Homemade Tortilla Chips
- Total Time
- 1 hour, for frying or baking
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
Yield:1 to 1½ pounds
- 30(5-inch) fresh corn tortillas (about 25 ounces)
- Vegetable oil (about 4 cups), as needed for frying or baking
- Nonstick cooking spray, for baking
- Kosher salt or sea salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
312 calories; 16 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 5 grams protein; 237 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Collect the tortillas into 2 tall stacks and cut into 6 even wedges. If frying your tortilla chips, proceed to Step 2. If baking your tortilla chips, proceed to Step 3.
- Step 2
To fry your tortilla chips, line 2 large baking sheets with paper towels. Set aside. Fill a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet with about ½ inch vegetable oil (about 4 cups). Heat over medium until the oil reaches about 350 degrees and is hot but not smoking, 6 to 10 minutes. You can see if it’s ready by dipping a tortilla wedge into the hot oil. It should bubble immediately and enthusiastically. Gently add enough tortilla wedges to fill the skillet in a single layer without crowding, and fry for about 1 minute per side, using a spider or a slotted spoon to flip them over, until lightly golden and crisp. (Do not allow them to brown too much or they will taste bitter.) Using the spider or slotted spoon, transfer the chips to the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle immediately with salt, so it adheres to the glistening chips. Repeat until all chips are cooked, transferring cooled chips to a large bowl and replacing the paper towels as needed. (Let the remaining oil cool to room temperature, then strain and transfer to a bottle to reuse it for future deep frying.)
- Step 3
To bake your tortilla chips, position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat to 375 degrees. Brush 2 large baking sheets with oil or spray with cooking spray. Working in batches, scatter the tortilla wedges on top in a single layer without crowding too much. (The chips should barely overlap.) Lightly brush or spray the tops with oil or cooking spray. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, remove from the oven, flip the chips and return to the oven, until lightly browned and crisp, another 15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Immediately sprinkle with salt to taste, so the salt will stick to the chips. Repeat with remaining chips.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
nina
You are missing the essential first step! Cut the corn tortillas into sixths, then spread them on a tray, preferably overnight, to dry. Proceed with recipe.
Grandmadoc
Before cutting, brush oil on the first of the stack. Continue, brushing oil on each additional tortilla on the stack. Go as high in one stack as you know you can comfortably cut. Continue oiling and stacking until you have as many as you intend to turn into chips. Not too high as they will be slippery from the oil. The oil on the first one will also oil the bottom of the next, etc, etc. I bake these either on parchment or a silicone sheet. My favorite salt is Trader Joe’s chili lime.
Ted
Do these at home all the time - so much better than any brand of store bough chips. Be careful not to over cook the chips as they will continue to cook once out of the pot. Suggest using fine sea salt or Diamond Crystal kosher salt as the finer grains are key as is getting the salt on when hot. One last recommendation - the better the tortilla, the better the chip. I've found that El Milagro corn tortillas are fantastic - look in the refrigerated section of your local Hispanic market.
Margarita
I’m Mexican. The instructions are very wrong. You cut the tortillas and let them dry for at least 24 hours. They have to be hard before you fry them. Otherwise, they will not only absorb a lot of oil, they will break very easily.
Liz
@Anne: Step 1 leaves out the essential part of allowing the cut pieces to dry.
Ted
One more suggestion - allow the tortillas to dry out before frying. Placing in single layer directly on the racks in a 200 degree oven for 30 mins or so does the trick. Then cut and fry....
Katherine
I can't imagine baking these in the oven for 35 minutes -- they would be crispy critters! 10 minutes, tops. Agree with another poster -- oiling the tortillas before cutting them into chips is the easiest way to go.
Katherine
I brush the tortillas with oil on one side, then stack them, then cut them. Much easier.
John
I don't cut the tortillas all the way through the center; fry them in one piece and then break apart the individual wedges.
Nancy Harmer
For a low-carbohydrate or gluten free option, I now make my own tortilla chips by melting 2 cups of shredded mozzarella and combining this with 1 cup of almond flour. Roll out between two sheets of parchment paper, cut into triangles and bake at 180C for 8-10 minutes. Delicious and crispy and they remain so as nachos.
