I kid you not. These are the best tortilla chips. Ever. Here’s the secret: start with crepes instead of tortillas. Many, many thanks to my inquisitive daughter Haniya, who came up with this!
Crepes make thinner and crispier tortillas, plus they’re easier to make. Think pouring batter into a pan, rather than hand rolling. The someone I know with a rolling pin allergy should be very happy about this! 
I’m going to include Erin’s sourdough crepe recipe here, as well as the technique for frying the chips. The crepes are amazingly easy and as long as you’re keeping a sourdough starter going, you don’t need to plan ahead. Starter = immediate crepes.
The following recipes are brief rephrases of the recipes included in the Sourdough eCourse, where we give more troubleshooting tips and details. We’re open any time for enrollment; come on by!
Erin’s Sourdough Crepes
We include this in our Sourdough A to Z eBook and/or on video in the Sourdough eCourse. I found Erin’s video demonstration very helpful to perfect my crepes. My previously too-thick and frequently tearing crepes are no more. And it also helps to have well seasoned cast iron!
Yield: About (9) 10-inch crepes.
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 3 eggs
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 pinches of salt
- milk to thin (1/4 cup, more or less)
Choose a skillet. (Erin uses cast iron.) Turn the burner to medium heat.
(You may want to wait with turning on your burner. You don’t want your skillet to get too hot and start to smoke before you add your batter.)
In a medium size bowl, whisk 3 eggs, 3 tablespoons melted butter, and 3 pinches of salt until combined. Add to this mixture 1 cup of sourdough starter. Stir well.
Add milk until you get a thin batter. Grease the skillet lightly.
Pour 1/4 cup or more of crepe batter into the center of your skillet. Quickly pick up the skillet and roll the batter outward (aiming for a circle shape if that is important to you). Put the skillet back on burner and cook until edges are a bit dry and small bubbles dot the surface of the crepe. It may take less than a minute to cook each side of the crepe. Cook times depend on the skillet type, burner heat, and crepe thickness. If you try to flip your crepe and it does not seem ready, let it cook a few moments longer. Flip. The second side will take less time to cook than the first.
Place your crepe on a plate. Make your second crepe. Continue stacking finished crepes until you are ready to serve. Stacking keeps the crepes soft and warm. (Not so important if you’re using them for chips, but good for other purposes.)
Now For The Tortilla Crepe Chips
Also included in our Sourdough A to Z eBook and/or demonstrated on video in the Sourdough eCourse. Even though I demonstrated with tortillas, the technique is the same!
- finished crepes
- coconut oil, tallow or lard
- coarse salt or other toppings (cinnamon-sugar, herbed seasoning salt)
By the way, don’t be afraid of saturated fat! Be sure to keep the little ones out of the kitchen when frying!
Put the fat/oil in the deep skillet to melt to about 1-inch deep. I’ve been using coconut oil lately*. Allow to melt over medium heat. Watch the heat. When you begin to see waves in the oil, you know it is getting hot. Do not allow it to smoke. Adjust the heat as needed to keep the oil hot, but not smoking. Use a grease screen over the skillet if you have one, to prevent being hot oil splatters.
Cut the crepes (however many you are using) into 8 pie-shaped wedges. Or cut rectangles if you like, which is fun, too.
Test the hot fat for readiness by dipping a wedge in it to see if it sizzles well. If the fat doesn’t react so much, it isn’t hot enough.
When the fat is ready, immerse small batches of wedges into it. Don’t crowd the pan.
Fry until you achieve the desired brownness and crispness. With thin crepes, the frying goes very quickly. Use a slotted stainless steel spoon to transfer them a waiting bowl lined with paper towels. Add salt or adding other toppings immediately. The chips will continue to cook outside of the skillet, so adjust the cooking time if they end up too browned or not browned enough.
Adjust the temperature of the burner as needed to keep the fat hot but not smoking. Frying small batches will help the fat retain its heat, ensuring better chips and better efficiency. Enjoy!
*Unrefined coconut oil is expensive, yes. But as long as you don’t let it smoke, and as long as you strain out the solids, the oil can be reused many times over.
I’m sharing this post in Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday and Fight Back Friday.
About Wardeh
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I can’t wait to make these! They look amazing! It gives me a good excuse to de-rust and season my cast iron skillet (I usually use my griddle).
Carla recently posted… Crackers!
This looks interesting, I’m wondering if placing them in the oven would be good too.
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These look amazing Wardeh!! Can’t wait to try them!
gilliebean recently posted… Primal Challenge 2 and My Elimination Diet
This is great! I have using the crepes as tortillas because I have not able to make tortillas and they require a lot more time and they are much softer.
What a wonderful idea! I recently bought some organic expeller-pressed coconut oil that doesn’t have much smell or taste that would be perfect for these chips. (In many foods I like the added coconut flavor, but might prefer the neutral coconut oil for chips.) I don’t know — guess I’ll have to try them both ways!
Ellen recently posted… Busting or Trusting Beliefs About Food
Ellen — I use the unrefined, and unless I’m immune to coconut flavor, I don’t notice anything coconutty about mine. I would love to hear how your comparison goes!
That’s good to know, Wardeh. I will let you know if I notice coconut flavor in mine when I use the unrefined and, if so, whether the expeller-pressed yields a different result.
Ellen recently posted… Busting or Trusting Beliefs About Food
These look really yummy – and what an interesting idea! Thanks for sharing!
Wow, those look super tasty. I never thought to use crepes as tortillas or tortilla chips. I am a huge mexican fan, so I will have to try this. Thanks for the idea!
By the way, I have been reading your blog for a few months now and I really enjoy it. I have been wanting to sign up for the e-course and hopefully will be able to do that soon. You do a wonderful job!
Noelle recently posted… Healthified Chips and Dip
We are gluten free and I am totally going to try a gf variation of this- I miss homemade flour tortilla chips- especially with cinnamon sugar, so good with ice cream!!
Jen recently posted… Printable Coupon for PURE PROTEIN BARS- Save 1
Jen — I totally think a gluten-free crepe recipe would work for this! When we were gluten-free, I would make batter-style corn tortillas all the time. They would be perfect. Enjoy!
I must learn more about making a sourdough starter. There are so many good recipes with sourdough!
-Brenda
Mmmm, so glad to have another recipe to add to my sourdough journey! They look wonderful!
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Thanks for another great recipe!! Now that I’m doing sourdough (and loving it!), I’m on the lookout for 2 things: recipes to use my “throwaway” starter, and recipes that don’t require use of a rolling pin ~ SCORE on both accounts! LOL
Seriously, thanks for putting tortilla chips within my reach; I have never even attempted them before, because of the time required. But I regularly do the crepes, and I’ll definitely attempt this! Blessings!
Hi Wardeh baby, came over for the twister and found this wonderful recipe! Very cool! You should call them Sourtilla chips. Big hugs! Alex
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Alex — Ha! I like that.
Do you have any idea about how many calories per chip. I’d really appreciate an answer.
Janet Paula Lieber
I know this is an older post but I remembered them and we are trying tomato basil today!
This is an awesome idea!
I had forgotten this, but years ago, I had developed a corn allergy and we found a little Mexican restaurant that would fry flour tortillas as chips for me. Yum!
Wardeh, have you ever tried baking them to make them crisp instead of frying? They do look amazing, we LOVE nachos.
Pamela — No, I haven’t. But other eCourse members have. They brush with oil and add seasoning and then bake until crisp. They say they turn out great!
do you think that almond flour crepes would work for frying. I am on Gaps and miss tortilla chips so bad. I have a great almond flour crepe recipe! I would love nachos again!