Thin, Thick or Blue Corn? Choosing the Best Tortilla Chips

In a Mexican kitchen a tortilla chip is a leftover with a purpose. Day-old corn tortillas are cut into wedges, fried until they stop bubbling and salted while they are still hot, and they go out to the table in a basket next to the salsa. The bagged chips on a supermarket shelf try to copy that, with very different results. Some are paper-thin and shatter in a heavy dip; some are thick enough to scoop refried beans; some are not made from corn at all.

The differences are written on the bag if you know where to look: the corn (white, yellow or blue, stone-ground or made from flour), the oil it is fried in, the salt per serving and the cut. This guide compares ten bags of chips sold on Amazon, from thin restaurant-style rounds to thick-cut chips, blue corn, grain-free cassava and catering-size bags, and explains which chip suits which job.

Julia’s earns a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. Recommendations are based on what a working Mexican kitchen looks for in a chip, the makers’ own ingredient lists and Amazon listings, and retailer nutrition panels where the listing gives none, which we note.

Quick verdict: which tortilla chips to buy

The rest of this page explains why, and how to match a chip to the way you serve it: with salsa, under melted cheese, or by the bagful at a party.

Five bags of tortilla chips side by side

Our five standout picks, one for each kind of buyer, with the corn, oil and sodium each maker or label states. All ten bags are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Sodium is as printed by the maker or on retailer nutrition panels; serving sizes differ (Late July counts 8 chips, most others 1 ounce), and recipes change, so check the bag you receive.

Our picks for the best tortilla chips

These ten bags cover the real choices: a thin restaurant-style chip, a thick-cut chip, grain-free cassava, blue corn, a party-size bag, a Mexican-style thin chip with a hot-sauce flavor, a stone-ground organic chip, a store brand, a chile-lime rolled chip and a catering case. For each one we list the base, the oil and the sodium as the label states them, and what the chip is built to do.

How to choose tortilla chips for salsa, nachos and dips

Five things separate one bag from another. Most of them are on the back of the bag, not the front.

1. Match the thickness to the job

Thin chips, like Late July, Xochitl and 365, are for loose table salsa and for eating by the handful. Thick or medium chips, like Donkey, blue corn and masa-style chips, are for nachos, guacamole, bean dip and queso, where a thin chip snaps. If you only buy one bag, buy a medium chip; if you buy two, keep a thin one for salsa and a thick one for nachos. Our guide to who invented nachos explains why the original was built on a sturdy, single chip.

2. Read the corn, not just the color

White corn makes a lighter, cleaner chip; yellow corn is a little sweeter and more golden; blue corn is darker, nuttier and slightly heavier. The bigger difference is how the corn is processed. “Stone-ground corn” or “nixtamal” means the corn was cooked with lime and ground into masa, as for tortillas; “corn flour” or “corn masa flour” means the chip starts from dried flour. Both can make good chips, but masa chips usually taste more of corn.

3. Check the oil

Every chip here is fried. Labels name sunflower, safflower, canola, corn, cottonseed, avocado or palm olein oil, and several say “and/or”, which means the maker may switch between them. If you avoid a particular oil, read the bag you buy rather than the listing, because oil blends change.

4. Compare sodium per the same serving

Plain salted chips here run from 65 mg to 160 mg of sodium per ounce, and seasoned chips go higher. Late July counts a serving as 8 chips (28 grams), and most others use 1 ounce, which is also about 28 grams, so the figures compare directly. The FDA’s Daily Value for sodium is 2,300 mg. Remember that salsa adds its own salt; our best jarred salsa guide lists the sodium in each jar.

5. Buy a size you will finish

Chips go stale once the bag is open. A 10- to 16-ounce bag suits a household that has chips a few times a week; multipacks, 24-ounce bags and foodservice cases suit parties and events. A clip and a cool cupboard keep an open bag crisp for a few days, and a few minutes in a 350°F oven brings tired chips back.

What makes a restaurant-style chip

“Restaurant style” is a marketing phrase with no fixed definition, but it usually means a thin, broad, lightly salted chip, closer to a fried tortilla wedge than a snack chip. In a restaurant kitchen chips are fried fresh from corn tortillas, often the previous day’s, because slightly dry tortillas absorb less oil and fry crisper. They are salted the moment they come out of the oil, so the salt sticks, and served warm.

