Homemade Tortilla Chips

Key Ingredients and Substitutions

For crispy, airy tortilla chips, you need just three things – tortillas, oil, and salt.

In the printable recipe below, you can find a complete list of ingredients and measurements.

• Corn Tortillas: You can use white, yellow, or blue corn tortillas, but don’t cheap out on the tortillas. It is tempting to buy the cheapest since you are frying them, but better tortillas produce better chips.
• Oil: Any neutral oil will work – canola, vegetable, peanut, or soybean. Just be sure the oil you use has a high enough smoke point since you will fry the chips at 350°F.
• Salt: We prefer kosher or flaky finishing salt on our chips, but you can use any salt you prefer.

Fried, Baked, or Air-Fried – What’s the Best Method

For the best tortilla chips, they have to be fried. Frying produces light, crispy chips that you can’t get from baking or air frying. We include instructions for all three methods, but here are the differences between them.

• Baking produced chips that tasted almost stale, in our opinion. It is an easier method since you are not standing over a pot of hot oil monitoring chips, but the results were lackluster. Leftover baked chips also don’t last as long as fried chips.
• Air-frying tortilla chips is almost as good as frying them, but not quite. They are crispier than baked but still lack the light and airy crisp you get from frying. There is still oil used when air-frying, so I’m sure the slight health benefit really is worth it.
• Frying does require more time and technique, but the finished chip is worth it. Fried tortilla chips are crispier and have more flavor than the other methods. No, it is not the healthiest cooking method, but the amount of oil that is left on the chips is not as significant as you probably think. Save your fried indulgences for the dishes that need them because baked simply doesn’t compare to fried tortilla chips.

How to Make Homemade Tortilla Chips

Here are the quick step-by-step instructions with visuals; you can find the full instructions with the exact ingredients in the recipe card below.
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Pro-tip: For the best tortilla chips, we recommend frying them, as baking and air-frying do not produce as crispy chips.

How to Make Fried Tortilla Chips

1. Cut Tortillas into Wedges: On a cutting board, stack up the tortillas and cut them into 6 triangular wedges.

2. Fry Tortilla Chips: Add neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or peanut ) to a wide, high-sided pot or cast iron pan that is ¼ to ½ inch deep, heating the oil to 350°F. Working in batches, gently place the tortilla triangles into the hot oil and fry for 2 to 3 minutes until the chips are golden and crispy, flipping as needed. Remove the chips from the oil with a slotted spoon, tongs, or spider strainer, and place them on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Season with salt immediately.

3. Serve: Cool for one or two minutes, then serve with your favorite salsa, queso, or guacamole.

How to Make Baked Tortilla Chips

1. Cut Tortillas into Wedges: Lightly brush each tortilla with neutral oil, stack them on a cutting board, and cut them into 6 triangular wedges.

2. Bake Tortilla Chips: Arrange the cut tortilla triangles in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated 375°F oven until golden brown and crispy, about 7-10 minutes. Season with salt after baking.

How to Make Air-Fried Tortilla Chips

1. Cut Tortillas into Wedges: Lightly brush each tortilla with neutral oil, stack them on a cutting board, and cut them into 6 triangular wedges.

2. Air Fry Tortilla Chips: Pre-heat the air fryer to 375°F. Lightly brush each tortilla with a neutral oil and stack them up on a cutting board, then cut them into 6 triangular tortilla wedges. Arrange the cut tortilla triangles in a single layer on the air fryer basket or rack (working in batches if necessary). Air fry for 7-10 minutes, tossing or shaking chips halfway through cooking, until the chips are golden brown and crispy. Season with salt after air frying.

What to Serve with Tortilla Chips

Homemade tortilla chips are delicious all on their own but they are also a great appetizer or side. Here are a few of our favorites.

• Chips and Dip: We love them with salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, queso, and jicama black bean salad. They are also delicious with chicken salad.
• Nachos: We love using leftover chili to make chili cheese nachos. Or load them up with your favorite toppings for quick and easy sheet pan nachos.
• Migas: If you have leftover chips, turn them into migas the next day for a quick and delicious breakfast.
• Soups and Stews: Tortilla chips are also great with a hearty chili or stew as a side or crumbled up for a crunchy topping.
• Seafood: Tortilla chips pair well with raw seafood dishes like ceviche and seafood towers.

How to Store

Tortilla chips are best enjoyed within 24 hours, but you can store them in a reusable plastic bag or air-tight container. They should remain crispy for another day or so.

Recipe Tips and Notes

• Use a thermometer. The oil needs to be at a steady 350°F to prevent the chip from burning if it is too hot or being chewy if it is too low. We recommend using an instant-read cooking thermometer.
• Fry in batches. To help keep the oil at a steady temperature and not overcrowd the pain, you will need to fry the chips in batches. This also will keep them from sticking together as they fry.
• Season. Sprinkle with salt as soon as they come out of the oil to get the most flavor.