Dutch-Oven Kettle Chips With Onion Dip Recipe

When was the last party you attended that didn't have some form of chip and dip? Both inexpensive and effortless, the easy party snack is a host's dream; a light bite that can be brought together in seconds. It's a humble snack, one that doesn't serve to impress — unless, of course, you make it from scratch. Frying your own chips turns what is usually an overlooked appetizer into the star of the show, and coupled with a homemade onion dip, it becomes a memorable offering. Making chips from scratch isn't hard, either: You just need a Dutch oven, potatoes, and some oil.

Kettle chips are the golden brown cousin to potato chips, the irregular shape and thick, crispy texture a trademark of their namesake method. While potato chips are sliced extremely thin and fried at one even temperature, kettle chips are sliced slightly thicker and fried in batches. The batch frying is what causes the dark brown color: When the temperature of the oil lowers, the chips take longer to fry, resulting in a darker color and heartier texture. Developer Michelle McGlinn walks through how to do this at home with a Dutch oven and also shares a delicious sour cream and onion dip to go along with it so that you're ready to impress your guests at your next party — before dinner even comes out.

To make kettle chips, you only need Russet potatoes, salt, and frying oil. The most common oils to fry with are vegetable, canola, and corn, oils that are neutral in flavor and have a high enough smoke point to reach frying temperature. You'll need enough oil to at least fill your Dutch oven halfway, and if you have enough to fill the pot nearly full (but not quite to the top), you'll be able to fry even more batches. To make the dip, you'll need sour cream, Greek yogurt, olive oil, scallions, garlic, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, chives, parsley, and a little more salt.

Thinly slice the potatoes using a mandolin slicer.

Place the potato slices in ice water for 30 minutes.

Drain and thoroughly dry the potato slices using paper towels, then store them in the refrigerator to chill.

Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven to 350 F.

Carefully lower about ½ cup of potato slices into the oil and fry for 5 minutes, until browned and crispy.

Remove the chips from the oil and drain them on a paper towel-lined sheet tray.

Repeat with the remaining potato slices, then sprinkle the fried chips with 1 teaspoon salt.

To make the dip, first heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Add the scallions and garlic and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.

Combine the yogurt, sour cream, Dijon, garlic powder, onion powder, chives, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and the cooked aromatics in a large bowl. Stir to combine.

Serve the dip with the cooked kettle chips.

Like the name implies, kettle chips are made in a kettle (or in this case, a Dutch oven), fried in batches in very hot oil. The most traditional way to make these chips involves adding more chips to the oil in batches, leaving the earliest batches to brown while the newer batches are just beginning to fry. This method is easier done in a large kettle than in a standard Dutch oven, but the results can be about the same as long as your potatoes start cold. The key to really brown kettle chips, then, is getting the oil up to a reasonable temperature.

If your kettle chips enter the oil and sink without floating and bubbling, your oil is not nearly hot enough. The cold, starchy potatoes should immediately sizzle in the oil. From there, they should pretty rapidly brown, not taking more than a few minutes to go from white to golden to brown. If your potatoes seem stuck at the pale golden stage, your oil may have gotten too cold. Turn the stove temperature up higher than you normally would for frying — the dial may be closer to medium-high heat. Use a candy thermometer to check the oil — after a few minutes, the oil should be right back up at 350 F. If it's not, crank up the heat and try again.

If you've ever made French fries from scratch, you might know the value of soaking the potatoes in water first. Potatoes are, of course, very starchy, and that starch can prevent potato slices from becoming crispy when fried in hot oil. The starches that prevent crisping can be soaked away with water, and you'll notice this when you drain the water away: The once-clear water will be cloudy.

If you fry potatoes without soaking them first, your chips will cook unevenly and will become gummy and soggy, especially in the centers. For the best results, soak the potatoes for as long as possible before frying — as long as overnight, if you have the time, to soak off as much starch as possible. Even more importantly, be sure to dry the potatoes before frying. Not only will wet potatoes fail to crisp and brown, but the water will cause dangerous popping and bubbling in the oil — a mistake no cook wants to be the one to make.