Potato chips are a go-to snack for a party or just lounging at home watching the movie. Unfortunately, most brands of potato chips available in stores are loaded with excess salt and oil, making them a rough choice for your health. We've got the recipe for you to make potato chips right in the comfort in your own home and give you full control over what goes into them to make them as flavorful and healthy as possible. But not too healthy. Read on for a few ways to make these crisps:
Classic Potato Chips
Ingredients:
- Two Yukon Gold potatoes
- Two quarts of vegetable oil
- One tablespoon salt
- One teaspoon black pepper
- One teaspoon smoked paprika
- A mandoline
Instructions:
- Wash your potatoes
- Using the mandoline, slice both potatoes into thin slices. Aim for a 1/4 to 1/3 inch in size.
- Place the potato slices in a bowl filled with cold water. Let sit for at least 15 minutes, ideally an hour, to remove as much starch from the potatoes as possible. The less starch, the better the potatoes will fry.
- Strain the potato slices and dry them with paper towel
- Fill a pot with the vegetable oil and heat to 300 degrees
- Place a few chips in the pot -- be careful not to let any chips stick together or stack on top of each other, as they won't fry properly.
- When the chips stop bubbling in the oil, they are fully cooked. Be sure to flip a couple of times to ensure both sides get an even, golden brown color to them.
- Remove the chips and place them on a paper towel to absorb excess oil
- Place the chips in a bowl, add the seasonings and toss
- Repeat this process for all the potato slices
Seasoning Variations
Once you've gotten the tasty basic potato chip down, you can broaden your horizons with spices and seasonings to make this snack something even more special.
Salt And Vinegar
For a classic salt and vinegar flavor, take the classic homemade potato chip recipe and remove the smoked paprika and pepper. After frying the chips, toss them in kosher salt and a few tablespoons of distilled white vinegar. The vinegar and salt pairs well with fried potato, making this a tasty side dish or snack using nothing but cheap ingredients.
Spicy Chili Pepper Chips
For a potato with an extra kick, try adding more seasonings to your basic potato chip -- spices such as cayenne pepper, chili powder and crushed chili flakes all add tons of flavor on top of a nice level of spice. Adding dried thyme or oregano helps balance out the heat level if it's a little overwhelming while also providing a unique taste to the chip.
Cheesy Chips
Parmesan is key for adding cheese to your chips. Add grated parmesan, onion powder, garlic powder and dried basil for an Italian-style potato chip that's loaded with taste. It's important to note that parmesan is very salty, so be sure to taste the chips after adding all the seasoning and add salt to taste if necessary.
Chip Variations
Potatoes are the go-to option when making chips that will never let you down, but if you feel like experimenting, there's a couple of different root vegetables to make some truly outstanding chips.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a healthy and tasty choice for making chips. Follow the standard recipe, although it's recommended to remove the skin from the sweet potatoes. After frying the chips, try seasonings such as salt, pepper, brown sugar and a very small touch of maple syrup for a sweet, flavorful crisp.
Taro Root
Taro root makes for a very flavorful chip, although more care must be taken when preparing the vegetable. You'll need to remove the skin of the root and slice them on the mandoline no thicker than a quarter of an inch -- taro needs to be quite thin to fry properly. Soak the taro slices in water for at least an hour, as they are quite high in starch. After frying the chips, toss the taro chips in a touch of kosher salt, and they're good to go. Salt is all that's needed to bring out this root's flavor.