How To Keep Restaurant Tortilla Chips Fresh? (4 Life Hacks)
What’s better than choosing a restaurant and ordering a bowl of fresh and crunchy tortilla chips with some hot and refreshing salsa and guacamole? Not many things can beat that! On the other hand, if the tortilla chips or nachos aren’t as fresh as they could be, it just isn’t pleasant to eat; however, luckily, restaurants have fresh ones at all times.
Well, how do restaurants keep tortilla chips so fresh? There are a couple of tricks that restaurants do in order to keep the nachos fresh but also keep them so for a longer time.
Restaurants keep tortilla chips in big air-tight containers and store them away from the biggest heat that is produced in the kitchen. Tortilla chips become stale because they absorb moisture therefore it is essential to keep them in a container where moisture and air can’t get to.
Keeping chips fresh isn’t exactly astrophysics and doesn’t require much effort. The most important thing to remember is to keep them in an airtight space because air contains moisture, and when the chips get in contact with that, they lose freshness and become stale rather quickly. I have added some additional things that are good to remember when thinking about the life of tortilla chips.
- Store them in a well-sealed container
- Store in a dry and cool area
- You can also store them in a freezer
- In-home use, remove air thoroughly from the bag and keep it tight.
Contents
How long do restaurant tortilla chips last
Generally, tortilla chips or nachos last between 1 to 2 weeks after preparing or opening them at their absolute best, but there is time after that before they become stale. If you store them properly in an air-tight container at cool temperatures, then the time will be extended even further.
An unopened package of tortilla chips will last for months in their best condition, usually anywhere between 3 to 4 months.
Related: Why Do People Eat Cornstarch?
How do I refresh my restaurant tortilla chips?
There are a couple of ways that you can refresh your stale tortilla chips or nachos to their former glory. The way to do this is to get rid of the moisture that the nacho chips have absorbed, and then they will be fresh and crunchy again.
The oven way
If your tortilla chips have become stale, you can revive them in the oven. Spread the tortilla chips onto a baking sheet and place them in the oven, which is heated to 425°F(220°C), and let them sit there for 3 minutes. If the tortilla chips are extremely stale, you can increase the time by 2 minutes. Also, you can get an even better outcome if you use the circulating air option.
The deep fryer way
The second way which I personally prefer is if you need to do this in a restaurant and have a lot of tortilla chips to restore. This also takes less time and hassle but requires a deep fryer.
Simply pour the stale tortilla chips into the deep fryer and let them swim anywhere between 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on the deep fryer and the staleness of the chips. Finish the restored nachos with salt!
Should you refrigerate tortilla chips
If you don’t eat all of your tortilla chips in one sitting and need a place to store them, a refrigerator will do just fine; however, if you are at home, then you might want to look for an airtight place to store them because it will slow the moisturizing process whereas the refrigerator may accelerate it.
Can you freeze tortilla chips to keep them fresh
Funny enough, yes, you can! When the chips are made, the moisture has been evaporated from them; therefore, storing the chips in a freezer won’t freeze them but make them just very cold. The freezer is a cool and dry place, and the chips can survive there for months if you store them in a container or in the chip’s own bag.
Containers to keep chips fresh
There are so many different containers out there, and it is hard to choose a great one for storing tortilla chips! However, I have two amazing recommendations where one is for commercial restaurant use, and one is for home.
Container for commercial use
For commercial use, it is important that the container is light and large because tortilla chips will fill out the storage space in no time. Also, it needs to have an airtight lid, and it should be preferable see-through, so this is why I just love Rubbermaid’s stackable plastic containers! They are everything you need for proper storaging for tortilla chips.
Container for home use
For home use, the container needs to be air-tight as well. However, when considering a container for a home, it is important for it to be pretty, stylish, and also compact-sized but not too small because it is a storage container, after all. This is why I highly recommend this stylish metal snack bin for your home snackers!
How do restaurants make tortilla chips?
I have personally made tortilla chips countless times, and it is quite fun. They really don’t take much time to make because you can deep fry them in peace. Let’s take a look at how it is done.
- Stack corn tortilla bread on top of each other
- Cut the stack to 6 pieces (depending on the bread size)
- Repeat until you have a lot of wiggly tortilla chips
- Deep fry the corn tortilla bread pieces until they are crunchy
- Repeat the process (don’t overfill the deep fryer)
- Place the ready ones in a large plastic container and add salt
- Keep tortilla chips in the container with a lid to extend freshness
Conclusion
I hope this article was helpful to you in ways that you don’t need to eat another stale tortilla chip in your life, and if that’s the case, my job here was successful! Just remember to keep the nachos in an airtight container away from heat, and your chip will remain tasty and crunchy!
Here You’ll Find My Favorite Kitchen Equipment.
Thanks for reading this article! I hope that it brought you real value that you can benefit from in your personal life! Here is my top kitchen equipment that I seriously couldn’t live without, and I think they could ease your life as well as they do mine.
- Knife set: As a chef, I can’t stand dull, poor-quality knives without any design. My absolute favorite kitchen knife set is the Gangshan 3-Piece Knife Set. It comes with a handcrafted 8″ chef’s knife and a 3.5″ paring knife. What I love even more than these flawless knives is the walnut knife block which is incredible and unique.
- Skillet: In addition to knives and my unwillingness to bargain with its quality is the cookware. My favorite skillet is Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Skillet. This particular skillet is 9″ in size, it is heavy, it gets very hot, which is what is required to get a good sear, and it is just beautiful, as are all Le Creuset products. Le Creuset doesn’t need an introduction as a brand, as it is one of the world’s rated brands.
- Food processor: I remember when I hadn’t a food processor at home. It wasn’t easy! But now, when I use my Ninja BN601 Food Processor, I can make anything super fast, which saves me many hours per week. This food processor has 1000 watts of power and four options, including chopping, slicing, dough, and purees. I also like the middle-sized 9cup (2.1l) bowl as it is big enough yet not too big to look unfitting in my kitchen.
- Tweezers: Dalstrong Professional Cooking Tweezers are like tongs but much more elegant, thin, and easy to use. They are great for virtually anything, but flipping, turning, and grabbing with them is easy and makes cooking much more fun! These Dalstrgon tongs are titanium coated and very durable. Also, I like the black color instead of the everyday steel.