The Best Way To Season Your Homemade Tortilla Chips, According To A Chef

If you're in the mood for tortilla chips, there are plenty of store-bought options available for you at your favorite market — but tortilla chips are also pretty easy to make at home. Plus, the only ingredients you need are tortillas, oil, and the seasoning of your choice. And to find out the best way to season your homemade tortilla chips, Tasting Table spoke with an expert, Roberto Santibañez, the chef and owner of Fonda, a Mexican restaurant with locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

When it comes to seasoning, Santibañez suggests keeping it simple with just salt and a hint of lime. To give more guidance, he continues, "You have to season the chips while they are hot so the salt attaches to the chip." Santibañez also advises against the use of coarse salt. "You want to use a finer salt that sprinkles more evenly and less heavily than salt that is flaky. When seasoning, sprinkle the salt from afar so it can spread evenly," he states.

When asked if there are any other seasonings to try out besides salt and lime, Chef Santibañez notes that many people like to go the spicy route by using chili powder or tajin. But Santibañez suggests keeping it as simple as possible.

Santibañez explains, "The tortilla chip needs to be harmless, not a heavy item. You use a tortilla chip to pick up other things, so you don't want the chip to overpower the main item." If you're looking to try out a spicy version that doesn't overdo it on the seasonings, you can look to Tasting Table's recipe for homemade chili lime tortilla chips — you can even lessen the number of seasonings or remove an ingredient to keep it simpler.

As Santibañez shares, the chips are meant to be paired with something to dip them in. After you've made your own tortilla chips — however you choose to season them — you can pair them with a batch of homemade fire-roasted salsa or crave-worthy guacamole.