Homemade Tortilla Chips

I don’t know that it ever occurred to me to make home made tortilla chips until yesterday when I realized I had this huge bowl of salsa I needed to eat and nothing to eat it with. OK so I did have some beef and pork and tortillas and other fixins’ to make tacos. But honestly the amount of salsa I made was so great that it would have taken me more tacos than I could eat to make my way through all that salsa.

So I thought about going to the store to get a package of tortilla chips. But it seemed like such a pain to take the time to stop at the store on my way home from work or even to walk to the local Mexican grocery store after I get home from work. And also if I were going to buy a package of chips I would have an enormous amount of chips leftover after finishing my salsa. That would pose a new problem where I would have to find other reasons to eat the chips. And nobody needs to eat an entire bag of tortilla chips on their own.

So I tentatively decided to make my own chips using some corn tortillas I picked up over the weekend. I did a quick Google search for tortilla chip recipes and found an easy albeit not incredibly detailed recipe on food network.com. I decided to wing it and replicate the vague recipe. The recipe is so incredibly easy and uses only three ingredients (tortilla, oil and salt). Plus you can control exactly how much or how little you make.

I have to tell you that though it may seem a bit extravagant and unnecessary to make your own tortilla chips it is truly worth the very simple extra effort to have fresh homemade tortilla chips. And if you have a deep-fryer (which I don’t) the job is even easier. Never fear if you are like me and do not regularly fry food. You can fry anything in a small pot or pan.

ingredients.

• corn tortillas
• oil (you can use canola, vegetable, peanut – I used avocado)
• kosher salt

directions.

1. In a tall saucepan, heat a small amount of oil just over medium heat. Medium heat for me is “5.” I had the burner set to “6.” I put about 1/4-inch of oil in the bottom of my pot. Maybe less.
2. Cut tortillas into 6 even wedges. Drop into the oil and fry until the tortillas puff up and start to brown. You want to make sure you cook them enough so that they cook all the way through and are not soggy so don’t be afraid of a little brown. Just don’t overcook.
3. Remove from the oil and drain. Season with kosher salt immediately. Let cool slightly or completely and serve immediately with your favorite salsa or some guacamole.

I used 6 tortillas (which is 300 calories) to make a bowl of tortilla chips for one. It was a bit too much to eat but still somehow managed to eat my way to the bottom of the bowl.

Recipe rating: 