Home > Categories > Food > Biscuits and Crackers > Rutherford & Meyer Cracker Bites - Sweet Potato review
The perfect way to have a delicious snack AND get the wholesome goodness of Sweet Potato. Ideal for the school lunch box.
TOP them with cheese, DIP them in hummus or EAT them solo! Whichever way you choose, enjoy these delicious crispy snacks guilt-free!
Product reviews...
After trying the beetroot and three seeds version of these Rutherford and Meyer crackers, I thought the the next best one to try was the sweet potato - as I am a big sweet potato fan, and I was not disappointed with these ones either, in both look and taste.
I opened the box of cracker bites to find two individually sealed packets of them, which from a freshness point of view is great. It also advises for freshness to store in an air tight container. I really liked the look of these crackers, one side is a slightly mottled, almost like a pikelet texture and the other like a waffle cone, and they are a lovely golden-ish orange colour. Size wise they are not a big cracker - they are a cracker bite, maybe like a gold ball type size.
I was fairly sure that the three seeds were the same as in the beetroot ones, and after reading the ingredients confirmed it was the poppy, chia and linseed. I also noted that these were the highest in salt, if that was something you are on the watch for. The taste of them is quite strong and a bit tangy, like sweet potato can be.
What I found great about these crackers was also their actual strength - they were great to put things onto and also scooped well and I tried them out with dip, hummus, and avocado.
These crackers are really unique and I will definitely be getting them again, particularly for something were I have to take a plate, as they add a different flavour, texture and a splash of colour to the plate!
When I tried the Chickpea variety, I figured I knew what to expect from the rest. A bit of a single Sweet Potato Cracker Bite told me that I was wrong. But let's get the usual pre-review fodder out of the way. The product comes in a lovely vibrant cardboard pack. The actual bites themselves are split between two plastic bags (presumably to keep half fresh until the first half has been eaten). These are cracker BITES, not crackers, and are only 3-4 cm long (they aren't a specific standard size, they do vary).
Similar to the Chickpea variety, the Sweet Potato cracker bites are infused with poppyseeds, chia seeds, and linseed, which adds a seedy variability to the flavour. While it provided a little uniqueness to the generally bland base of the chickpea variety, in this product, the sweet potato is actually a strikingly sweet flavour, which the seeds attempt to balance.
The texture is actually quite light, and feel fragile in the mouth, but if you try and break them, their small size and shape works in their favour making them reasonably structurally strong. The sweet potato is so sweet that without the presence of the seeds it could be a suitable substitute for kumara crisps. The seedy flavour does take away a lot of the overbearing sweetness, however, which can make them a bit peculiar to eat on their own.
It is expected that the stronger flavour of these cracker bites does provide some limitations to what it works well with. Where the chickpea variety simply holds the flavour of whatever is on top, the sweet potato flavour will either enhance or conflict with the additives that you use. For example, it sweetens a smoky cheddar, but the sweetness counteracts the flavour of a smoky hummus causing the poppyseeds to be the prominent flavour, and with some Philadelphia Cream Cheese and sweet chilli the flavours are absolutely bursting with intensity.
It is a surprisingly varied experience that makes you want to experiment with flavours. Where the chickpea is the safe bet, the sweet potato is for the adventurous soul that is willing to risk a dull flavour for that sensation of flavour with the right combination.
I love the flavour of Kumara, and since Sweet Potato is a very similar vege, I figured these would be worth trying. Upon opening the bag, I was surprised at how dainty they are - about the size of a 50c piece on average. However, because they are not 'plain' crackers and have their own built-in flavour, they were still far from boring and big enough to add a few toppings.
I started off trying a few as-is and found they had a really nice, mild flavour on their own. However, I found them to be quite dry in the mouth, so I can't see myself eating many of them 'bare'. For the second test, I put a small dollop of butter and a small dollop of peanut butter on a few of them - super yummy snack! It gave me a lot of flavour for a small morsel. What a great way to handle portion control! I noticed that I still had half of an avocado in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I also tried some of that on bare bites, with butter, and with butter and peanut butter. What a revelation to find that the combination of all three on the crackers was astoundingly tasty! The usual hors d'oeuvres-style toppings were also tried - smoked tuna, tomato & basil, pesto and even sliced banana - all worked supremely well with these crackers, and the sheer quantity in each of the two bags makes for some excellent value for money.
Overall, with Christmas gatherings likely to be a 'big deal' this year, it's well worth considering a box or three of these in the pantry ready for the silly season!
Rutherford and Meyer have done a great job here and once I got over the fact they were still more of a snack size and not a "proper cracker" which should have been clear from the description on the front which clearly says bites! This was probably my biggest complaint is that they are not really big enough to put toppings on and work way better as a snack for dipping or eating solo. I loved the taste and the seeds really came through for me which was a lovely taste and a good combination. They were not too oily or too dry and didn't disintegrate when I dug into the hummus with them either.
I will totally be buying these again to replace the regular snack for watching a movie. The fact the pack had two sections that could be used separately was perfect for us as a couple and we had one over a movie and mixed the other with two other varieties for comparison purposes.
