• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Mexican Food Journal logo
  • Recipe Index
    • Salsas & Sauces
    • Tacos
    • Enchiladas and Enmoladas
    • Soups
    • Desserts
    • Fish & Seafood
    • Chicken
    • Beverages
    • Pork
    • Beef
    • Tamales
    • Salads
    • Eggs
  • About
  • Contact
  • Join Community
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Salsas
  • Tacos
  • Enchiladas
  • Beef
  • Pork
  • Chicken
  • Eggs
  • Seafood
  • Soups
  • Drinks
  • Chiles
×
You are here: Home / Snacks / How to Make Tortilla Chips (Totopos)

How to Make Tortilla Chips (Totopos)

Douglas Cullen, This blog generates income via ads and affiliate links which earn us a small commission.

Homemade is Best

Freshly made corn tortilla chips, called totopos in Spanish, are best for preparing chilaquiles or nachos, and also to dip in guacamole, queso con carne, a great salsa or use in any dish that calls for chips.

Homemade tortilla chips are lighter, crispier and have a fresher more authentic corn taste. You can make them easily in under 15 minutes and it’s well worth the effort. Let us show you how.

Homemade Tortilla Chips Totopos

How to Make Tortilla Chips

Start with stale corn tortillas to get the best results. You might be wondering why stale tortillas. Well, stale tortillas make better tortilla chips. You will get much lighter crunchier chips this way.

The more moisture the tortillas have the denser the finished chips. If your tortillas are really fresh and still moist and pliable, spread them out on the counter for a few hours until they dry out.

Tortillas from the tortilleria produce better chips than the prepackaged corn tortillas you find on the grocery store shelves.

Ingredients:

  • 12 corn tortillas, preferably stale
  • 1 to 1 ½ cups vegetable oil.
Ingredients to Make Tortilla Chips (Totopos)

Cut each tortilla into eight pieces. Shake them to separate. Prep work is done. Easy.

Tortillas Cut Into Pieces

Frying the Chips

Preheat ¼″ inch of cooking oil in a wide frying pan. You will need 1 ½ cups to 2 cups of oil depending on how wide your pan is.

You will prepare the chips in batches. Place 1 layer of tortilla pieces in the hot oil and cook until they are just turning golden brown.

Remove as soon as they turn golden otherwise they will burn which happens very quickly. Continue frying batches until you have cooked all of the tortilla pieces.

Pan Frying Tortilla Chips

Draining the Chips

Place the tortilla chips in a deep bowl lined with paper towels to remove the excess oil.

In Mexico, corn tortilla chips are not salted but you can add salt if you prefer. Sprinkle them with salt and toss in the bowl to evenly distribute the salt.

Draining Tortilla Chips
Homemade Tortilla Chips Totopos
Print Pin
3.72 from 7 votes

Homemade Tortilla Chips (Totopos)

Freshly made tortilla chips, called totopos in Spanish, are easy to make in less than 15 minutes. They are lighter, crispier, and with a more authentic corn taste than packaged tortilla chips. They are worth the extra effort it takes to prepare this recipe.
Course Snack
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword chips, corn tortillas, totopos
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 14 minutes
Servings 8 cups
Calories 408kcal
Author Douglas Cullen

Ingredients

  • 12 corn tortillas
  • 1 ½ to 2 cups cooking oil
  • salt optional

Instructions

  • Preheat ¼" inch of cooking oil in a wide frying pan. You will need 1 ½ cups to 2 cups of oil depending on how wide your pan is.
  • You will prepare the chips in batches. Place a single layer of tortilla pieces in the hot oil and cook until they are just turning golden brown.
  • Remove as soon as they turn golden otherwise they will burn which happens very quickly. Continue frying batches until you have cooked all of the tortilla pieces.
  • Place the tortilla chips in a deep bowl lined with paper towels to remove the excess oil.
  • Salt if desired.

Notes

  • This recipe will make enough chips to prepare four servings of chilaquiles or serve 4 to 6 people for chips and dip.
  • If your tortillas are really fresh and still moist and pliable, spread them out on the counter for a few hours until they dry out. Remember, stale tortillas make better chips.

Nutrition

Serving: 30chips | Calories: 408kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 30g | Sugar: 1g

More Tortilla Recipes

  • Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas

More Snacks

  • Mexican Street Corn – Esquites
  • Chili Spiced Popcorn

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. E says

    February 20, 2018 at 1:09 pm

    Totopos is the Nahuatl word. Tortilla chip is the Spanish word. Please correct your article.

