Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ Review: A Little Sweetness And Spice Go A Long Way

The Doritos brand has long demonstrated its worth as one of the best chip lines on the market, both nationally and globally. At least 100 flavors of Doritos have been produced in the long annals of the brand's existence, and there are currently more than a dozen varieties available in the U.S. alone — including the fan-favorite Tapatío Doritos flavored with spicy hot sauce. 

To stay fresh, the brand is constantly putting out new flavors, often based on international influences — with a focus more recently on Eastern parts of the world. Early this year, Doritos Golden Sriracha became a welcome addition to the lineup, and Frito-Lay is hoping to mine more Asian deliciousness with its next bag of crunchy seasoned triangles — Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ.

There's a lot to unpack in that name alone. Even this product's beautifully designed bag is complex, as it features a decorative foil dragon and a vibrant orange Dorito on fire, which appears to provide heat to a Korean meat skewer and a pair of garlic cloves. That is quite the visual splendor on its cover, but the real question is, do Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ chips actually sizzle, or should you turn a cold shoulder to them? The Takeout ripped open a bag to find out, and is now ready to tell all in this chew-and-review.

Recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

Doritos has been taking cues from Gen-Z eaters, who are apparently always searching for the next new sweet-and-spicy flavor combination to season snacks. With the continued rise of social media, new flavors from abroad — especially from Asian countries — keep appearing on the horizon. Frito-Lay recently tapped into the culinary talents of Thailand when it introduced Doritos Golden Sriracha in early 2025, in an attempt to deliver bold and unfamiliar flavors of the East to the domestic U.S. audience. 

Now Doritos is turning its attention to Korean delicacies, which are enjoying increasing popularity from coast to coast nowadays. The result is a limited-time flavor option: Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ. This new variety's bag promises that the chips will "spice up your bite with a bold Korean-style BBQ flavor," and an announcement from Frito-Lay management described the taste of these chips as a fusion of sweet soy, grilled beef, and a kick of heat. Walmart honchos are reportedly seeking to stock more Korean-flavored products to meet the growing demand of U.S. customers, so the mega-retailer is partnering with Frito-Lay to be the sole source of this Doritos variety during its limited run. 

Starting on March 31, Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ chips will be rolling into Walmart locations nationwide, and will not be sold at any other stores. They will remain on Walmart shelves for a limited time only, while supplies last — and considering that Walmart's most common drone deliveries include snack items, that may not be for very long. If buying these chip in the store, they can be found in the same Walmart aisle where other Doritos varieties are kept in stock.

Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ will be available in two sizes — a 9-ounce bag, and a more snack-friendly 2.625-ounce bag. They have a suggested retail price of $6.29 for the large bag and $2.69 for the small pouch, although prices may vary depending on location. Based on the expiration date printed on the bag I received, these chips will stay fresh, if left unopened, for about three months. 

To achieve its spicy-sweet taste profile, the ingredients list for Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ brings together the flavors of corn, brown sugar, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, red bell peppers, molasses, and an unnamed blend of spices. (Less-natural ingredients include sodium diacetate, artificial coloring, and corn maltodextrin.) Making these flavorful chips more accessible to the masses, this variety does not contain any common food allergens, meaning that these Doritos could be considered among the best on-the-go snacks for kids with allergies. 

A serving size of these Doritos is 28 grams, which is about 11 chips. The 9-ounce bag contains nine servings — so around 99 individual Doritos reside in every large package. A single serving nets 150 calories, 7 grams of total fat (including 1 gram of saturated fat), 140 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 1 gram of sugars, and 2 grams of protein. 

Before diving in, I took a quick whiff of the Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ chips. They certainly had that distinctly corny Doritos scent, but perhaps with a bit of bulgogi beefiness to it. The chips have the standard triangular Doritos shape — of course, not all survived packaging and shipping perfectly intact. While I haven't seen every flavor of Doritos, I cannot recall another variety looking so orangey-red as this one; it kind of resembles a chip version of a tequila sunrise cocktail. These chips had a dusty feel to them, likely to result in your fingers being covered in Cheetle-like cheese dust residue.

Prior to taking a bite, I wanted a direct sense of the flavor's seasoning, achieved by licking a chip. This revealed a sweetened BBQ flavor punctuated with a dash of spice. My first actual bite of the chip began in a similar fashion, with a nudge of sweetness giving way to a tang of BBQ sauce, before imparting a pleasurable dash of heat. 

While these chips fall under the Doritos Flamin' Hot line, they won't light a mouth on fire, which I consider a good thing. This makes them more palatable, and had me coming back for more. The taste of Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ didn't exactly conjure up the taste of Korean barbecue flavor, but it definitely strikes a unique note that doesn't mimic typical American barbecue flavors. 

When I sampled Doritos Golden Sriracha a couple months ago, I was so rapidly lured in by its delicious multi-layered flavoring that I couldn't imagine what the brand would do for an encore. Little did I know that the answer was quickly arriving in the form of Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ. While I will admit this new variety didn't hit the same tasty heights of the awesome Doritos Golden Sriracha flavor, Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ proved itself no slouch. There's much to enjoy here, with a little sweetness and spice going a long way.

After eating the chips on their own, I next experimented with them in other ways. I enjoy a nice bagel sandwich with turkey, and placed several of these Doritos within one to see what would happen. While this added a great Doritos crunch, somehow the flavor of the chips was completely muted. I had better luck when dipping them in some thick labneh, where the cold creaminess ratcheted up the sweet-and-spicy attributes of these Doritos even more. 

I next dug out a bottle of Heinz Korean-Inspired Sweet & Tangy BBQ sauce from my fridge. This condiment scored lowest in my recent review of Heinz's Flavor Tour sauces, but it redeemed itself with these chips. The Doritos contained more spice than the Heinz sauce, and the sauce had more sweetness than the chips, making for a beautiful partnership that delivered a Korean-style wallop of flavor. 

On a sunny but windy day, a bag of Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ chips arrived at my door ahead of the variety's nationwide release, courtesy of Frito-Lay. The chips were sampled by myself, three other adults, and two teenagers. The feedback from my fellow tasters was noted, but ultimately, the final say for this review was based on my own opinion.

The criteria for this chew-and-review of Doritos Flamin' Hot Korean-Style BBQ is based on flavor, hotness, Korean flavor characteristics, uniqueness, deliciousness, and overall lovability. Another question was overarching during this entire sampling session: Is there a likelihood of my buying another bag? The quick answer is ... yes, I certainly would, and four of the five people in my taste-testing party agreed.