So the next question we all had was around "Are these sweet potato or kumara"? I maintain they are sweet potato rather than kumara (softer/sweeter) but the jury was out when we discussed it so I think this might be a make up your own mind. I did notice that they were clearly labelled sweet potato which didn't feel very local though. The taste was not affected by this discussion however than they remain my favourite of the three types I tried.
Let me start by saying that I don't like sweet potatoes, never have and though I make myself try a tiny piece each year, it's still something I take a wide berth around, but I like to push myself to try new things and so I requested these to give a try. The box is nice and bright, really eye catching and I was impressed with how easy this was to open, no needing to get out the scissors or anything else to open it. Inside the crackers are split into two sealed bags which is good for when you don't want run the risk of the crackers going stale before you finish them all off.
Giving one of these a try, straight out of the packet, I was pleasantly surprised to find out how nice it tasted, I was really surprised and found myself snacking on more as I was getting a few ready to try out with some toppings. I decided to go simple with some cheese and a little ham, just enough to cover the top of the cracker. There was a nice crunch to the cracker, which I really liked, and though I lost the flavour of the cracker to the cheese I'd put on it, it was still a nice snack. I found this worked best just dipping it into a hummus and eating it like that, I can easily see myself finishing off the pack before the kids have anymore, I think I'll be buying this again.
Rutherford & Meyer Cracker Bites - Sweet Potato flavour with three seeds. These I found amazing, first of all when you open the packet you can see that there are lots of crackers in two different pouches. Which was just great especially for camping. So we opened up one bag at a time and you know that the next bags not gonna go stale waiting for it until you open the next one. I also love that these are a New Made product, it's always good to support local.
The sweet potato flavour wasn't overly strong, it is hard to explain the flavour it's kinda very mild it's not a strong flavour but the crackers themselves are fabulous. They are little round bite-size crackers and in the bag, there are heaps of crackers within a one-bag sitting. They are just perfect for dips so we had these crackers with a platter and they were just amazing just to grab a little cracker and put it into the dip you don't need to like overcrowd the cracker with anything else because it was enough on its own. A couple of times I put some cheese on it which went really nice for that but I found just the cracker and dip on its own was enough.
Fabulous that there's a gluten-free as one of my nieces can't have gluten so she really enjoyed being able to share these crackers with us well we were camping. Awesome that these have chai seeds linseeds and poppy seeds, for extra goodness. Can definitely taste the seeds and these are definitely great value for money and I will definitely be buying these again. These are great to have in the cupboard and I will be recommending these to family and friends can't wait to buy these when I see them in the supermarket.
We had guests coming round for dinner and I always like to put some cheese and crackers out and thought that this was a perfect opportunity to try these crackers. I had not heard of the Rutherford & Meyer brand but I did like the fact they were 'proudly made with love in New Zealand'. They come in an attractive orange box with pictures of kumara/ sweet potato and are 100% natural, baked not fried. The ingredients are all easily recognisable and the three seeds are chia seeds, linseeds, and poppy seeds. I was surprised when I opened them up and found two packets of crackers (it does say that though on the front of the box!) This appealed to me as we rarely get through a box of crackers in one sitting and then have to try to seal them up without them going soft and stale.
When I opened the bag, the crackers were a lot smaller than I expected. Most were intact but a few were broken and when I put them out on the cheeseboard, my daughters zoomed in and started nibbling. They hadn't seen the packet so didn't know what flavour they were. My oldest hates kumara and refuses to eat it so I was bemused to see her eating these so readily. Both loved them to the point I had to tell them to leave some for the guests!
The crackers were not only small but thinner than most crackers. They had a textured pattern on them and were a golden colour. Most importantly, they tasted delicious, nice, crispy with a lovely sweet potato flavour. I sandwiched a piece of brie between two crackers and it was a match made in heaven! Overall, I think these are good value for money for such a tasty and unique cracker and I'll definitely be buying them again!
This is the First time I have heard of any product from Rutherford and Meyer of New Zealand so I decided to look them up online and see what they had in their product range and lo and behold there is a lot of crackers and spreads I would love to try. The packaging is very simple but it works in this situation being a down to earth natural product and the pictures of the crackers on the side of the box where they state top, dip and eat are actually very close to the actual size of the crackers.
I opened up the box and the crackers are divided into two separate 70g packets which are convenient for snacks whether it be on the go or just eating around the home. The crackers are very flavorsome by themselves with a sweet potato flavor that has a slight peppery taste and almost a hint of a cheesiness which is weird because it contains nothing that would resemble cheese. I am very surprised with how much flavor these have with the little number of ingredients that are used. They have a very savory taste and balances out nicely with sweet spreads and cheeses. I tried them with camembert cheese and apricot spread and they were delicious as if the flavors were born to merge together. The crackers have a very crispy consistency to them which makes them super crunchy which is great.
I recommend these crackers to anyone that loves savory crackers or snacks in general and is looking for something healthy, natural, and tasty and can be used to help fill the kid's lunch boxes. All of my kids loved these and want more which I am more than happy to oblige. I will be keeping my eyes peeled now for more Products from Rutherford and Meyer of New Zealand.