    Reply
    • Gretchen D says

      March 11, 2018 at 1:57 pm

      In Mexico City, totopos are served as bar snacks, and the people there call them totopos. Tortillas in my experience were called tortillas. Never heard the expression “tortilla chips”. I don’t believe “chip” is a Spanish word.

      Reply
      • Jewel says

        July 23, 2019 at 10:40 pm

        i agree with Gretchen. Chip is not a Spanish word, and also my Mexican friend told me that in Mexico chips are called Totopos, and are made by frying cut up tortillas, as the recipe above says. They come out thicker than the bagged tortilla chips that we buy.

        Reply
  2. melissa schmitt says

    June 20, 2018 at 5:23 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you so much for this recipe, we’ve had Totopos in many different places in Mexico and a few local restaurants here in the states make them also, Delicious!!

    Reply
  3. David says

    January 20, 2019 at 4:09 pm

    The masa for your bagged tortilla chips is different than the mase for tortillas. but both are typically made from masa harina as very few tortillerias make their own masa from whole corn and lime. So the commercial chips are mostly machine made using air frying machines at great speed.

    We avoid deep frying the strips and use a comal to toast the whole corn tortillas first before drying them out in a 300 degree oven. Since most tortillas are so much thicker than your tyical chip we brush both side of the store bought corn tortilla with vegetable oil using a 2 inch wide pastry brush. Our comal can toast four tortillas at a time and we use two comals to make it faster. Flip the tortillas after they blister and continue flipping evry 2 minute until they have puffed up. Pull them from the pan and separte each half to double the number of thin tortillas. Stack the cooked tortillas and cut them into ristras (strips) or triangles and then place them on a baking sheet and toast until crisp in a 300 Foven, maybe 15 minutes.

    Way less oil and great taste. A dozen medium sized corn tortillas may use 1 tablespoon of oil to coat both sides

    Reply
    • Jewel says

      July 23, 2019 at 10:50 pm

      David, I was wondering the difference in how store bought tortilla chips and totopos are prepared. I am confused by your answer though. You said “The masa for your bagged tortilla chips is different than the masa for tortillas, but both are typically made from masa harina”. It makes perfect sense that the masa for each is different since tortilla chips are much lighter and thinner than totopos, but first you said the masa is different for each, and then you said that they are both made from masa harina. So which is it? I really want to learn about this.

      Reply
  4. Ainsley says

    September 10, 2019 at 5:30 am

    5 stars
    Incredibly, this article really helped me in cook, and this article is very easy to follow and not complicated. Thank you, the reviews are very helpful, so you want this to be easy, it looks easy and fun. So can’t wait to try. I look forward to other recipes.😍😍😍

    Reply
  5. Hudson says

    September 29, 2020 at 6:09 am

    3 stars
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts on paco casal conmebol.

    Regards

    Reply
  6. Suzanne Lanoue says

    October 25, 2020 at 5:46 am

    5 stars
    You don’t need that much oil. You can just put in enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Add more oil as needed if you’re cooking more chips.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

D. Cullen Profile Picture

Hola, I am Douglas. Let me share my love of Mexican Cuisine with you that developed over 20+ years of living in Mexico.

More about me →


Most Popular Recipes

  • Classic Salsa Verde
  • Restaurant Style Salsa
  • Traditional Sopa de Fideo
  • Red Pork Pozole
  • Chicken Tinga
  • Agua de Jamaica
  • Tres Leches Cake
  • Beet Salad with Feta Cheese and Citrus Balsamic Viniagrette
  • Red Enchilada Sauce
  • Mole Poblano
D. Cullen Profile Picture

Hola, I am Douglas. Let me share my love of Mexican Cuisine with you that developed over 20+ years of living in Mexico.

More about me →


Most Popular Recipes

  • Classic Salsa Verde
  • Restaurant Style Salsa
  • Traditional Sopa de Fideo
  • Red Pork Pozole
  • Chicken Tinga
  • Agua de Jamaica
  • Tres Leches Cake
  • Beet Salad with Feta Cheese and Citrus Balsamic Viniagrette
  • Red Enchilada Sauce
  • Mole Poblano

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2021 Mexico Publishing LLC