Baked Tortilla Chips

Make your own healthy baked tortilla chips! Crunchy, salty, everything you need in a good chip without the grease.

Crisp, warm, with the wholesome flavor of corn shining through, these baked tortilla chips are delicious! You’ll find that it’s hard to stop eating them right from the oven.

It seems like I always have part of a package of corn tortillas hanging around my pantry. I love corn tortillas for recipes like these sheet pan breakfast tostadas, fish tacos, or this yummy Mexican lasagna with Swiss chard. Baking your own tortilla chips is a perfect way to use the remaining tortillas.

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

About Homemade Tortilla Chips

Why make your own chips? There are a bunch of reasons.

• Fun to make! I 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 me 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 a great way to use up leftover corn tortillas.
• 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.

Serving Suggestions

With dips. Dip the chips into restaurant-style salsa (or chipotle salsa!), or even better, guacamole. Tortilla chips match perfectly with easy sausage dip or creamy refried bean dip. For a quick lunch, make homemade black bean dip. It’s healthy, 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 homemade 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.

Ingredient Notes

• Corn Tortillas: Plain corn tortillas are all you need. Flour tortillas work okay, too, but having tested both, hubby and I both agree that corn tortillas taste far better.
• Cooking Spray: For the best 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 the best. I’ll show you other ways to season your chips, too.

How To Make Tortilla Chips

Prep the pan. Get your oven preheating and find a nice big sheet pan or cookie sheet. I like to use a pan with a rim. Otherwise, the chips have a tendency to slide right off into my oven. If you want, go ahead and make two pans full at the same time. Why not?

If you want to make clean-up easier, line the pans with parchment paper. I do find that the chips get crispier without paper, though.

Give the pans a light 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.

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 super fast from light brown to burnt. You’ll find that even the chips that look pretty brown taste really great.

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

Troubleshooting Tips

Why are my baked tortilla chips chewy? 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. If you’re not eating the chips immediately, cool them completely before storing them to prevent condensation in the container.

How can I make stale tortilla chips taste better? 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.

Recipe Variations

• 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 easy 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 them in your air fryer. Try air fryer tortilla chips. They’re much the same but take less time to bake.

Storage & Reheating Tips

Homemade baked tortilla chips are best eaten fresh. If you have leftover chips, cool them completely and store in an airtight container for up to a week on the counter.