Biscuit’s Mummy
Cutting the tortillas into 6 wedges isn’t missing. It’s actually the very first sentence in the first step.
Anne
See step 1.
Winifred
Agree with Grandmadoc-brush with oil and stack before cutting. I also sprinkle with salt right after I brush with oil. Easier all around and you can control amount of oil and salt much more easily. The salt sticks better too.
Euphemia Thompson
Do one OR the other. A better direction would have been "Option 1 step 2". "Option 2 step 2". You can bake OR fry. It was unclear.
MINT Nutrition
To obtain an even, quick bake, bake the whole or cut (oiled) tortillas on cake rakes placed on the baking sheets. No need to flip the tortillas.
Melinda Tha Cook
I baked these the first 20 minutes. They were nearly too brown at that. 15 more minutes would have been a disaster.
Rob
I made these in my oven on the air fryer setting. Three minutes, sprinkle with tajin seasoning and basil salt, done. They'll go great with the slow cooker chili I've got simmering if my wife and I don't eat them all first! Highly recommend.
Lisa Thompson
Tried the baked version for corn tortillas that were too stale for anything else. Left them spread out in a single layer overnight, then spritzed each with olive oil spray & sprinkled with fine sea salt & cumin before cutting. They were already dry enough that kitchen shears worked better than a knife for that. A dark metal sheet pan in lower third of oven was over-browned at 10 min. The light metal pan in the top third got pulled at 10 min, chips were flipped, then in 2 more minutes
Sherry1950
I am salt restricted. I made these to go with guacamole. I will be making them again! I baked them after oiling them and they were absolutely delicious. Probably they are even better fried but I was too lazy to get out the fryer. I added just a tiny amount of salt sprinkled on most of them but the ones I left plain tasted good too! Oiling the stack before cutting will make it even easier to do!
Parsa
Mine were burnt (though edible) at the 20 minute mark. I’ll bake them for much shorter next time.
Nancy Harmer
For a low-carbohydrate or gluten free option, I now make my own tortilla chips by melting 2 cups of shredded mozzarella and combining this with 1 cup of almond flour. Roll out between two sheets of parchment paper, cut into triangles and bake at 180C for 8-10 minutes. Delicious and crispy and they remain so as nachos.
diane schou
how to succesfully make tortillas from corn kernels? I tried again and again and failed.
Frying store bought tortillas is not real cooking
Frying store bought to tortillas is not cooking- not impressed with recipe!
John
I don't cut the tortillas all the way through the center; fry them in one piece and then break apart the individual wedges.
Lirpa
Air frying is the way to go for perfect home made tortilla chips. Spray your corn tortillas with olive oil spray and sprinkle with salt, then use a pizza cutter to cut each corn tortilla into 8 chips each (just like you would cut up a pizza). Put in air fryer and voila! Perfect chips. You’re missing out if you haven’t tried this method. Love it even more than store bought chips. If you really want to blow your mind, try adding a squeeze of lime on each tortilla. You’re welcome.
Margarita
I’m Mexican. The instructions are very wrong. You cut the tortillas and let them dry for at least 24 hours. They have to be hard before you fry them. Otherwise, they will not only absorb a lot of oil, they will break very easily.
katethomas56
Discovered making our own baked tortilla chips when the grocery delivered a bag of 50 corn tortillas instead of 12 as usual. Never looked back, so easy and rewarding. Sprinkle with good coarse salt while they are still hot!
Guera
I do the same. Easy, healthy, delicious.
Mjan
Are we to doth BOTH step 2 and 3?? Or is it "either one"?
Euphemia Thompson
Do one OR the other. A better direction would have been "Option 1 step 2". "Option 2 step 2". You can bake OR fry. It was unclear.
EMB
Another easy way to prep these is in an air fryer! I use the IP Air Fryer hood and make wonderful chips quickly and in a (reasonably) healthy manner.
Private notes are only visible to you.
Advertisement
