_squid: Yeah, nasty flavor is what I'm after. When lime-flavored Tostitos first came out, they became my guilty snacking pleasure. Lately, they've seemed... watered down. Less tingly on the tongue. Missing that nasty, lime-y oomph. I want to experiment and besides, really? Powdered lime? It's just so wrong that it must be good.

Hihowareyou: No fear. I love salt.

Thanks, all.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:19 PM on March 13, 2008

What you want is Lucas. They also make a hot one if you like the taste of Flamin' Hot Cheetos with Lime.
posted by Bernt Pancreas at 5:24 PM on March 13, 2008

Oh, noes, you don't want Lucas. Apperently it's been discontinued due to lead in the product. Yikes.
posted by Bernt Pancreas at 5:26 PM on March 13, 2008

Twang is a non-Lucas, non-lead brand of ... well, basically of Lucas. That's what you want. Mmm. Not sure how hard it is to find outside of Texas, though. Mmm, beer salt.
posted by fiercecupcake at 5:38 PM on March 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

Twang looks awesome, fiercecupcake!

MonkeyToes: If you want to get really close to the Lime Tostitos flavor, to 1 bag of corn chips add 4-6 packets of the lime powder, about 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1 tsp of onion powder. Salt to taste and shake it up. If you want to make them taste AMAZING, get some Accent (MSG) and add some (damn my MSG intolerance!).
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 5:44 PM on March 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

I love'em too, which is regrettable, because it means they will stop making them inside a couple months. Sorry. (I also killed Sesame Seed Doritos back in the 70's by developing a passion for them too.)
posted by RavinDave at 6:05 PM on March 13, 2008

Just popped in to say MWAH HA HA! Also, I'm getting me some Twang. That chili-lime stuff looks like it would be delicious on some home-made lavash.
posted by ourobouros at 9:31 PM on March 13, 2008

On the plus side, CatPieHurts's find might be more available than the delicious-looking Twang stuff. Thanks, all!
posted by msamye at 9:39 PM on March 13, 2008

Alton Brown's got this covered.
posted by eafarris at 5:33 AM on March 14, 2008

Hmmmm. Bet that stuff would work on cashews too!
posted by grateful at 9:49 AM on March 14, 2008

The salt and the lime flavoring, yes. But that extra oomph of oh-so-nasty comes from MSG. Which apparently, is not quite as bad (in small doses) as we've been told over the years.
posted by triggerfinger at 1:35 PM on March 14, 2008

Wait, they used to have sesame seed Doritos?! DAMN that sounds awesome!

/derail.
posted by Space Kitty at 8:57 PM on March 14, 2008

These chips have been around forever. Maybe they just now started shipping them outside of TX. Anyway, I don't think they're going away any time soon.
posted by Jane Austen at 11:23 AM on March 21, 2008