When I am at home I find that I tend to be a constant grazer throughout the day, usually my go to snack is something sweet, however recently I have tried to eat healthier. When I saw that there were some new crackers available to request, and that they were made from sweet potato I was intrigued.
When the box arrived I was gobsmacked by how beautiful the packaging is, there is an image of a sweet potato and a stack of the crackers, with the words strategically placed around. The product is 140g in size, but inside there are 2 packets. These cracker bites are gluten free and are made of 100% natural ingredients, they sound delicious as the ingredients include linseed, poppy seed, and also chia seed. I held high hopes for these being yummy as on the front of the box it says this product was a NZ Artisan Awards Category Winner in 2020.
When I got exceptionally peckish one day after work I decided to try the product, I was surprised by how thin the cracker bites are. I decided first to try a couple with no toppings on to see what they were like by themselves. The texture is pleasant and there is a definite crunch factor, the sweet potato flavour is strong, however I found that there was a weird aftertaste happening once finished. I decided to try the cracker bites with some tuna and cheese on top, this was a pleasant combination which I have proceeded to finish the rest with.
I would recommend these as a light snack, but personally I would say put a topping on to take the taste to another level. I look forward to trying some more of the different flavours of cracker bites available from Rutherford & Meyer in the future.
This was the one my husband was eager to try. He opened the bag to sample and said straight away 'I prefer the Beetroot'. I tried and said 'I prefer the Chickpea and Chia Seeds one' the girls had and both agreed with the Chickpea and Chia Seeds. Although, funny enough we all agreed this was all of ours second favourite. We all adore the size of the crackers and the fact that they taste amazing with hummus or dips and they are the perfect snack to be had as you only need a few to feel content.
I could easily eat this alone without any condiments on them and I do like the odd little taste at the end of the cracker, to which I assume is the Sweet Potato. Again, I did not enjoy with just the camembert on its own but with the hummus it is fantastic.
We had a family movie night last night and on the tray I brought out the three varieties of crackers, salted chips, sliced carrots, cheese, hummus and dips. Everyone had their favourites and I did notice that this flavour took longer to go for then any of three. Mainly because I and my eldest were going for the Chickpea and Chia Seeds, my husband was going for the beetroot, my youngest realised pretty early on that the Chickpea and Chia Seeds would not last long so went for the carrots. At the end was just the chips and these which were really left and everyone opted for these over the chips.
These crackers are definitely going to be a regular occurrence in our house. The girls enjoy them for school lunches and I am enjoying them for my 'healthy' night snack with the garlic hummus. They are gluten free and baked to which makes me feel like I am not being naughty when I am adding a heap of hummus to them. I like that I only need a couple to feel satisfied. They are really the perfect guilt free snack.
Everyone enjoyed this variety except for Mr 11 who, as we all know, can be quite a fussy eater. But the rest of us really liked the crispness of the crackers and the flavour which, although not very strong, could definitely be identified. It had the slight sweet earthiness of kumara, a vegetable we all like. As we always do, we passed the packet around so everyone could taste the crackers on their own before we added other items.
Miss Nine had us all organised without delay. She and her mother had made a dip the day before and there was still some left, so she put it on the table. It was a very plain dip, consisting of onion soup and evaporated milk - the recipe that all kiwis know! But it was tailor-made for the crackers and we finished both dip and packet contents within minutes. Luckily, the boxes contain two sealed packets, so we were able to take the second one home for some further investigation.
With just two of us sharing the second packet, it was possible to try out a few more variations. I assembled several items so we could try them in turn. The first was some grated mild cheese with basil and a finely chopped tomato. Again a firm kiwi favourite! That was delicious; the sweet potato flavour was not overwhelmed by the cheese. Rather, it added a new dimension to it. We really liked the result and would serve it that way again.
Next, we tried a small amount of smoked salmon, adding a shake of lemon juice on top. This was delicious too although I realised the lemon would soften the biscuit if it were put on in advance. It would probably be better to sprinkle the salmon with lemon and serve it in a small dish alongside the biscuits. A few toothpicks would make it easy for people to add the topping just before they ate the cracker, then it would stay crisp. We might try that some time, as we both thought the flavour combination was incredible.
Dinner that night was a seafood salad with jumbo prawns and thousand island dressing. Seafood salads can be sloppy; there needs to be some crunch added for interest. My partner took the last few crackers and broke each into several pieces before scattering them on top of the salad. We ate it immediately, before the crackers could sink in and go soggy. That was yet another great way to enjoy them - we sometimes add chopped nuts to a salad, but the crackers were quite different. Same satisfying crunch but a totally different flavour.
Random listing from 'Food'...
Made with organic steel cut oats and pumpkin seeds. Spork Included.
Ingredients:
Water, Milk, Organic Steel Cut Oats (11%), Pumpkin Seeds (2.5%), Honey (1.5%), Golden Syrup, Sugar, Corn Starch, Salt.
Allergen Info:
Contains Gluten (Oats), Milk
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