Recipe: Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips

Have you had Xochitl tortilla chips? They are evil. They ruined all other tortilla chips for me, as no other chip could ever hope to compare.

At least, I thought no other chip would ever compare. But then I made my own. And better yet, instead of frying them, I baked them.

And I am here to promise you that these chips are better than any other chip I’ve ever had, except maybe fresh chips in a good Mexican Restaurant.

Ingredients

• oil of your choice, preferably in a spray can
• corn tortillas
• salt
• other seasonings (optional)
  chili powder, taco seasoning, powdered cheese, herbs, lime juice, cilantro, cinnamon and sugar! etc. etc. etc.

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Locate your tortillas. I’ve tried pretty much every brand- they’re all tasty. The Mission Extra Thin happen to be my favorite, but try whatever happens to be on sale and you can find your own favorite. Yellow or white, doesn’t matter.
   3-4 tortillas is a good small to average serving for one person
   5-6 tortillas is a good giant serving for one person
   
2. Spray the front and back of each tortilla with your oil of choice. Just a light spray. You can use cooking spray or you can even brush on the oil with a pastry brush, but I love the hell out of my Misto Oil Sprayer. If you don’t have one, you’ll want one soon. I make these chips so often, I can’t keep my kitchen stocked with enough cooking spray, so now I can use whatever oil I want- it’s way cheaper over all and makes a lot less waste. I could have stuck with a brush, but the sprayer gives a more even, light coat.
   
3. Cut the tortillas into 6 wedges. You can do 8 if you want smaller chips.
   
4. Arrange the tortilla wedges in a single layer on the pan. The edges can touch, but shouldn’t overlap too much. If they won’t fit on one pan, grab a second pan, or cook them in batches.
   Sprinkle the salt on top. I like to grind kosher salt in my mortar and pestle so it’s super fine, like popcorn salt. You can skip the salt if you watch your sodium. I’m a salt fiend, though.
   If you want to try another seasoning, go crazy! You can make cilantro lime chips, cinnamon sugar chips to go with a dessert dip, mix some cheesy popcorn topping with taco seasoning for your own gourmet doritos!
   
5. Pop the pan(s) in the oven. Mine usually take about 7-9 minutes.

   You’ll want to keep an eye on them after they’ve been in for about 5 minutes, because once they start to get a little color, they can go straight to burned pretty quickly. Pull them out when they’ve got some good golden brown color.
   

6. Let them cool for a few minutes- they will be VERY HOT. Serve with salsa (I have yummy salsa verde from the Farmer’s Market in the photo), guacamole (my favorite), hummus, or any dip of your choice.
   Sprinkle some cheese on top and throw them back in the oven for a minute for nachos.
   I have been known to crunch away with no dip at all.

They are best eaten fresh, but sometimes if there are leftovers (RARE!), I put them in a resealable plastic bag. They’d probably last 2-3 days that way… I can’t say for sure because they never last that long.