Tortilla chip croutons

Ever get an idea in your head, then search the web furiously under the assumption that somebody had to have done it already?

That was me today.

I like taco salads but I simply hate the idea of an edible bowl. I mean, am I supposed to eat it or is it’s purpose to hold my salad?

So confused.

I’ve tried tortilla chips mixed in the salad, but that’s really just nachos, right?

Don’t even get me started on those flimsy tortilla strips.

I wanted something more. I wanted croutons made out of tortillas.

Fortunately, living in Texas means having an over abundance of tortillas and/or tortilla chips laying around.

In my case, I had a pretty hefty bag of left over tortilla chips from a few weeks ago that were started to go stale.

And thus, tortilla chip croutons were born!

After taking some time to find a recipe that resulting in what I had envisioned in my head, I started to research what I considered to be a similar dish, stuffing.

You know, Thanksgiving time stuff, maybe you call it dressing, no judgement here.

Dug around some recipes and got some ideas on how I was going to put this all together, here’s what I came up with:

1. Start by taking out your aggressions on some tortilla chips. Fresh, stale, whatever. You’re welcome to use a food processor for a finer chop but I did this by hand and regret nothing.

2. Take 1 egg and scramble it up like it’s breakfast time.

3. To the egg, add a teaspoon of olive oil and whatever kind of seasonings you want. Oregano and seasoned salt worked well.

Disclaimer: For as salty as the chips were, the resulting croutons were quite bland. I made three separate batches, so I’m kind of the expert ;)

1. Once the egg and yummy flavors are mixed up, start adding the chip crumbs, one handful at a time.

2. Stir it up and keep adding more chips a bit at a time until it seems like the newly added chips aren’t sticking as well. Reminded me of making rice crispy treats.

3. Hopefully you have a miniature muffin or cupcake pan, if not, better grab one.

Another Disclaimer: I made a batch on a cookie sheet. I don’t recommend it. If you’re sans muffin pan though, you could use a cookie sheet and make one big sheet of tortilla mixture and make crumbles.

1. In a lightly greased miniature muffin pan (spray each cup with cookie spray or go old school on it) spoon some of the tortilla chip mixture into all of the cups.

2. Once all the mixture is dispersed, go through with a spoon and press the mixture down into the cups.

3. Season those bad boys some more. Bit more salt and whatever other seasoning you want on there (see the above disclaimer ;)

4. Bake in a 375 degree oven (thanks wife) for 15 minutes or until the edges are starting to turn golden brown.

There you have it, croutons made from left over tortilla chips. Enjoy in your next taco salad or by themselves with salsa or guacamole or whatever it is you’re into!

If you happen to try this recipe out, please comment below and tweet some pictures at me!