Adding extracted THC or CBD to food affects the flavor, and not usually in a good way. While the majority of edibles makers use sugar to counteract the bitter, hashy taste of cannabis concentrate, a handful of creative brands have successfully made salty and savory weed edibles that don't skip a beat, from chips and dip to popcorn.
Bring some of these edibles from Colorado dispensaries to that Super Bowl party, or just enjoy them at home.
Athelas Dip Mix
To each their own, but anyone who's cool with plain Ruffles and no dip deserves to be tarred and feathered. Make sure those ridges stay filled with creamy ranch, French onion or Southwestern dips — and THC — with Athelas powdered mixes. Simply add the herb and seasoning packets to a sour cream base (spice it more if you want), and you have a lightly dosed bowl of chip dip. You can also use the packets for tacos, meat and pasta seasoning and more. To keep things calm (and affordable), the packets come with just ten milligrams of THC, so a few chips' worth shouldn't bury a lightweight.
BBQ and Hot Sauces
Infused sauces add more than flavor to your wings, meatballs and grilling experiments. Saucy's Southern THC sauces are available in BBQ and Carolina Gold flavors, with each bottle packed with 100 milligrams of THC. For the full Saucy's experience, you can go to Saucy's barbecue joint in south Denver and pour the THC sauce over non-infused ribs, wings and hot links cooked up by the family behind the sauce.
We've spotted hot sauces at dispensaries before, but the only one we've seen dosed at 1,000 milligrams of THC per bottle is from Bayou Bites, a brand for registered medical patients only.
Sweet Mary Jane Popcorn and Milkshake & French Fries Bar
Sweet Mary Jane's popcorn is perfect for low tolerances, winding down or regular snack time, because all of the versions are seriously good. Sea salt, caramel and cheddar cheese flavors are infused with ten milligrams of THC and 100 milligrams of CBD per box, but the cannabis extract has virtually zero impact on the taste. Mix the flavors together, drizzle medicated hot sauce on top, throw in one of several other salty and savory edibles for extra flavor and THC, or simply add infused butter or oil, then microwave for ten to fifteen seconds for added fun.
Another solid savory option from Sweet Mary Jane is the Milkshake & French Fries Bar, a mix of malted milk chocolate and shoestring potato chips. Anyone who's dipped their fries into a Wendy's Frosty or any other form of milkshake knows how good this sweet and salty combination is. All Sweet Mary Jane did is bar it up and add a little THC to the mix — and the results are glorious.
Betty Mocktail Rimmer
Want to feel like you're drinking something stiff without the booze, but don't like the taste of beer? An infused margarita can do the trick. Betty's mocktail (or cocktail, if you want to get weird) rimmers are sold in ten individual packets to ensure a consistent single dose of ten milligrams of THC and five milligrams of CBD. Choose from two salt rimmers: pink Himalayan and red chili, or lavender pomegranate sugar. If you're not one for rimmed drinks (it's an acquired taste), simply add the salt or sugar to drinks or food. It's a little chunky, but it goes right down.
Sweet Grass's infused butter won't affect the taste of dishes, but each tablespoon contains ten milligrams of THC.
Jacqueline Collins
Infused butter and olive oil are readily available at dispensaries, enabling you to add THC to countless numbers of dishes. Each stick of Sweet Grass Cannabutter is infused with 100 milligrams of THC, with ten milligrams per tablespoon. Binske's infused olive oils are similarly dosed at 100 milligrams of THC, and come in regular, garlic, lemon and rosemary varieties. Move beyond gummies: Charcuterie, steaks, sauces and so much more can be your cannabis vessels now.
Millie's Chocolate Peanuts
Sure, there's some sugar in these, but Millie's chocolate-covered peanuts (think M&Ms) provide the right amount of salt to play along with the sugar in the chocolate and thin candy shell. Each bag has twenty chocolate peanuts, with each piece containing five milligrams of THC. The biggest problem you'll have is limiting yourself, because these things are too easy to plop in your mouth.
Numb Nuts THC Peanut Butter
Looking for a stiffer punch of THC without the sugar? Peanut butter, high in protein and THC-friendly fat, could be the best option. If you don't have time to make THC-infused peanut butter, then it's time to seek out Numb Nuts. The Boulder operation began making roasted nuts and peanut butter with CBD almost five years ago, and now has a THC version in Colorado medical dispensaries. All it takes is a spoonful or less for most patients to get lifted, and there are plenty of ways to add Numb Nuts to meals and recipes, as well. Recreational buyers are out of luck for the moment, but Numb Nuts founder Adam Weiss says he plans to have recreational edibles on the shelf soon.
Looking for something to wash down the salty snacks? Check out this list of our favorite cannabis-infused beverages.
