Just the other day, we wondered what to do with these leftover flour tortillas. Then, we thought tortilla chips … to serve with some leftover enchilada filling. Though I am filing this post under “snacks,” serving these with the beef and bean enchilada filling made these hearty enough for a lunch.
The first step was to cut the tortillas into 1/6 wedges. I kept these tortilla wedges handy, piled on a small cutting board, just to the left of an iron skillet.
In an iron skillet, I poured 1/8 to 1/4 inch of oil and heated it over medium high heat until shimmering.
To the right of the stove, I set up some platters lined with paper towels to receive my fried chips.
To test the heat of the oil, I broke off a small piece of tortilla and tossed it in. When I saw the oil was sizzling, I knew it was hot enough.
At this stage, I filled the pan with the tortilla wedges.
My oil was fairly hot, and my wedges started bubbling and browning quickly. I ended up using the tongs to flip my tortillas as soon as the pan was filled with them and then removing them from the pan as soon as they were all flipped. They were cooking very quickly even after I turned the heat back down to medium. It may not work this fast for you, but it’s something you need to monitor carefully. Don’t look away, and as you see them bubbling up and browning, remove them to your paper towel platters.
While my chips were hot, I sprinkled them immediately with kosher salt. I layered more paper towels over top of them and then more chips and sprinkled more salt.
I was making these the day after my second Covid shot, and right at this point, a migraine hit. So, Dad served up the chips with our enchilada filling. He likes to arrange food prettily, so this is what he delivered to me.
Try this at home and enjoy! The experience is a bit different when they are warm and fresh.