Bust Out The Spiralizer For Butterfly-Style Potato Chips

Of the many, many ways to prepare potatoes, thinly slicing them and frying them in oil until they're crisp is certainly up there as one of the best. We are, of course, referring to potato chips. While, sure, it's easy enough to go down to your local corner store and pick up a bag of the crunchy, salty bites pre-made and packaged, there's just something about homemade chips that satisfies our craving for comfort food, especially when they're enjoyed warm and fresh right out of the pan.

For an especially rustic and crispy version of the snackable spuds, you can give butterfly-style chips a try. As the name suggests, they're essentially irregularly shaped chips with folded edges that resemble the wings of a butterfly, and they're equally as light and delicate. Their unique curvature adds an interesting texture for your taste buds to take in and makes them perfectly poised for dipping and scooping.

Most DIY potato chip recipes will have you turning to a mandoline to thinly slice the spuds, but the ideal curled shape for butterfly-style chips is actually best achieved with another, perhaps surprising, kitchen tool: a spiralizer.

You might be familiar with the spiralizer as a go-to for making dishes such as zucchini noodles, but the tool's ability to create long and curly cuts of hearty vegetables also makes it a great choice for slicing potatoes.

The secret lies in using the right type of tool. Most spiralizers come with a few different blade options to swap in, depending on which type and size of spiral you're after. If you want the thick slices you can arrange on a stick, you'll want the hand-crank tool traditionally used to slice and core apples. While newer varieties, like the kind that made zoodles famous, require the use of a spaghetti blade, for a thin crispy chip, you'll want to opt for the flat-looking ribbon blade.

To prepare them, simply secure your spud in position and start churning it through the blade, skin and all, and you'll end up with a wide and thin ribbon of starchy goodness. All you need to do before plopping them in the frying oil? Just cut the ribbon into separate pieces with a pair of kitchen shears. And don't worry about keeping the shapes and sizes too uniform — the irregularity is a part of their homemade appeal!

As a pro tip, you should opt for a starchier variety of potato when making chips, such as a Russet or a Yukon gold, as they'll hold up better while frying and result in the perfect golden crisp.