The Best Homemade Tortilla Chip Recipe.Who doesn’t love tortilla chips, right? And even better when they’re made at home.
You can make restaurant-quality tortilla chips to rival the best Mexican restaurants, and you can even serve them warm for added deliciousness. What’s brilliant about making your own is that you can enjoy them any time you want without having to order food to go or leave your house at the last minute in search of a restaurant.
You can enjoy your homemade tortilla chips in so many ways, too. Serve them with dips and salsa, make them into chilaquiles or tortilla soup, or put them into a salad with Mexican toppings for a taco salad. Or top them with cheese and stick them under the grill for some quick and tasty nachos. The possibilities are endless!
There are two ways to make your chips. You can start with store-bought tortillas or make your tortillas from scratch (easier than you think!)
Store-bought tortilla method
If using store-bought tortillas, preheat some oil in a large pan to 340 degrees. Line a baking tray with paper towels.
Cut your tortillas into wedges – stack 5 tortillas on top of each other and cut them into triangles with a knife or pizza cutter. Cut 6 ‘pie wedges’.
Add enough wedges to fit in a single layer in the oil, and cook until they curl slightly (about 20 seconds). Remove them with a spider strainer and flip over, cooking the other side for 20 seconds more. They should darken slightly but not brown.
Remove them from the oil and let dry on the paper towels. Season with salt, and you’re done!
Note: You could bake your chips if you prefer: bake them in a single layer on baking sheets at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 7 minutes. Then salt as normal.
Tortillas from scratch method
This recipe will make 12 flour tortillas, to then make 72 tortilla chips.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour (all-purpose)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon lard (don’t substitute anything else, or it won’t work as well)
- 3/4 cup water
Method
Combine all three dry ingredients in a large bowl, then mix in the lard using your fingers. You want to achieve a cornmeal-style texture with the flour mixture.
Now add the water and mix to form the dough. Take it from the bowl and place on a floured countertop or cutting board, and knead for a few minutes. You want the dough’s texture to become smooth and stretchy (this is the gluten becoming activated).
Divide into 12 equal parts. Roll each one into a ball.
If you have a tortilla press like at https://unocasa.com/products/tortilla-press, put the dough in the middle, and press to form your tortilla. Trim away any excess with a knife, and reserve for making more tortillas.
Otherwise, use a rolling pin and a 6-inch bowl to roll out the dough flat. Get a bowl that’s 6 inches in diameter and turn it upside down onto the dough. Cut around it with a knife, and you’ll have tortillas 6 inches in diameter.
Now to cook your tortillas. Heat a big non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Place your tortillas one at a time into the skillet. Cook till the underside is just starting to brown, and the top has lightened in color. Flip your tortilla, and cook for 5 seconds more on the other side. Don’t leave it too long; otherwise, your tortilla will harden too much).
Once all of your tortillas are cooked, you can then stack them and cut them into wedges to form chips. Fry them as above, and they’re ready!
Storing your tortilla chips
If you don’t devour all of your tortilla chips for some odd reason, you can keep them for 3 days in a sealed, airtight container in a dry place. When you take them out again, you can always crisp them up again for a few minutes in either your oven or your microwave if you wish.
If you have made the dough from scratch for the tortillas, any leftover dough will keep in an airtight bag or container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Leftover cooked tortillas that are not yet fried into chips can be stored in the fridge in a bag in a stack or the freezer with slices of parchment paper between each tortilla.
Enjoy your gorgeous homemade tortilla chips!
