Crispy Tortilla Strips

This is how tortilla strips are made! This crispy baked topping for garnishing soups, chili and salads is prepared in just a few minutes.

Here’s a trick to add crunch to soups, chilies, and salads: tortilla strips! These crispy strips are so flavorful and just add the element of texture. And they have a nice corn flavor that adds just the right nuance. Alex and I have been making these with our Black Bean Tortilla Soup and Mexican Salad for years. So we realized we should share a recipe here! Here’s exactly how to make them.

How to make tortilla strips

Tortilla Strips are made using the same method as our homemade tortilla chips. If you’ve never made your own chips before, now is the time to do it! They are easy to prepare and require less oil to bake than to fry. You can also control the amount of salt and make sure there are no additives. They may not look exactly like your favorite potato chips, but they’re pretty damn close! And it’s fun to conjure up tokens on demand.

Here are the basic steps to making crispy tortilla chips (aka directly to the recipe):

1. Brush corn tortillas lightly with oil. You don’t need much: just enough to lightly coat them.
2. Cut into strips with a pizza cutter. We like to cut the tortillas in half circles, then in strips (so they don’t get too long).
3. Sprinkle with salt. Using fine salt is nice because it sticks better, but you can use kosher salt as well.

Ways to serve tortilla strips

There are so many ways to serve these crunchy tortilla strips! From a chilli topping to a baked potato bar to Mexican-style soups, here are all the ways we like to use them:

1. tortilla soup. The obvious choice! Try our vegetarian tortilla soup.
2. Chili. Add some crunch to the chili! Our favorites are Ultimate Vegan Chili, 3-Bean Healthy Chili Recipe, Instant Pot Chili or Best Vegetarian Chili.
3. Salad. Our Mexican salad or Tossed Salad pair perfectly with some crunchy tortilla strips.
4. Tomatosoup. Try our black bean and roasted tomato soup
5. Tomatosoup. It would be great for our tomato soup recipe: you can even add ½ teaspoon of cumin.
6. Cornsup. Add a Mexican twist to corn chowder; Try our Corn Chowder or Vegan Corn Chowder.
7. Chili Baked Potatoes. Even chilli baked potatoes would be perfect with a crunch.
8. Loaded Sweet Potatoes. Or try our Mexican sweet potatoes!

spice up! Some variants

You can also make seasoned tortilla strips by adding some spices! If you do this, be sure to mix everything together in a bowl before placing the tortilla strips on the baking sheet. Here are a few ideas:

• Cumin. Add ¼ teaspoon
• garlic powder. Add ¼ teaspoon
• chilli powder. Add ½ tsp
• Smoked Peppers. Add ¼ to ½ tsp

A note on tortilla brands

One thing to keep in mind about tortilla strips is this The quality is based on the Tortilla brand. Some tortillas are drier than others, resulting in tougher tortilla strips. Other brands that have better texture result in a lighter, crispier strip. Since they are all so different, you can experiment and see what you like best. We usually find that the Mission brand makes a good tortilla strip or chip.

This tortilla strip recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.