Baked Tortilla Chips
Love the warm, salty chips that you get in Mexican restaurants? Homemade baked tortilla chips are so easy to do at home, three ingredients, you might never buy another bag of tortilla chips again!
Why I love these tortilla chips so much
It’s no secret that I love Mexican food!  It is hands down my favorite cuisine, and I am positive I will never tire of it!  Next week is Cinco de Mayo, and you can bet I’ll be sharing more than a few Mexican inspired recipes leading up to the day.  If you are a history buff I’m sure you know that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration observed to commemorate the Mexican armies unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.  (It’s should not  be mistaken for Mexico’s Independence Day the most important national holiday in Mexico celebrated on September 16.) I’m the equivalent of cookie monster only with tortilla chips.  Tortilla chips are a staple.  So when we sat down to eat our tamale pie recently and I realized we had nary a tortilla chip in the house, I went into MacGyver mode!  Because, I did have corn tortillas and you know what tortillas chips are right?  They are just fried little wedges of corn tortilla! A few simple ingredients and you too can make your own tortilla chips. Who needs store-bought chips, you can make them faster than running to the grocery store!
Gather these ingredients
How to make baked corn tortilla chips
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Take a stack of 10 tortillas, and cut them in half with a sharp knife. Then set one half on top of the other.
Cut that stack in half and then each of those pie pieces again until you have nice triangle shaped wedges for your homemade tortilla chip recipe!
Place all your corn tortilla wedges in a bowl and drizzle with 1/2 tablespoon or 2 teaspoons of canola oil or any neutral oil that you have on hand. Then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, toss the chips around until they are mostly covered with oil and salt. Spread tortilla wedges out in a single layer on a 12×15 inch baking sheet. Place in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes in oven remove test to see if they are all crispy. If not remove the crispy chips to a piece of parchment paper that you’ve laid out on the counter, and place the undone chips back in the oven for another few minutes. Watch them closely because they will burn quickly.
Now repeat all this with the second 10 corn tortillas. If you have a double oven you could have to sheet pans going at the same time or you can place two pans in one oven, but you might want to rotate the pans because the top baking sheet of tortilla chips might get done faster than the bottom pan.
Tips & Variations
- Baking time: Keep an eye on the chips after putting them in the oven, be sure to set a timer. All oven temps run differently but your chips should be done between 10-15 minutes.
- Storage: If you have any tortilla chips left, store them in an airtight container, or a zip-loc bag.
- Yellow or White Corn Tortillas: The answer is either or both. Making homemade corn tortillas chips is a great way to use up any leftover corn tortillas you have in your refrigerator.
- Seasoning: You do not have to stick with salt. After drizzling with oil you could toss your chips in chili lime seasoning (like Mrs. Dash Southwest Seasoning) or add chili powder alongside kosher salt. A teaspoon of taco seasoning is also a delicious alternative to salt.
- Lime Chips: If you like salty lime chips after you remove chips from oven, give them a quick drizzle of fresh lime juice straight from the oven. Just a little squeeze, and toss them around a little bit.
- Serving: This is easy, serve them with your favorite salsa, pico de gallo, any and all of your favorite dips
- Reheating: If your chips go cold and you want to warm them up just pop them on a plate or platter into the microwave for 15-20 seconds.
The rest of the story….
Back to the story of tamale pie without corn chips, my family actually sat, watched, and waited while I went into preservation mode to get chips on the table for dinner. LOL. Â I’m sure that sounds absolutely ridiculous to most people, but well we do love us some chips!
If I had to pick one food that I could eat everyday it would be chips, salsa, and guacamole! I never get tired of it. Please take a moment to give this recipe a star rating below in the recipe card. From my table to yours, Sheila
Baked Tortilla Chips
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
Ingredients
- 20 corn tortillas
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Cut corn tortillas into 8 pieces each. This is easiest if you keep them in a stack and cut them all at once.
- Place half the pieces in a mixing bowl and drizzle 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over, tossing as you drizzle. Then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, toss again.
- Lay tortilla wedges on a baking sheet, its ok if pieces overlap a little bit.
- Place in preheated oven for 5 minutes, remove, flip wedges over with a spatula or tongs, return to oven and bake another 5 minutes, checking frequently. If any wedges seem to be getting burnt removed to a plate and return pan to the oven until all wedges start to brown and become crisp! Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with more salt, let set a minute then remove chips to a plate or bowl.
- Repeat process with remaining corn tortilla wedges.
Notes
Nutrition
Made these last night for a quick snack after a long day at sports! Warm and delicious! We gobbled them all up with fresh quacamole! One of my kids said “wow, you made real chips” so thanks for making me look really cool!
They are so easy! But you’re welcome! You are pretty cool, I don’t think I had much to do with that! xo, Sheila
Yummers!! Making these May 5th!!
You make me laugh. I love your reference to cookie monster, I can TOTALLY relate! I order corn tortillas in the restaurant, but I have noticed that in the really authentic ones, do they even give you a choice? I find that when cooking Mexican, I buy flour because it holds together better for the little hands in my family.
xoxo