Light, flaky, and crisp, seasoned with a variety of sweet and savory spices, Baked Flour Tortilla Chips are a satisfying low-guilt snack.
This is going to sound odd coming from someone who happily spends so much of her time preparing and writing about food, but the last thing I feel like doing this weekend is cooking!
As much as I enjoy all of the baking, meal planning, and prepping that come along with the holidays, I think it’s all finally caught up with me. When I went to pull a spatula out of its canister yesterday and the handle detached in my hand, I knew it was time for some quick-fix recipes.
I’m now on Day 2 of enjoying the wonderful world of Rotisserie Chicken (translate: Curried Chicken Salad for lunch, yes!), and one of my favorite minimal-effort snacks: Baked Flour Tortilla Chips.
This is probably the shortest post and the most informal recipe that I’ll ever share on Striped Spatula (it’s more of a guideline, really). But it’s a fun way to use up leftover tortillas that might be hanging out in your refrigerator.
When cut into strips or wedges and baked, flour tortillas take on a crisp, flaky, cracker-like texture.
For a savory snack, they’re delicious baked with a little olive oil and sea salt, or topped with just about any of your favorite herbs and spices. (Za’atar, Italian Herbs with Parmigianno Reggiano, and Hungarian Paprika with Garlic are some of my favorites, pictured in this post.)
For something sweet, the tortillas are also delicious brushed with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar.
As an alternative to flour tortillas, the baked chip concept also works well with wonton wrappers and, of course, pita wedges. (Baking times will vary by a few minutes depending on thickness.) Wontons develop a shatteringly-crisp texture when baked and are especially good with cinnamon-sugar.
For a gluten-free option, corn tortillas can also be used, although I find that some brands can be a little tougher than their flour counterparts when baked. It’s all a matter of preference and experimentation to find which combinations you and your family enjoy most.
Baked tortilla chips are a great, low-guilt snack for any day, but especially now as we’re hanging out in yoga pants and recovering from all the rich foods that we’ve indulged in over the past month. I like to serve the savory chips with a little hummus, alongside a bowl of soup, or crumbled onto a salad. (They’re also delicious with your favorite chili on Game Day.)
Cinnamon-sugar chips are great on their own (and, in my experience, tend to disappear as quickly as they’re made), but I’ve never turned down a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt on the side. The flavor reminds me of the “Fried Ice Cream” dessert I always ordered as a child at a Mexican restaurant in town, with a few (hundred) less calories.
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Baked Flour Tortilla Chips
Ingredients
- 6- to 8-inch flour tortillas
- olive or vegetable oil (savory chips) OR
- melted butter (sweet chips)
- spices and seasonings , to taste
Savory Chip Seasoning Ideas:
- Sea Salt
- Italian Herbs and grated Parmigiano Reggiano (thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil)
- Za'atar Seasoning (sumac, seasame seeds, cumin, thyme, oregano, marjoram)
- Hungarian Paprika, Sea Salt, and Garlic Powder
- Garlic Powder, grated Parmiggiano Reggiano, and Sea Salt
Sweet Chip Ideas:
- Cinnamon Sugar (1/4 cup granulated sugar mixed with 1-1/2 to 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush each side of a tortilla with about 1/2 teaspoon oil or melted butter. Sprinkle one or both sides of tortilla with seasoning of choice.* Using a sharp knife or pizza wheel, cut tortilla in half and then crosswise into 1-inch wide strips, or simply cut into 8-wedges, and place in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Bake until light golden brown and crisp 5-12 minutes (see note below), rotating pans halfway through if baking more than one at a time. Cool to room temperature. Baked chips keep well, stored in an airtight tin, for up to a week. (I find that the flavor and texture are actually best after a day or two.)
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
About our recipes
Please note that our recipes have been developed using the US Customary measurement system and have not been tested for high altitude/elevation cooking and baking.
I had a pack of street corn seasoning I threw on some of these and served with my chicken enchilada soup and it made our dinner over the top. I love the pumpkin pie spice idea, I’ll have to try that one morning with my coffee. I’m a sucker for pumpkin spice anything 🥰.
WOW! Thank you! Just made these using the new OroWheat keto tortillas and some Johnny’s garlic seasoning. Super flakey and crispy! Did them in my Cuisinart counterop oven, 3 minutes, turn, 3 minutes. Thanks so much. I love sumac so za’ahtar will be my next batch!
omg….yum! I sprinkled mine with za’atar seasoning and baked them 5 min. They came out a little crispy around the edges and slightly chewy in the middle. Used them to scoop up some lemon dill hummus and what a great treat they were!
Just made using Italian season, parm and sea salt, baked convection setting at 400 for 5 min and they were perfect! I will be making these amazing crackers often.
OMG… these were AWESOME! PERFECT with chicken tortilla soup. Turned out perfect in the convection oven at 400. Sprinkled with Badia Complete Seasoning (garlic, onion, salt). I can’t wait to bake another batch. I was unsure how they would turn out so I only used 3 tortillas. Mistake… baking the rest of the bag tomorrow!!!
I brushed them with veg oil and seasoning salt….I only cooked them about 6 minutes..so good! now i have to try sweet variations :)
Burnt after 7 minutes.
Annabelle, variation in baking time is addressed in the recipe notes. Best to read through in entirety before making the recipe.
Works so well with low-carb Mission tortillas for a low-carb/keto snack or meal! This is the exact recipe I’ve been looking for!
Just tried this and they came out great! Slightly soft and then more crispy batch. Thanks for sharing.
I made these chips using Misson Carb Balance Whole Wheat Tortillas for my hubby, who is on a modified keto diet. Before baking, I put the plain tortillas, one at a time, in a pan on medium-high for a few minutes, flipping often, to steam excess moisture out of them. As soon as they started taking on color I took them off the heat.
THEN I brushed with butter, salt, and pepper, and followed the striped spatula recipe.
They were wonderful! They came out crisp and crunchy, with a texture similar to pita chips, but not as dense. Hubby hasn’t had chips or crackers of any kind on his diet, and he was ecstatic!
My husband and I are trying to stick to a low carb, not keto, but close to. So I tried these with the carb balance flour tortilla which have 4 carbs per 1 shell. Which makes it wonderful when you get 8 wedges(chips) out of 4 carbs compared to your typical chip of way more. Made the baked version as described in the recipe. Will say they were good but they lacked that crispy crunch you want out of a chip. They reminded me more of a pita chip which are good as well. So since I was craving that crunch I tried to pan fry with very little oil to help keep them on the lower fat side still. Got closer to the crispiness I was looking for but they tasted more burnt than what I wanted. So I’m going to try them again in the oven, turn temp down and slowly cook them. I’m thinking 250 for 20-30 minutes.
Christy,
In order to reduce the carb count, low carb products are made with different proportions of flour, starches, and glutens. They don’t crisp up the way regular tortillas do, and I don’t recommend them for this recipe to turn out as shown.
While regular flour tortillas will yield the crisp and flaky chips described, they will not have the sturdy crunch of fried classic tortilla chips.
I made these, convection oven 400 degrees in 8 min. Wonderful!!!! Thank you!
Yum yum!! Leftover tortillas from the local Mexican restaurant. Sprayed canola oil on them, and sprinkled pumpkin pie spice. Came out awesome!! (Threw sugar on them at the end, when I realized I’d forgotten that). Made a second batch with bacon burger seasonings. Yum!!
First, recipes that aren’t really recipes are the best! I do this on occasion too, Amanda — but you’ve put together some really interesting flavor combos — Za’tar? Yes. I’m making that one.