Baked Tortilla Chips

At a glance

What stands out: You’ll find that it’s straightforward to mix your own lighter baked tortilla chips! Baked corn tortilla chips are crunchy and salty, pretty much everything you need in a good chip without the grease.

How long it takes: 5 minutes to prep, 12 to 15 minutes to bake
Equipment you’ll need: sheet pan, oven
Servings: 3 (or as many as you want to bake)

Fresh Chips in Minutes

It’s so straightforward to mix your own chips and they are so rich! We do believe that tortilla chips and fresh pico de gallo are one of our favorite things to eat. Add an ice cold NA beer and you don’t even need dinner. We bought corn tortillas for fajitas the other night and we wasn’t feeling them, so they got turned into chips. Best decision ever.

What makes them special:

• Fun to make! We almost hesitate to call this a recipe. It’s so simple: cut tortillas, spray, bake. Once you try it, it will become part of your kitchen repertoire. Chips, anyone? Sure, let us throw some in the oven. (You’re a chip genie!)
• Economical. Corn tortillas are inexpensive compared to a pricey bag of tortilla chips. A package of 30 corn tortillas runs about 2 bucks. You can make a lot of chips with that! It’s also a great way to use up leftover corn tortillas. It seems like we always have part of a package of corn tortillas hanging around our pantry.
• Fresh flavor. Don’t you just love the basket of warm chips that’s delivered to your table when you eat at a Mexican restaurant? Baked tortilla chips right out of your oven taste just like them!
• Healthier. Since fried chips are cooked in oil, they absorb a lot of fat. Baked chips are lightly misted with oil spray, making them a healthier choice. They are lower in calories and don’t have any additives, either.
• Gluten-free. Plain corn tortillas are simply ground up corn, with no flour added.

Jamie Said:

“We’ve been making chips this way for the past couple weeks. Ever since we forgot to buy tortilla chips and we had an evening craving for chips and salsa. Love them!”

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What goes in

• Corn Tortillas: Plain corn tortillas are all you need. Flour tortillas work okay, too, but having tested both, hubby and we both agree that corn tortillas taste far better.
• Cooking Spray: For a standby taste, use olive oil spray or avocado oil spray. If you’re not into sprays, you can also use regular oil.
• Kosher Salt: For the most simple seasoning, salt is a standby. We'll show you other ways to season your chips, too.

How it comes together

Prep the pan. Get your oven preheating and find a nice big sheet pan. We always use a pan with a rim, otherwise the chips have a tendency to slide right off. Lightly mist the pans with olive oil spray.

Cut the tortillas. Cut the tortillas into small triangles or any shape you like. You can stack them up and cut a whole bunch at once if you have a good sharp knife.

Arrange in pan. Spread the pieces on the baking pan in a single layer. It’s important that they don’t overlap because where there’s overlap, there’ll be a soft spot on your chip. Not the end of the world, but still.

Spray. Coat the cut tortillas lightly with oil spray, sprinkle with salt, and pop them in the oven.

Cooking Tip

Some cooks like to spray the tortillas on both sides before cutting them. You can also brush them with oil on both sides. It’s up to you. Use whichever method you like best!

Bake. Bake the chips about 12 minutes, rotating the pan once so they brown evenly. After 12 minutes, check them every minute because once they start browning, they can go from light brown to burnt quickly. Be sure to bake the chips long enough. We found that baking the chips until they turn dark golden brown gave the crispiest results. When we baked them less time, they turned out chewy. (You’ll find that even the chips that look pretty brown taste great.)

Serve. Serve immediately while the chips are still warm, or cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Ways to serve it

With dips. Dip the chips into restaurant-style salsa (or chipotle salsa!), or even better, guacamole. Tortilla chips match evenly with straightforward sausage dip or creamy refried bean dip. For a speedy lunch, make from-scratch black bean dip. It’s lighter, low calorie, keeps well in the fridge, and goes great with these tortilla chips. For a bean dip with extra protein (it has a secret ingredient!), try southwestern black bean dip.

As a side. Make from-scratch chips as a side to go with any of your favorite Mexican dinners, like southwest salad bowls, a farro salad with roasted poblanos, fajita stuffed chicken breasts, or everyone’s favorite white chicken chili! And definitely slow cooker salsa chicken, aka taco slop.

With soup. Why not serve crisp tortilla chips with soup instead of the usual crackers? Try red lentil soup or smoky roasted tomato soup. The tortilla chips are awesome with creamy queso chili or vegetarian quinoa chili.

Ways to change it

• Use oil instead of oil spray. If you prefer not to use oil sprays, you can substitute regular oil. Use a pastry brush to lightly spread oil on both sides of the tortilla. It’s easiest to do before they are cut. However, depending on where you live, it’s pretty straightforward to find an oil spray with no additives.
• Add seasoning. Lightly sprinkle chili powder, cumin, or taco seasoning on the chips after spraying them.
• Make a double batch. Bake two pans at the same time. Why not? We usually rotate the pans halfway through the baking time so they brown evenly.
• Make them in your air fryer. Try air fryer tortilla chips. They’re much the same but take less time to bake.
• Still have some corn tortillas leftover? Use them for recipes like sheet pan breakfast tostadas, fish tacos, or Mexican lasagna!

Keeping leftovers

Storage: From-scratch baked tortilla chips are best eaten fresh. However, if you’re not eating the chips immediately, cool them completely before storing them to prevent condensation in the container. Store them in an airtight container or resealable bag for up to a week on the counter.

Reheat: To refresh chips and give them a freshly baked flavor, arrange a serving of chips on a plate and microwave in 5-second intervals. They can also be reheated in a warm oven briefly or in an air fryer until they are warm and crispy again. (Hint: This tip works well for purchased chips, too.)

• Yield: 3
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Cook: 15 minutes
• Total: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 small (6-inch) corn tortillas (yellow or white)
• avocado or olive oil spray
• ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt (more to taste)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cut each tortilla into 6 wedges. You can stack the tortillas and cut several at a time if you have a good sharp knife.
3. Spray a large baking sheet with oil spray (see note). Spread the tortilla wedges on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. (If they overlap, the overlapped portions will remain chewy instead of crisp.) Spray the cut tortillas lightly with oil spray and sprinkle with salt.
4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating pan once. Keep a close eye on them after 12 minutes (check every minute), because they can burn easily. Take the tortilla chips out when they are dark golden brown. We found that they do need to be golden brown to be crisp, otherwise they will be chewy. They may look a bit overdone but they taste best that way.

Notes

Alternate method: Some cooks like to spray the tortillas on both sides before cutting them. You can also brush them with oil on both sides. Use the method that works best for you.

Storage & reheating: Cool chips completely before storing in an airtight container or resealable bag. To refresh leftover chips, arrange them on a plate and microwave in 5 second intervals or until warm and crisp. If you prefer, use your oven, air fryer, or toaster oven to warm up the chips.

Add seasoning: Sprinkle chili powder, taco seasoning, or ground cumin along with the salt on the chips before baking to add more flavor, if desired.

Tortillas: We tested this recipe with both flour and corn tortillas. We found that we preferred corn tortilla chips but you can make the chips with flour tortillas, if you like. Corn tortillas can be yellow or white, depending on the type of corn used.