Mikey V’s – Jalapeno Cheddar Flavored Gator Toes
Bitter: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰
Sour: ✰✰✰✰✰
Sweet: ✰✰✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Heat: ⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Garlic, Red Pepper, umami
Texture: Crispy and crunchy
Recommended: Yes
Ingredients: Fried Garlic (Non-Hydrogenated Canola Oil and/or Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt), Jalapeno Cheddar Seasoning: Whey, Cheddar Cheese Powder (Milk, Salt, Cultures, Enzymes), Salt, Dehydrated Onion and Garlic, Dehydrated Jalapeno, Natural Flavors, Dehydrated Parsley, Citric Acid, Spices, Yeast Extract, Extractive of Paprika, Lactic Acid, and Less Than 2% Silicon Dioxide Added to Prevent Caking.
I’ve previously reviewed Mikey V’s Spicy Gator toes here. This will be a short review, a mini-review if you will, because almost everything I wrote in that last one also holds true here.
Ingredients for these are very similar to the Spicy Gator Toes, just with a seasoning blend involving (real) dried cheese and some dehydrated jalapenos vs just red pepper. Interestingly these don’t contain isolated MSG like the spicy version does, but do contain yeast extract, which is a natural source of MSG and is often used in vegan cheese products (as well as being the big umami maker in Vegemite and Marmite).
In terms of flavor these Jalapeno Cheddar Gator Toes are just as garlic forward as the spicy ones, which makes sense as they’re entirely garlic, and the garlic taste still dominates over all of the other flavors here. There is some cheese flavor after the big garlic flavor fades a bit and just a tiny bit of that jalapeno flavor. Heat level is minimal, though even more jalapeno wouldn’t change that much. I’d personally love to see a stronger jalapeno flavor in these but at least the cheesy element does come through. They are nice and crunchy and like the spicy version aren’t too oily.
Like for the spicy version I will give these a recommendation if you’re a big garlic fan. These aren’t an everyday type of snack for me, but they are a nice change of pace from chips or nuts, just make you keep some breath mints handy.