You won’t believe how different homemade tortilla chips taste from the store bought kind! There’s truly nothing like them.
In this easy recipe, I’ll show you how to make crispy, salty, golden brown tortilla chips with only a few ingredients. Get ready to change your chip game forever!
We go through a lot of chips in our house. Once every month or two, the Big Guy will make a Costco run and bring home a dozen supersized bags of chips – kettle chips, multigrain chips, chips for scooping, chips for nachos, pretzel chips, yada yada.
In a house where happy hours are a weekly event and football games are as sacred as holidays, the chip and dip action is very strong.
But the mother of all chips are these Homemade Tortilla Chips. Once you’ve made your own tortilla chips at home, it’s tough to go back to store-bought chips.
Ingredients for homemade corn tortilla chips
There are two ways to make your own homemade tortilla chips. One way is from scratch – meaning, you’ve made the tortillas using masa harina, pressed them in a tortilla press, cooked them and then turned them into chips.
The other way – the easier way – is to start with pre-made corn tortillas. And that’s what we’re doing here. So you’ll only need four simple ingredients:
- Corn tortillas
- Vegetable oil
- Sea salt
- Lime zest
How to Make these Homemade Chips
Wait till you see how easy this is. First, cut the tortillas into triangles. You can do this using a large knife or pizza cutter.
Then, drop them into a pan of hot oil and let them get golden and crispy.
Sprinkle them with the sea salt and lime zest while they’re still hot. The lime and salt are arguably the best part about these chips.
And that is all, my friends!
Substitutions and Variations
- Flour tortillas for corn tortillas. Flour tortilla chips are less common than corn chips, but I absolutely love them. Flour tortilla chips have a totally different texture and are super special. You can definitely use flour tortillas in place of the corn tortillas in this recipe.
The one downside to using flour tortillas is that, although they are amazing the same day you make them, they won’t keep. They will lose their crisp by the next day. That is, if you don’t finish them all in one sitting (which is more likely).
- Other oils for vegetable oil. For fried tortilla chips, using an oil with a high smoke point and neutral flavor is key. If you’re not going to use vegetable oil, go for canola oil, sunflower oil or even peanut oil.
- Lime juice for lime zest. Sometimes you may not have fresh limes on hand but you may have one of those bottles of lime juice in the fridge. Happens to me all the time! If you want to give your homemade tortilla chips the essence of lime without the zest, grab an empty spray bottle and fill it with lime juice. Give the hot chips a spritz of lime juice and follow with a sprinkle of salt.
- Kosher salt for sea salt. The grains of kosher salt are a bit heavier than sea salt flakes, but they’re a fine substitute. Just start with a small bit of salt at first. It’s an easy fix if these chips are under-salted, but if they’re over-salted they’re not as easy to salvage.
- Other spices & flavors. While the chips are still hot, try lightly sprinkling a little chili powder, garlic powder or even cumin over them for a fun flavor twist.
How to Bake Homemade Tortilla Chips
Baking these chips will save you some fat and calories. Start by arranging the tortilla triangles in a single layer on a baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush them with a little oil on both sides.
Bake them at 450 degrees for 3 minutes, then flip them and bake for 4 more minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on your oven, so watch them closely.
Ways to Serve Homemade Tortilla Chips
Besides standing at the kitchen counter eating these fresh tortilla chips hot out of the pan, here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy them:
- Dip them into your favorite homemade salsa, guacamole or queso dip
- Use them as a delicious base for homemade nachos
- Make chilaquiles with scrambled eggs and salsa
- Serve them on the side of Southwestern and Mexican salads
How long will homemade tortilla chips keep?
Corn tortilla chips will keep at room temperature in a sealed plastic bag or airtight container for several days. So go ahead and make extra!
If you love enjoying them warm, simply pop them into the microwave for 20 seconds.
If you make these Homemade Tortilla Chips, I’d love to hear about it! Drop a rating or leave a comment below. Enjoy!
For more easy snack recipes, try these:
How to Make Homemade Tortilla Chips (Easy Recipe)
Ingredients
- 12 corn or flour tortillas
- 2 cups vegetable oil
- 2 Tbsp. flaky sea salt
- 1 lime zested
Instructions
- Zest the lime. Combine sea salt and lime zest in a small bowl.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. There should be 1/2 inch of oil.
- Cut each tortilla into 6 triangles. Drop the triangles into the hot oil. When they start to turn golden around the edges (about 2 minutes), flip them over. Cook another 1 minute.
- Remove onto a paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle immediately with the lime salt.
Baking Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange tortilla triangles in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Brush tortillas on both sides with oil. Sprinkle with lime salt. Bake 3 minutes. Flip. Bake 4 more minutes.
I lived in Mexico 4 years while young when my parents were Missionaries there. My sister & I took a daily walk to a woman on a sidewalk making & selling homemade corn tortillas outside each morning. I have never had any like those here in the U.S. They were soft & delicious! I cannot master making tortillas, but a simple way to make tortilla chips is just to buy corn tortillas, cut in quarters & deep fry. Amazing how much better they taste than ANY tortilla chips I have bought here in the US. Cheap & easy to make too.
I totally agree, Marianne!