Oven-Fried Potato Chips

Can I just be honest with you?

I made these potato chips so I could stick them in my sandwich–a PB&J to be exact.

All this back to school talk got me a bit nostalgic for the days when I used to sit at the lunch table, trying and pleading for someone to barter my boring crudites for their Snack-Pak. It never worked.

So instead I’d just sulk and put Doritos in my PB&J. It made everything better.

I was poking around the internet to see if I was the only weirdo kid/adult that put/puts chips in their sandwiches. And newsflash! I’m totally not.

Did you know that there’s a wikipedia page all about potato chips in sandwiches? Yeah, craziness.

According to the page, they refer to potato chips in sandwiches as “trailer park cuisine.”

Umm…I totally take offense to that, mainly because if you think about it a PB&J, by itself, it’s pretty one note in terms of texture (unless you use crunchy peanut butter but I’m a creamy peanut butter girl).

I say that it actually took someone with a pretty classy, sophisticated palate to take this classic, iconic sandwich and stick their potato chips in it.  I don’t think it was an amateur, thank you very much.

This person knew what they were doing. They took a PB&J and upped the levels. Now it has sweetness from the jelly, a creamy, nuttiness from the peanut butter and this awesome crunch from the potato chips. Heaven.

Say you don’t want to put them in a sandwich–that’s cool. No biggie. I recommend these with a dip, or hummus, or really all by themselves. They’re super easy to make. They’re pretty healthy and the clean up is minimal since there’s no splashing of hot oil.

If I were to eat them solo, I might toss them in some dried herbs once they get out of the oven, like herbs de provence or some thyme.  A plate of these and some limeade would make for a pretty perfect afternoon.

Oven-Fried Potato Chips

Recipe from Gourmet

Print this recipe!

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 russet (baking) potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, crumbled

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Brush 2 large baking sheets well with some oil.

Peel potatoes and with a mandoline or other hand-held slicing device cut length-wise into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Lay out a few paper towels and dry the potatoes thoroughly.

Arrange potatoes in one layer on baking sheets and brush with remaining oil.

Bake potatoes in middle of oven until golden, 12 to 15 minutes, and while still warm transfer with a metal spatula to racks. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Chips may be made 3 days ahead. Cool chips completely and keep in an airtight container at room temperature.

Tagged as: Potatoes