Boulder Canyon is the practical seed-oil-free chip: a real potato chip fried in avocado oil, at 4 to 6 dollars, stocked in ordinary supermarkets. It lands at 4.1 rather than higher because the 'avocado oil' claim describes the fryer, not every ingredient, one seasoned flavor has safflower oil in the blend.
Boulder Canyon kettle-cooks its potato chips in avocado oil across the line. The Classic Sea Salt bag is three ingredients: potatoes, avocado oil, sea salt. The frying oil is avocado oil in every flavor we checked, which is the part that matters most, since the fry oil is where a chip picks up the bulk of its fat. On the core question, this is a clean chip.
The nuance sits in the seasoning blends on the flavored bags, and it is worth understanding before you assume “Boulder Canyon” means every ingredient in every SKU is seed-oil-free. It mostly does. Not quite entirely.
What’s in it
The plain Sea Salt chip is potatoes, avocado oil, sea salt, and nothing else. The flavored bags keep avocado oil as the frying medium and add a seasoning statement on top. Most of those are clean: the Hickory Barbeque, for instance, adds cane sugar, salt, paprika, onion and garlic powder, tomato powder, yeast extract, and natural smoke flavor over the same avocado-oil base.
The exception we found is the Salt & Cracked Pepper flavor, which lists a small amount of safflower oilwell down its ingredient statement, in the seasoning blend, not the fryer. Safflower is one of the less objectionable seed oils and the quantity here is tiny, but if your standard is “no seed oil anywhere on the label,” that one SKU does not meet it. It is the reason this review frames Boulder Canyon as “fried in avocado oil” rather than “100% avocado oil,” a claim you will sometimes see repeated about the brand, including in an earlier version of this page.
Boulder Canyon is owned by Utz, a large conventional snack company. That is not a strike against the current formulations, but it is the kind of ownership where a value-driven reformulation is always possible, so a periodic label check is sensible.
Seed oil status
Avocado oil is the frying medium across the line; Classic Sea Salt is potatoes, avocado oil, sea salt. Confirmed against retailer ingredient listings and Utz's Boulder Canyon product pages (https://www.utzsnacks.com/products/boulder-canyon-avocado-oil-canyon-cut-kettle-potato-chips-sea-salt), September 2026. Exception: the Salt & Cracked Pepper seasoning blend lists a small amount of safflower oil.
Pros and cons
What holds up
- Avocado oil is the frying medium across every flavor, and the fryer is where most of a chip's fat comes from
- Classic Sea Salt is a three-ingredient bag: potatoes, avocado oil, sea salt
- 4 to 6 dollars and stocked in ordinary supermarkets, not just health stores
- A genuine potato chip, not a grain-free substitute with different texture
What to weigh
- The Salt & Cracked Pepper seasoning contains a small amount of safflower oil
- Flavored bags have long seasoning statements worth reading; the claim is cleanest on the plain Sea Salt
- Owned by Utz, a large conventional snack company
- Still a fried potato chip nutritionally, avocado oil or not
Price and where to buy
Boulder Canyon runs 4 to 6 dollars for a 5.25-ounce bag, roughly half the price of Siete and only a small premium over a conventional kettle chip. It is stocked in most supermarkets, not just health-food stores, which is the single biggest practical advantage it has over the grain-free brands.
Buy the Classic Sea Salt if you want the shortest ingredient statement and no seasoning oil to think about. For the flavored bags, a ten-second label glance is still worth it, most are clean, but the seasoning lists are long.
Our Pick
Boulder Canyon Avocado Oil Sea Salt Kettle Chips
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Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
Buy it if
Anyone who wants a normal salted potato chip without soybean or sunflower frying oil, at a normal price, from a normal store.
Skip it if
Anyone who needs grain-free or wants every ingredient in every flavor to be seed-oil-free without checking.
How it compares
Against Siete, Boulder Canyon is the better everyday value if gluten is not a concern. It is a genuine potato chip rather than a cassava-flour substitute, it costs about half as much, and it is easier to find. Siete wins when you need grain-free or gluten-free, or specifically want a tortilla chip for salsa.
Against Jackson’s Honest, the difference is the oil. Jackson’s fries in organic coconut oil, more heat-stable than avocado oil but with a faint sweetness that carries into the chip. Boulder Canyon’s avocado oil is flavor-neutral, and its distribution is wider. If oxidative stability is your priority, Jackson’s; if price and availability are, Boulder Canyon.
FAQ
Are Boulder Canyon chips 100% avocado oil?
The frying oil is avocado oil across the line. One flavor, Salt & Cracked Pepper, has a small amount of safflower oil in the seasoning blend, not the fryer. The plain Sea Salt bag is just potatoes, avocado oil, and salt.
How is this different from Siete?
Boulder Canyon is a conventional potato chip, cheaper and more widely stocked. Siete is grain-free and gluten-free, made from cassava, with a different texture and a higher price. Both use avocado oil as the fry oil.
Which flavors are safest?
Classic Sea Salt is the shortest ingredient statement and has no seasoning oil. For the flavored bags, glance at the label; most are clean but the seasoning statements are long.