Oven *Fried* Corn Tortilla Chips
It’s late at night. You’re craving something crunchy to munch on while watching some bad TV. You don’t want to eat just any old junk food, you are health conscience and care about what you feed your body. I have been there, my friends, with nothing in the pantry that fits that bill. Usually, I have a stack of good corn tortillas in my fridge, which brings me to this post.
In my quest for healthy, yet decadent tasting snack foods, I have been experimenting with different ways of making home *fried* corn chips. The key was to have a chip that tasted like it had been put in a deep fryer, with crispy pockets of air and big flavor. After many tests, I arrived at this chip. Crispy and seasoned well, this chip is great with salsa, hummus or just eaten plain. Plus the calories are so much lower than anything you can buy in the store (that are made from natural ingredients, not chemicals). These chips are easy to make and can be baked in advance, although they are best eaten the fresh from the oven. So, the next time the chip munchies come along, try this recipe.
Start with a good corn tortilla. I like Pepitos brand because they don’t use lard and they are super low in calories. At 11 calories a chip they won’t blow your diet.
Make a stack of the tortillas and cut in half.
Now cut the stack in quarters.
Put the wedges in a good size bowl and add about 1 1/2 Tbs. of good oil. Canola is what I like to use.Peanut oil makes the crispiest chips, but the health benefits fly out the window, so I don’t recommend that oil.
Now add your spices. Here, I used a combo of onion and garlic powders, chili powders, seafood seasoning and a bit of salt.
Now toss really well. You need to make sure that all the chips have been fairly well coated to get the maximum crunch.
Lay them out on a non greased baking sheet.
Bake the chips at 425 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. Make sure to watch them because they can literally become little coal chips if your oven runs hot.
Serve with your favorite dip and enjoy!
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Much to my chagrin I’m a bit needy when it comes to exactness. If I may ask, about how many chips do you guestimate having in the bowl with the described amount of oil and also how much spice?
These look yummy and would like to give them a try.
hey BF-
First, Thanks for checking out RTS!
I used 20 tortillas and 2 Tbs. of oil.
For the spices I used a Tbs. of Oldbay and a tsp.of the onion, garlic and chili and a 1/2 tsp of salt.
This came out to making 80 chips.
Enjoy!!!
Chef Shirle’
Thank you! I’ll let you know how they turn out.
Well I was going to make these the other night and then realized that I’ve only got vegetable and olive oil. Would either of those work? I believe OO is healthier than vegetable.
you can totally use Olive or veggie oil, and yes, you are correct on the health factor. Try the OO.
enjoy!
So I tried making these but couldn’t figure out how to get the oil to coat the chips as evenly as I wanted. I had good sized bowl. A LOT of the chips wound up crumbling when I tried to toss to coat. Same thing with the spices. Got any tips or tricks?
I had a few soft Tortillas left over from taco night that I had about 3 nights ago. After reading burgeoningfoodie comment I decided to try and use a casserole dish to place the oil in so I could make sure when adding a few Tortillas at a time that the oil would coat evenly. I think it worked pretty well for my first time, may of created a little more work for myself but next time around maybe I’ll try a different method.
The secret to having your tortillas not soak up oil is to stale them first. Leave them out uncovered overnight and then fry them. It’s what you do when you are making chilequiles. I think frying tortillas for totopos (chips) and for chilequiles was invented as a way to use up stale tortillas. I find myself buying extra tortillas just so I can have them for breakfast the next morning.
regards,
Theresa
Hey Theresa!!! Long time , no hear from!
I hope you have been well-hugs to your man.
OK, everyone out there…listen to this woman…Theresa lives in Merida, Yucatan and knows what she is saying. I am going to try that as well, but I have to say that the bowl I used was rounded and super large, so the wedges had plenty of room to shuffle about. I liked the idea Mia had as well.
Check out Theresa’s blog as well.
Happy chipping!
Delicious Recipes
Awesome effort
Keep up the good work
For Vegetarian Recipes Visit http://vegetarianspot.blogspot.com/
I’m going to make more this weekend and I’m sure the fact that I’m going to a taqueria/birriria (Los Comales in Durham) is only adding to the enthusiasm. I do have to keep a watchful eye on the chips as mine went brown within about 6 minutes. I also am trying not to have them overlap so much. As far as the oil issue, I think before I cut them I’m going to lightly brush the underside of each tortilla as stack them then that will cover both sides as I stack one on top of the other. I’m also thinking of coating them with spices right out of the oven as I’m baking and not frying mine.
Those are all great ideas!
I have not been to Los Comales yet. Will try that soon.
Thanks BFoodie!
Shirle’
Here’s a recipe for when you feel like eating something good but not that bad for your belly:
4 slices of wheat bread
2 teaspoon light mayonnaise
sliced onions
grated mozzarella cheese
salt & pepper
Flatten the bread slices with a rolling pin, spread the light mayonnaise, lay some onion slices on them, sprinkle the cheese, salt & pepper. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown. Cut them in quarters and serve.
Enjoy!
Easy Comfort Foods
Sounds like something I’ve made except with better bread, apples, brie and onions and this was a weight watchers recipe..
Oh and I’ve not been to any taqueria’s yet. I want company. I’d be a bit intimidated to go by myself.
Very inventive, I have actually tried this today and sprinkled the unbaked tortillas with habanero sauce which made them nice and spicy when they came out of the oven!
So here is what I’ve found works for me. Brush the tortillas before slicing with the oil. Divide tortillas into 8ths. Arrange on parchment lined baking sheet (not overlapping) and sprinkle with whatever flavor. Bake at 350 for about 14 mins and rotate the sheet about 2/3 of the way through baking.
perfect, back home we do it the same way, but simpler: just some salt and lemon juice. Yummy!
Dang these look good. I’m a bit bummed that I just threw away a bag of corn tortillas because I left the bag opened by accident and they were getting kind of hard. Had I saw this recipe earlier I totally would have done this. But I am going to do this with my next bag. Awesome recipe. Thanks.
Thank you! I made some and they were awesome. I just posted the page link to twitter and my site and I will definitely be back for more.
Thanks,
Luke
http://www.lukebarry.wordpress.com
Another way to make these is to use cooking spray instead of oil. I lay out the tortillas whole and spray one side, flip them over and spray the other, and then cut them into fours. I lay them out on the tray and then sprinkle kosher salt and any other seasonings I want. I find that salt on one side is enough. I think this method is most effortless! Hope this is helpful.
Wow! I have yet to try making my own tortilla chips! These look great and so flavorful. It’s nice to be able to make it your own way!
Something I do when I’m in the mood for chips is I take a pump sprayer filled with EVOO, lay the chips out, spray them lightly, then sprinkle on the mix of herbs and spices, turn them, spray and sprinkle again and then bake. Been working like a charm for years. It’s also how I make sea salt potato chips, and right proper english “chips” without all the extra oil.
Thanks to Kimberly for pointing me to your blog!
These look tasty. Could “seafood seasoning” be Old Bay?