Keto friendly tortilla chips that actually stand up to all your favorite low carb dips and salsas. These homemade tortilla chips are easy to make and have less than 1g carbs per serving. They truly satisfy that need for crunchy snacks! Watch my video to see just how easy they are to make.
Looking for crunchy keto snacks? Look no further than these keto nacho chips, a recipe that I created for my first cookbook, The Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen.
What a hit these truly crunchy low carb tortilla chips are. When I was first writing my book, I played and experimented a lot to get this keto chips recipe just right. And when I hit upon the magic formula, they were so good, my family devoured them all in one sitting.
Good thing that they have almost no carbs per serving! And they are the perfect accompaniment for my Sugar-Free Margaritas, too.
I didn’t want to just do the old toasted cheese crisps. Those can be delicious but they are just cheese and they just don’t taste like real tortilla chips. Plus the amount of dairy can be a bit hard on the tummy.
What’s a good tortilla chip lover to do?
Enter the ever beloved keto snack: pork rinds
Are Pork Rinds Healthy?
After the bad rap pork rinds got during the low fat era, many people are still pretty freaked out by the liberal use of them in on the keto diet.
I am not one to advocate for eating pork rinds all day every day, but they can indeed be part of your healthy keto diet. I think it really depends on a few factors. The kind of pork rinds you choose to purchase plays a significant role here.
I truly love the pork rinds from 4505 Meats, because they clearly care where their pig skin comes from and source only from small family ranches that embrace humane animal welfare practices. No factory farms for them!
If it’s the pig skin angle that worries you, consider the fact that you are reducing waste by eating the whole animal. Our ancestors ate so much more of the animals than we do and it’s good practice to follow in those ancient footsteps. And people have been eating chicharrones (aka pork rinds) for centuries.
Want to try making your own homemade chicharrones? It’s laborious but fun!
The healthiest pork rinds are actually those that are fried in their own fat and not in other extraneous oils. Shocked? Well you might be, with the emphasis on unsaturated fats for a healthy diet. But the fat from pork rinds cooked in their own lard is actually 43% unsaturated and most of that is oleic acid.
Not to mention that lard doesn’t become unstable at high temperatures as some fats and oils do. So it’s the ideal fat for deep frying.
Have I convinced you of the relative health benefits of pork rinds? Again, they are a snack food and not meant to be your only source of nutrition. But they are a good choice for keto snacking and they are the secret ingredient in my super crunchy low carb tortilla chips.
Tips for Making Low Carb Tortilla Chips
I’ve made these chips numerous times and I’ve nailed down my process here. Here are my best tips for success
- If you grind your own pork rinds, be sure to measure them out after you grind them. They are so light and fluffy in their whole from that it takes quite a bit of them to make 1 1/2 cup of crumbs. You’re looking at 3 to 4 ounces, at least.
- If you purchase them already ground, I like the ones from Pork King Good. The chicharonnes they use are fried in their own animal fats so that’s good news.
- Grinding your own pork rinds does mean the chips may be a bit chunkier looking, since it’s hard to get them as fine as the commercial ones. But it still works really well, you just may not be able to get them quite as thin.
- Roll out your dough on parchment or a silicone mat. They will cook a little faster on the parchment, since it’s less protective, so watch them closely.
- How thin you roll them also matters. I love the thin ones because then I get more chips out of the dough but they do crisp up faster. I actually burned one batch while making this video!
- The taco seasoning can be storebought but be careful of the brand. I like the ones from Primal Palate as I know they have no junkie fillers.
How to Serve Keto Tortilla Chips
Okay, seriously, do I really have to answer this? The real question is… what won’t you serve with them? They truly are sturdy enough for salsa and guacamole.
But here are some other delicious keto dip ideas:
Low Carb Tortilla Chips
Ingredients
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups crushed pork rinds
- 1 cup shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese
- 1 tbsp taco seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300F
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Stir in the pork rinds, cheese, and taco seasoning until well combined.
- Turn the mixture out onto a large piece of parchment paper and pat into a rough triangle. Top with another piece of parchment and roll out very thinly, to at least 12 inches by 12 inches. Remove the top piece of parchment and slice the bottom piece onto a large baking sheet.
- Use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter to score into 2 inch squares, then score each square diagonally into 2 triangles. Bake 20 minutes, until the chips are starting to turn golden, then turn off the oven and let them sit inside until firm to the touch. This can be anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes, so watch them carefully.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely before breaking apart along the score lines.
