Lay's Might Be Bringing Back A Fan-Favorite Summer Chip Flavor

Sometimes a food brand will produce a snackable item that sticks with fans for a long time, even once it's been discontinued. Taco Bell bringing back its Mexican Pizza only came after fans had been calling for its return for years after the chain shared the bad news with Mexican Pizza fans that the item would be leaving the menu. Another food item that snackers seem to feel similarly passionate about is Lay's Garden Tomato & Basil, a potato chip flavor that was discontinued a few years ago.

How lasting was its popularity? There was a Change.org petition started three years ago with almost 3,000 signatures begging the company to bring it back, and fans on social media even reached out to ask if it would return. But back in March of 2021, Lay's told fans on Twitter that the flavor was unlikely to come back. "Sadly, right now there aren't any plans to bring back Lay's Garden Tomato & Basil, but we'll pass your comment along," the company's Twitter account wrote. Perhaps it was true at the time, or perhaps it was all an elaborate ruse — we'll never know. But what we do know is that news of a recent Instagram post will likely make fans of Lay's very happy.

PepsiCo shared an animated video on Instagram that appears to have been removed. It came with the caption, "New Lays Garden Tomato + Basil taste like summer!" but didn't share any more detail than that. The Lay's Instagram account has so far stayed silent. Popular snack food trend tracking account @CandyHunting on Instagram also shared a picture of the potato chip flavor in what appears to be newly designed packaging, and surmised, "I imagine the flavor will be on shelves any day now."

For fans who once made comments like "if there were a single chip selling on eBay for $100 I'd buy it" (via Change.org), this would undoubtedly be exciting news. On Instagram, one excited snacker said, "Been waiting for 10 + years!!"  Others responded with such comments as "My prayers have been answered," "this is what we've been waiting for," and "they taste like a sexy tomato." But only time will tell what the future holds for Lay's Garden Tomato + Basil chips because right now info is sparse.