These super-crispy homemade potato chips are soaked in a water-and-vinegar bath, fried in small batches, and seasoned just the way you like. They’re surprisingly easy to make and ready to eat in about 30 minutes. If you’re anything like me, you’ll devour the entire batch as soon as they come out of the fryer.
The cool thing about making everyday things from scratch, like homemade mayonnaise and hand-cut French fries, is that you know exactly what’s in them and how they’ll taste. The same goes for potato chips. When I want a light and airy chip, I go for this potato chip recipe. I love how they’re fried in my choice of oil and seasoned with whatever I’m craving. Sure, they’re more work than picking up a bag from the store, but eating just one makes me never want to settle for the processed stuff ever again.
Potato Chips from Scratch
Making your own potato chips might seem silly when there’s an entire grocery store aisle dedicated to every brand and flavor. But store-bought bags are usually packed with weird additives and artificial flavors that are too much for my taste buds. Making them yourself gives you total control over the ingredients, including the quality of the cooking oil and seasonings.
I’ll show you how pulling off perfect homemade chips all comes down to just a few basic steps. I start by slicing the potatoes as thinly as possible and giving them a quick water and vinegar bath. From there, it’s just a matter of frying the potato slices in small batches in hot oil, letting them drain, and tossing them in the seasonings of your choice. One bite and you’ll notice how the chips are lighter, airier, and more flavorful than anything at the store.
Every kitchen I’ve ever worked in made potato chips in-house using these basic techniques because the flavor and crunch are ridiculously good. I can still hear my head chef yelling at us for eating too many instead of saving them for guests. Lucky for you, the only person stopping you from eating the entire batch is, well, you.
Ingredients and Substitutions
The ingredients for these easy fried potato chips are about as straightforward as it gets. Here’s what I used, including substitutions that work just as well:
- Russet Potatoes are the standard. With their high starch content and low moisture levels, they fry up light, crispy, and golden brown. Yukon Gold potatoes are another solid option.
- Soaking the thin potato slices in a bowl of cold water with a splash of white vinegar is the trick I use to make these potatoes extra crispy. Apple cider works as a substitute.
- Frying the chips in peanut oil or beef tallow is best for flavor and crunch. If you’re on a budget, use vegetable oil or canola oil instead.
- Seasonings – I usually stick with salt and pepper, or you can swap the pepper with garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, or any of my custom seasoning blends below.
More Ways to Season Potato Chips
These homemade seasoning blends are also pretty dang tasty on a fresh potato chip:
- Adobo Seasoning – Simple, savory, and deeply satisfying.
- BBQ Rub Seasoning – The best choice for classic barbecue chips.
- Chili Seasoning – Infuses chips with a bold, smoky game day chili flavor.
- Ranch Seasoning – Add buttermilk powder to this blend to make “Ranch Chips.”
- Southwest Seasoning – Perfect if you’re craving sweet heat.
- Seafood Seasoning – For the ultimate homemade “Crab Chip.”
How to Make Potato Chips
Slice the potatoes: Thinly slice the potatoes with a mandoline, then drop them into a large bowl filled with cold water to keep them from oxidizing and turning gray.
Soak the potatoes: Soaking the potato slices in water and vinegar is the secret to making crispy potato chips. After draining the first batch of soaking water, refill the bowl with fresh cold water until the potatoes are submerged. Swirl in a splash of white vinegar next, then let the potatoes soak in the water-vinegar bath for 15 minutes.
Heat the frying oil: Meanwhile, preheat the oil in a pot over medium heat until it’s between 365°F and 375°F.
Drain and dry: Drain the potatoes and dry them thoroughly.
Fry until crispy: Being careful to avoid any splatter, lower one dried potato slice at a time into the hot oil until the pot is full, but the slices still have room to move around. I usually fry the potato slices in 3 to 4 batches this way. Once they’re in, constantly move the slices around in the oil until each one is browned and crispy.
Drain excess oil: Use a slotted spoon to lift the chips out of the oil and onto a wire cooling rack to drain.
Season and serve: Season with salt and pepper or your favorite seasoning blend before serving.
Chef Tip + Notes
The best advice I can give you when making perfect potato chips from scratch is to control your oil temperature. Fry your chips in a heavy pot that retains heat well, like a rondeau pot, and keep the oil between 365°F and 375°F, letting it return to temperature between batches of potatoes. I always monitor the temp with an instant-read thermometer. If you don’t have one, test the readiness by dropping a potato peel into the oil; if it sizzles and crisps up in about 1 minute, the oil is right where you want it.
- No mandoline slicer? Carefully slice the potatoes using the wide horizontal slicing blade on a box grater or with a very sharp chef’s knife.
- Bone-dry is the goal. If the potatoes are even slightly damp, the oil will splatter, the temperature will drop, and your chips will end up greasy and oil-logged. If you have a salad spinner, use it. Otherwise, press the slices between paper towels.
- Don’t dump all the potatoes in at once, or you’ll end up with soggy chips. I highly recommend frying the chips in several small batches, so they all have room to fry evenly and crisp up.
- Season the warm chips 1 minute after frying by either sprinkling the seasonings over the top or tossing them with the chips in a large bowl. The residual oil coating the outside helps the seasoning stick.
- You can save and reuse the cooking oil. Let it cool completely before straining it through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Pour it into a clean jar, and then store it in the fridge until the next time you need it. Most frying oil can be safely used 2 to 3 times before it’s time to toss it.
Serving Suggestions
When I can stop myself from munching on these chips hot off the drying rack, I’m making them for family movie nights or bringing them with me to parties with friends. Just like a bowl of popcorn, the batch always disappears well before the night is over.
I love chips with a sandwich, too. Sunny days on the patio with a plate full of crispy chips next to a fully loaded chopped cheese or a juicy grilled bacon cheeseburger is my kind of lunch.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make Ahead: The chips are best eaten as soon as they’re seasoned. Alternatively, soak the potato slices in the vinegar water in the fridge up to 24 hours ahead of time.
How to Store: Cover the leftover chips and keep them on the counter for 2 to 3 days.
How to Reheat: If the leftover chips lose their crunch, spread them out in a single layer on a sheet tray and bake at 300°F for 5 to 10 minutes. This should get them nice and crispy again.
More Crispy Potato Recipes
Homemade Potato Chips Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar
- Oil for frying
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Thinly slice the potatoes on a mandolin and completely submerge them in water. I usually add them to a container of water as I slice them.
- Next, drain the water completely and refill them, ensuring they are submerged.
- Add the vinegar and stir the water to infuse it. This will help make the chips extra crispy. Let the potatoes stand for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, add the oil to a wider frying pan or pot. I prefer to use a rondeau.
- Heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches 365° to 375°.
- Once the oil is hot. Drain the potatoes completely. They need to be dried a bit, so I run them through a salad spinner. Use it if you have one, and if not, dry them thoroughly with paper towels.
- Once dry, add the chips in 1 at a time until the pot is filled, but there is still a bit of room for them to move around. This will most likely take 3 to 4 batches until the chips are done frying.
- Cook the chips for 2 to 3 minutes while continually moving them around until lightly browned and crispy.
- Place them on a rack over a sheet tray or paper towels to drain any excess oil.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Homemade Potato Chips Recipe