Homemade Potato Chips

I love potato chips. I think it is that salty crunchiness that leaves me craving them. After realizing that I bought a 10 pound bag of potatoes, I thought what the heck, lets make some potato chips! I have tried to make potato chips on countless occasions, and they have never had that crunchy bite to them. However, I must say that this time they turned out pretty good and they were surprisingly easy to make. I think the trick is to cut them very thin and a mandolin helps with this, I just set mine to 1/8″ and sliced away.

Serves: 4

You will need:

  • 2 lbs russet potatoes sliced 1/8″ thick, (peeled or unpeeled, its up to you)
  • 1 1/2 cups canola oil for frying
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  1. Heat the oil over med-high heat in a 2 qt sauce pan.
  2. Cook potatoes in batches until golden brown and crispy. About 6 minutes.
  3. Remove the chips from the oil onto a paper towel lined plate. (Note: I got a nifty little bamboo skimmer for a bridal shower present and I suggest using something similar to that to remove the chips from the oil, this results in less greasy potato chips.)
  4. Season immediately with salt and pepper. You want the chips to be hot so that the spices will adhere to them better. Serve.

These are so yummy and crunchy and not to mention easy to make, that I never have to buy potato chips at the grocery store anymore. They are also great because you can play around with any kind of spices that you want, you can add a little Cajun seasoning or for something truly different, try a sprinkling a little curry powder over the hot chips. Enjoy!

Responses to "Homemade Potato Chips"

It looks like we might have bought the same potatoes on sale, I got one huge bag at the Safeway for 99cents… Lots of potatoes! My husbands loves the potatoes chips that you posted.

- Rita

YUM! Ive never had homemade ones before… I will have to try! Thanks for sharing :)

- finsmom

Rita: I didn’t know Safeway was selling them for so cheap! I need to go get them! I’m glad your husband likes them :)
finsmom: You’re welcome!

- Deseree

The chips look great!

How did you slice the potatoes? Did you use a mandolin?

- Sara

Thanks Sara! Yep, I did use a mandolin. I set it to 1/8 inch which I find seems to work the best. If I cut them too thick they are soft when I fry them and if I cut them too thin they actually get a little too oily for my taste.

- Deseree

Oh! I’ve been meaning to look this up, in fact. Any tips on boiling them? I like kettle-cooked chips best of all, but I’m not sure if they’re the kind of thing that makes well at home.

- aleta

Aleta: Kettle chips are some of my favorite kinds of chips as well, and while I haven’t made them very often at home, I have heard about a couple techniques. First you will want to rinse the chips in cold water to help remove some of the starch. Next heat about 3-3 1/2 cups of oil (Canola or Peanut would be the best) in a dutch oven to about 300 degrees and blanch the potatoes and set aside. After all of the potatoes are blanched increase the heat of the oil to 350 degrees and fry until golden brown. Hope this helps!

- Deseree

Oh – a snack right up my alley. I can’t even buy chips for fear of eating them all in one sitting. This is so tempting!
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- Michelle

Michelle: I totally know what you mean! If Ryan and I buy a bag they are usually gone so fast! But these are great, you don’t have to make a bunch at one time and even if you do, it’s perfectly ok to give into your temptations sometimes ;-)

- Deseree

Two points:

1. orgot to mention how to slice the potatoes ?? I use an electric slicer with variable thicknesses.

2. Have you not heard of electric deep fryers ?? with a removable wire basket and thermostat ?? That way you don’t need a “skimmer” or whatever ! Electric fryers totally eliminate oil temperature guesswork !

Chips should be washed thoroughly under running water to remove the starch otherwise they tend to stick during frying. Remove excess moisture with a spinning salad bowl before frying.

Add some turmarec to the oil to colour the chips …

- Ada Bsiz

Thanks for your comments Ada. I mentioned that I sliced my chips using a mandolin in the opening of the recipe but I know that not everyone has one so I just noted that the potatoes should be sliced to 1/8″ thickness and then left it up to each cook to decide how to slice them. As far as the deep fryer goes, I wish I could get one! Unfortunately, I have ZERO space for one right now. I hope to get one when I get a bigger kitchen some day, I agree they would help out a lot with temperature guesswork. Thanks for the turmeric tip! I never thought of that. :)

- Deseree

If you don’t have space for a fryer, you can still have more than adequate temperature control as long as you KNOW the temperature. Go get a cooking thermometer!!!!! I have a 0-400F thermometer that I use for candies and frying. Ever since watching Alton Brown make really good fish and chips one episode of Good Eats, I have insisted on knowing the frying temperature of EVERYTHING I fry. Now my hush puppies are always crisp and never greasy, and when I make fried taters, they are golden like your chips.

- Shon

Thanks for the tip Shon. I will definitely have to pick one of those up! I love Alton Brown, he has so much useful information.

- Deseree

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