Polly want a cracklin’?: Beanfields made your new vegan yum!

Beanfields is well-known for their yummy bean chips and other treats. Now, they’ve put a spin on the good old-fashioned cracklin’.

If you’re not from certain parts of the country, you may be asking yourself, “what’s a cracklin’?” Well, it’s better known by a more recognizable term, “pork rind.” I recently reviewed some vegan jerky, but had to get a volunteer to check out the accompanying actual pork rinds.

Now, Beanfields wants to include the rest of us in the party. My first statement about this new treat is bonus points to the Beanfields packaging and marketing teams for choosing the lesser known title in this vegan adventure. I would probably shy away from “plant-based pork rinds” as a selling point, being vegetarian.

So I received two flavors and gave them both a try. The Chili Limon was really heavy on the spices, what seemed like mostly cumin flavor. I felt it was a bit overwhelming, but it surely had the chili feel. I was thinking chili peppers, and while it does contain ancho chili, it’s more like bowl of chili.

When it came to the Spicy Nacho, however, I was sold right away. The flavor is right on. Very intense, but in a good way. Pretty reminiscent of the nacho flavor you get from Doritos, these little crunchers packed a spicy, cheesy punch. Don’t underestimate the spicy part either.

Any plant-based eater will know that texture is a mega challenge when it comes to these substitution items. Since this snack is going for the cracklin’ image, I was thinking back to the days with my Dad giving me a first taste of the real thing. I knew what to expect and I had a sort of Taco Bell Cinnamon Twist comparison in mind.

That did not happen. I’m a fan of Beanfields so I know a bean crisp (navy, in this case) when I bite it. But I will say that it was a great snack. It was more crackery than the chips I’m used to from Beanfields. I found it light enough that this is probably as close as anyone will get to a cracklin’ without involving pigs.

Another thing I really like about these is that they have three grams of fiber and four grams of protein per serving. Given that a serving is 45 pieces, you can easily dose up on necessary vegetarian staples with less than 1/3 of a bag. Believe me, you’ll probably exceed what you need.

On that note, this is another concern when it comes to plant-based foods. Sometimes things can get a little sideways when you eat more than the suggested serving size. Because this stuff is made to be clean eating, your body uses it well. Sometimes too well, if you know what I mean.

Because I consider this an important detail, I ate way more than I was supposed to so I could accurately deliver this assessment. And guess what? Nothing bad happened. All of the ingredients sat well with me (and with my Mom), including the spices.

I have to say I also really enjoyed the packaging. The back of the bag is covered with atypical chat about how they want to give you a “pork-rind-like” product while keeping the pigs off the shelf. They are definitely appealing to a certain crowd (that I’m in). I found the other text pretty clever and witty.

So, thanks to Beanfields for the chance to give these babies a try! I will most certainly be grabbing some more and keeping them on my shelf. It may take some effort since I’m gonna crunch them up fast, but I’m looking forward to some more flavors, too!