You read it here first: pita chips might just be the biggest rip off in the whole grocery store!
For $3, or whatever, you get a small bag of chips that equates to 1 or 2 pita breads. If you’re a pita chip lover like myself, you can burn through a whole bag in a sitting and be left wanting more.
Have no fear! For the same price you can pick up a full six-pack of pitas and make your own pita chips. I like to season mine with a variety of spices and serve them with hummus on a nice Chip and Dip Tray.
Homemade pita chips are super-easy to make. The only thing you have to watch out for is that if you overcook them by even a few minutes, they will burn and then not be very good. So you need to keep a close eye on them while they cook.
Step one though is cutting and separating your pitas. I know some people who insist on not separating the individual pita sides, making for a much thicker pita chip. Personally, I like to separate mine so I have thinner chips and more of them.
Once the chips are separated, just toss them with some olive oil and kosher salt. Then lay them out on a few baking sheets! Now you could just bake them as-is and have some really delicious chips, but since we are starting from scratch, we might as well take the opportunity to add some nice flavors.
Personally, I found three flavors that I think go really well on pita chips and are easy to add: paprika, rosemary, and lemon. For the paprika, you can just liberally sprinkle it on the chips before, and a bit after, baking.
For the rosemary, chop it finely and sprinkle it on the chips before and after baking.
The lemon is slightly trickier, but it is also my favorite of the three flavors. Before you bake the chips, squirt some fresh lemon juice over the chips. You’ll need to add a few minutes to the baking time to adjust for the extra moisture, but it’s worth it. Then when the chips come out, sprinkle them with fresh lemon zest.
No matter what variety you are making, bake the chips at 350 degrees for about six minutes. Then stir the chips and bake them for another 5-6 minutes. Keep a close eye on them as they bake to make sure they don’t burn!
Once the chips are out of the oven, hit them with a bit of extra spice and then let them cool.
I like to serve mine with hummus and serve each kind of chip in a separate section of the tray so people can try each kind.
For 20 minutes of work, it’s pretty hard to beat homemade pita chips for a quick appetizer. Not only are they worlds cheaper than the bagged version, but they also taste better!
If you want to get really crazy, you could also do a sweet version of the chip. Toss the chips in melted butter instead of olive oil and dust them with cinnamon sugar. Then serve them with vanilla frosting!
One Dip, Three Chips Recipe Instructions
homemade pita chips recipe
Ingredients
Directions
- 6 large pitas, cut into sixths and separated
- 1/4 cup Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Paprika
- Fresh Rosemary
- Lemon juice and zest
- Cut pitas into sixths and peel apart the pita so each pita will produce 12 chips. You can also leave them thicker if you want but you?ll only get 6 thick chips per pita
- Toss pitas with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Spread chips out on a few baking sheets.
- For paprika chips, sprinkle liberally with hot or smoky paprika.
- For rosemary chips, sprinkle with fresh, chopped rosemary.
- For Lemon, squeeze 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice over chips.
- Bake chips at 350 degrees for 6 minutes, then rotate and bake for another 6 minutes. Watch the chips carefully to make sure they don?t burn. Lemon chips might need an extra 2-3 minutes since they had added liquid.
- Remove chips and let cool.
- Serve with Hummus or any other dip!
