America Has Discovered the Crisp Sandwich
Well, this is a sentence we weren’t expecting to write this week.
The crisp sandwich has made it onto American morning television.
Yes. Two slices of bread, plenty of butter and a packet of crisps. A lunch generations of us Brits have been making without a recipe, a measuring spoon or the slightest thought that it might one day require explaining to America.
And yet, here we are.
The Crisp Sandwich Gets Its American TV Moment
On Friday, October 16, NBC’s TODAY headed to Kenmare in County Kerry for a special broadcast from Ireland.
And during his appearance, Gleeson tucked into one of the simplest pleasures to come out of Ireland:
No fancy reinterpretation. No artisan sourdough. No microgreens.
Just a crisp sandwich on American morning television.
Which, frankly, feels like progress!
What Is a Crisp Sandwich?
It really is exactly what it sounds like.
A crisp sandwich is crisps tucked between two slices of buttered bread.
And before anybody starts translating, crisps are what we call potato chips in the USA.
The bread should be soft. The butter should reach the edges. And the crisps provide the salt, flavour and all-important crunch.
It’s cheap, comforting, deeply nostalgic and significantly better than a sandwich containing so few ingredients has any right to be.
If you’re in America and suddenly wondering where to get the important bit, you’ll find our British crisps and savoury snacks here.
How To Make a Crisp Sandwich
You Will Need 
- 2 slices of soft white bread (Warburton's is perfect for this)
- Butter
- 1 packet of your favourite British crisps
Butter the bread
Both slices. Right to the edges. This is not the moment for restraint.
Add the crisps
Tip them generously onto one slice of bread. You want enough to give the sandwich a decent crunch in every bite.
Put the lid on
Second slice of bread on top.
And now the important bit...
Press down.
You Have To Squash It
This isn’t written into law, but perhaps it should be.
Put your hand on top of the sandwich and give it a good press until you hear the crisps crack.
You’re not trying to pulverise them. You just want them broken enough that the sandwich holds together rather than firing whole crisps across the kitchen when you take the first bite.
That crunch is part of the experience.
Which Crisps Make the Best Crisp Sandwich?
Walkers Cheese & Onion
A classic for good reason.
Salty, savoury and for plenty of Brits, this is where the crisp sandwich conversation begins and ends.
Walkers Salt & Vinegar
Sharper, punchier and capable of making the roof of your mouth regret your enthusiasm.
Still excellent.
Walkers Ready Salted
The purist’s option.
Bread. Butter. Potato. Salt. Nothing hiding anywhere and nothing particularly complicated about it.
Walkers Prawn Cocktail
For those who know.
Sweet, tangy, slightly ridiculous and surprisingly brilliant between two slices of buttered bread.
A Small Transatlantic Translation
UK & Ireland: Crisps
USA: Potato chips
UK & Ireland: Chips
USA: Fries
And yes, a chip butty is an entirely different sandwich. We’ll save that one for another day.
Can You Put Other British Crisps in a Sandwich?
Walkers might be the obvious starting point, but the Parker’s crisp cupboard currently goes considerably further than that.
There’s Monster Munch Pickled Onion if you want something with a bit more attitude, Hula Hoops if you fancy testing the structural limits of soft white bread, and even Walkers Wotsits if you’re willing to abandon convention altogether.
And then there are the Savoursmiths flavours, including Somerset Cheddar & Shallot, Wagyu Beef & Honey Mustard, Truffle & Rosemary and Bubbly & Serrano Chilli.
Are all of those traditional crisp sandwich choices?
No.
Would we try them?
Absolutely.
Because Not Everything Needs Improving
There is a particular category of British and Irish food that makes absolutely no effort to impress anyone.
Beans on toast. Cheese and pickle sandwiches. Chip butties. A sausage roll eaten over the kitchen sink because you couldn’t wait long enough to find a plate.
The crisp sandwich belongs firmly in that world.
For plenty of us, it tastes like packed lunches, after-school snacks, university kitchens and raiding the cupboard when there wasn’t much else in the house.
That’s probably why seeing one appear on American television made us smile.
It isn’t fancy. It was never meant to be.
It’s just very, very good.
Build Your Own Crisp Sandwich
If all this has made you hungry, we can help with the important part.
We’ve got Walkers Cheese & Onion, Prawn Cocktail, Salt & Vinegar and Ready Salted, plus Monster Munch, Hula Hoops, Wotsits and plenty more British savoury favourites.
All you need to provide is the bread and butter.
So, America. What Do You Think?
Now that the crisp sandwich has had its moment on American morning television, there’s really only one thing left to do.
Make one.
Soft bread. Butter. Your crisps of choice. Give it a squash and tuck in.
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