13 of the Best Doritos Flavors, Ranked

There aren't a lot of snack brands bigger than Doritos. While we all seem to know about Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese, there are a lot more Doritos flavors floating around out there than we'd expect. 

I tried 13 varieties (all generally available at grocery stores and convenience stores, save for one that I imported from Australia), including some of the newest Doritos flavors, Flamin' Hot Limón and "Cooler" Ranch. Then I ranked 'em from best to worst, based on just how much I loved each flavor. You're welcome for our service.

Prices and availability are subject to change.

- Cool Ranch
- Flamin' Hot Limón
- Tapatío
- Dinamitas
- Nacho Cheese
- Spicy Nacho
- Tortilla Chips (taco flavor)
- Flamin' Hot
- Salsa Verde
- Flamas
- Grilled Cheeseburger
- Jalapeño Cheddar
- Spicy Sweet Chili

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It's possible that crowning Dinamita as the best Doritos flavor might actually be an insult, considering they are bascially just Takis, a different snack entirely. That said, Takis are outstanding, and if Doritos is going to rip off another product, they chose a very good one. 

These guys are spicy, acidic, crunchy and just about everything you could need in a chip. They're tough and crisp too, so they'll withstand any sort of dipping or dunking you choose to do with them. Extra spicy, bursting with lime, and a powder coating that will leave your fingers red for the next eight years. They're terrific.

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There isn't much to say about Cool Ranch Doritos that hasn't been said before. The chip that more than a few people consider to be the best of all time is incredibly hard to top. The new edition boasts even more ranch flavor, which is something I did not know we needed, but here we are. It's still great.

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There are a few flavor combos that work very well no matter what medium you find them in. Lime and chili powder is one of them, and when you're getting those flavors from a crunchy Doritos chip, they shine. This is a snack that's greater than the sum of its parts.

Related: The 17 Spiciest Foods Around the World

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Spicy Nacho Doritos taste maybe 10% different from Nacho Cheese at the most. There's a lingering feeling of heat on your taste buds that elevates the nacho cheese flavor the teensiest bit. "You're being too nitpicky!" you're probably shouting. This is a ranking. We gotta get nitpicky.

Related: The Surprising Reason Why Spicy Foods Are Good for You, According to Experts

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Unlike the Spicy Nacho, when Spicy Sweet Chili actually claims to be spicy, it can back it up. This Doritos flavor is definitely tolerable for anybody who fears too much spice thanks to the definite sweetness, and the whole experience isn't unlike a sweet chili glaze that you might dip a pork skewer into. These chips are extremely tasty.

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There are undoubtedly people out there reading this who just punched a hole in their wall from the anger of seeing one of Doritos' most famous flavors ranked as low as No. 6. Nacho cheese Doritos are a beacon of the snack food world, and the cheesy chip has even lent a lot of credit to Taco Bell's name, but at the end of the day, there are five better flavors.

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These bad boys are easily the biggest dark horse of this whole ordeal. Believe it or not, they actually taste like a tortilla chip that has been dipped in some green salsa. It's a shame they can't crack the top five, but Doritos has too many other hits on their hands to allow it.

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These taste only vaguely of Tapatío, so it really depends on what you think of Tapatío. Love the heck out of it? You might be disappointed here since the flavor is pretty subtle. Think Tapatío is incredibly overrated and there are about 10,000 hot sauces far more deserving of your attention? This might do the trick, because again, you really can't taste it too much.

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These are weirdly not bad. The plain tortilla chip idea was appealing, but the words "taco flavor" are sort of a dark mark across the front of the bag. That said, the flavor is not nearly as gross as it sounds.

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Flamas get a mild edge over the Flamin' Hots simply because they've got a bit of lime flavor in them, but it's almost entirely lost. Between the Flamas, Dinamita, and Flamin' Hot Limón, this is the third chile-and-lime joint that Doritos has dropped on us, which feels like a bit much. The other two have a lot more lime, so it's only our personal bias toward loving that acidity that lands Flamas so low on this list.

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Don't read too much into this 11th place ranking. It's not that Flamin' Hot Doritos are bad, it's just that there are a lot of things better than them. These lack lime flavor. That's a sorely needed thing for these guys, and when you take it out, it's just not quite the same.

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There are about 100 things that are odd about this variety of Doritos, but at the top of that list is the smell. These things legitimately smell like fresh jalapeños, which is not as pleasant as you'd expect. 

If you're diving into a flavor called Jalapeño Cheddar, your mind is already starting to think about nachos. You're expecting a junk food vibe, and this aroma is not unlike smelling a pepper at a supermarket. There's almost no sort of infamous Dorito dust left on your fingers afterward, which is good for your fingers, but horrible for the taste. These taste like nothing.

Upon entering Narnia in "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe," Edmund Pevensie meets the villain of the story, the White Witch. She offers him some "Turkish Delight," which is a magical treat designed to taste exactly like whatever your favorite thing in the world is.

Grilled Cheeseburger Doritos are like the complete opposite of that. "Wet dog," "dumpster full of mustard," and "moldy produce" are all ways we'd choose to describe this taste experience. The smell alone is simply not of this realm. The good news is, this abomination is available only in Australia, so it shouldn't be that hard for you to avoid.