You can get close at home with any bag on this list. Warm chips on a sheet pan for five minutes, then toss them in a bowl with a pinch of fine salt and a squeeze of lime. Serve them with two salsas, a red and a green; our guide to salsa roja vs. salsa verde explains how they differ. And if you want to fry your own, cut corn tortillas into sixths, fry them in about an inch of oil at 350°F until the bubbling slows, and drain them on a rack.

How we chose these ten bags of chips

We started from what a Mexican kitchen wants from a chip: corn (or a clear alternative) doing the work, a texture that suits its use, and honest labeling. We narrowed the field to chips sold on Amazon in the United States, from identifiable brands, that were in stock when we checked, and read each one’s ingredient list, oil, sodium and diet claims on its Amazon listing or, where the listing gives few details, on the maker’s own pages, grocery retailers’ nutrition panels or a foodservice specification sheet; each review says which. We chose ten to cover the real choices of thickness, corn, diet and quantity. We left out bags that were out of stock or available only in limited quantity when we checked, including Mission’s retail thin-and-crispy chip, Tostitos’ restaurant-style and lime chips, Xochitl’s plain white corn four-pack and several Siete single bags. We could not find Juanita’s tortilla chips on Amazon. We have not tasted every chip listed here; texture and flavor descriptions follow from the ingredients and the makers’ own descriptions.

Tortilla chip questions, answered

What is the best tortilla chips brand?

It depends on the chip you want. Late July makes one of the shortest organic ingredient lists for a thin restaurant-style chip. Donkey makes a thick-cut chip for nachos, Siete the leading grain-free chip, Garden of Eatin’ a widely sold blue corn chip, and Xochitl a thin Mexican-style white corn chip. On The Border and Mission are the brands for large quantities.

What is the best kind of tortilla chip?

For salsa, a thin white corn chip with just corn, oil and salt. For nachos and thick dips, a thick-cut or masa-style chip. For a corn-free diet, a cassava chip such as Siete. Plain salted chips are the most versatile; flavored chips such as chile-lime are better as a snack than with salsa.

What makes a high-quality tortilla chip?

Look for a short ingredient list that starts with whole or stone-ground corn, a named oil and a moderate amount of salt. Chips made from nixtamalized masa usually have more corn flavor than chips made from corn flour. Organic and Non-GMO claims tell you about how the corn was grown, not how the chip tastes.

Which tortilla chips does Whole Foods sell?

Whole Foods sells its own 365 organic chips alongside other brands; the 365 Organic Restaurant Style White Corn chip reviewed here was in stock on Amazon when we checked, along with an unsalted version. Store shelves vary, so check your local store for other brands.

What about rankings from Serious Eats, Wirecutter or Sporked?

Several food sites, including Serious Eats, Wirecutter and Sporked, publish taste rankings of supermarket tortilla chips. We did not reproduce or rely on them. Our picks are based on ingredients, labels and what each chip is designed to do, and we say so in every review.

How do you keep tortilla chips fresh?

Close the bag tightly with a clip, squeeze out the air, and keep it somewhere cool and dry, away from the stove. If chips go soft, spread them on a sheet pan and warm them in a 350°F oven for about five minutes; they crisp again as they cool.

The best tortilla chips for your table

Buy Late July Restaurant Style Sea Salt if you want one everyday bag for chips and salsa, with a short ingredient list and little salt. Add Donkey’s thick-cut chips for nachos, Siete for anyone who avoids corn, and Garden of Eatin’ Blue Corn for color. For a party, On The Border’s three-pack; for a catered event, Mission’s foodservice case. Mi Niña is the chip for corn purists, 365 the plain organic staple, Xochitl the thin taquería-style chip and Que Pasa the snack.

Chips are one shelf of a Mexican pantry. Our guide to Mexican pantry staples covers the salsas, chiles and masa that go with them, and our chip and dip bowl guide covers how to serve them.

And if you would rather have chips and salsa from a restaurant kitchen tonight, see the menu or call to order.