Salt and Pepper Chips (Chinese Takeaway Style!)
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Skip the delivery time for your favourite takeaway with this salt and pepper chips recipe. The sensational seasoning, spicy peppers and cooking method make for the best side.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Flavor Explosion: A simple combination of ingredients leads to a heavenly end result. Chinese 5 spice, chillies, salt/msg, pepper and a mix of veggies lead to a deeply seasoned and flavourful end result.
- Lighter version: I love making fakeaway dishes as you can make your go-to orders healthier and less calorific. By using oven baked chips, we’re skipping the deep frying part of a chinese chips which makes this dish a lot healthier. Meaning you can have it way more often!
- Save Money: These chinese salt and pepper chips cost only £1.05 per portion- a fraction of the cost from your local takeaway!
- Crispy end result: When you get a delivery, crispy chips often steam in the bag that they travel in leading to soggier/less crispy end result. This isn’t an issue with this recipe!
If you’re a fan of fakeaway recipes, you should try out these dishes: Crispy Chilli Chicken (Healthy Fakeaway Chinese), Healthy Noodle Bowls (10 Minute Meal Prep)!, Gochujang Noodles (Spicy Korean Noodles)
What are salt and pepper chips?
Salt and pepper chips are a type of seasoned fried potato dish, popular in British and Chinese fusion takeaways.
They’re typically thick-cut chips (never usually skinny fries) that are fried and then tossed with a mix of seasonings including MSG, black pepper, chili flakes, and Chinese five-spice.
The chips are often stir-fried with ingredients like chopped onions, bell peppers, and fresh or dried chilies, giving them a spicy, savory, and slightly sweet flavor.
This dish combines the crispy texture of traditional chips with bold, flavorful spices, making it one of my fave side dishes!
Best type of chips to use
Frozen: I love to use frozen chips as a shortcut for these salt and chilli chips. They’re already slightly coated in oil, cut into identical shapes/sizes for optimal cook time, and reduce the prep time significantly.
Brand: Opt for any brand which says ‘thick cut’ or ‘homestyle’ chips, these will give you the most traditional end result.
Can you use fries? You can, but the end result will be less traditional as an authentic salt n pepper chips recipe always uses a thicker style of chip.
Ingredients
The main ingredients that make this salt and pepper chip recipe fantastic are the following:
Mixed bell peppers
I like to use red and green for the best flavour and colour profile.
Chinese five spice
This is the shortcut to flavour town. Thanks to this seasoning, it has the aromatic blend which transports us to our favourite chinese restaurant.
Frozen chips
See above!
Variations/ Adaptations
Adjust the spice level: whether you like your homemade salt and pepper chips spicy or mild, you can adjust the ingredients to reflect that. If you like it super hot, opt for birdseye chillies or scotch bonnets. Or if you like it mild, sub for fresno chillies or omit the chillies completely and add 1 tsp red pepper flakes.
Type of chip: try out a different style of chip and get creative. If you don’t mind not having a classic end result, you could even try out something crazy like a waffle fry/ curly wurly fries.
Make it a complete meal: add a protein such as chicken breast or soy tofu to make it a meal in it’s entirety.
How to make salt and pepper chips
Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F.
- Place frozen chips on an oven safe pan and cook them according to the packet instructions, around 20 minutes (Image 1).
- While the chips cook, continue making the dish by first slicing the onions and peppers (Image 2).
3. Measure out the salt, five spice powder, garlic granules, and black pepper (Image 3).
4. Heat the oil in a skillet, then add the peppers and onions. Cook over high heat for around 3-5 minutes (Image 4).
5. Next, add the seasonings to the pan that you measured out in step 3 and continue to cook for another 2 minutes (Image 5).
6. For the last step, add the chips that you fully cooked in the oven. Heat over medium/low heat for 2 more minutes (Image 6).
Consider making these other delightful potato dishes during the week; Homemade Pan-fried Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Easy Diced Air Fryer Potatoes, Parmentier Potatoes (Garlic and Herb Roasted Potatoes)
Tips for the best result
- Make and eat these immediately for the right level of crispiness and best flavour profile.
- Toss the chips into the seasoning/ pan whilst they’re still piping hot from the oven. This will help to bind the seasoning to the chips.
- Taste to adjust the seasoning if necessary (more salt/MSG)
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve these salt and pepper chips with an array of other sides, so I can try and imitate getting a chinese takeaway.
Pair with proteins such as Soy Garlic Chicken, the BEST Crispy Tofu (pan fried), or Airfryer Frozen Salmon .
Load up with more carbs with recipes such as my Vermicelli Noodles, Gochujang Noodles, or Singapore Fried Rice.
And you could always mix in a side salad or vegetable side to keep things light, such as my Prawn Salad or Tenderstem Broccoli Recipe.
FAQs
This shouldn’t happen when using oven chips, but increase the temperature on your oven and allow the steam to evaporate and cook off. You may need to add an extra drizzle of oil.
This recipe is best served immediately for the best texture and flavour. If you really wanted to prep an element though, you could make the contents of the pan (veggies and spices), then place into a tupperware. Then when it’s time to eat/bake the chips, heat in a pan to bring it back up to temperature.
You sure can! I prefer to use Chinese 5 spice and add the other ingredients as 5 spice is more of a versatile spice to use across other dishes.
You can definitely cook your chips in the airfryer instead, I like to cook chips at 200°C for 18-20 minutes, shaking the basket regularly for even cooking.
Satisfy any cravings for comforting meals; Chicken and Chorizo Risotto, Nando’s Mac and Cheese Recipe (Peri Peri), Easy Tuscan White Bean Soup (Creamy!)
If you tried this Salt and Pepper Chips Recipe, it would be mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Easy Salt and Pepper Chips
Ingredients
- 500 g frozen chips (£2.50)
- ½ red pepper, thinly sliced (£0.39)
- ½ green pepper, thinly sliced (£0.39)
- ½ onion, thinly sliced (£0.39)
- 2-3 mixed chillies, thinly sliced (£0.55)
- Optional spring onions to serve
Cupboard Essentials
- 1 tsp msg or salt
- 1 tsp chinese five spice
- 1/2 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Method
- Preheat your oven and cook your chips according to the packet instructions. Mine were cooked at 200°C for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the oil, peppers, onion and chillies into the pan. Fry for around 3-5 minutes over a high heat.
- Next, add the msg, five spice, garlic granules and black pepper. Continue to fry over a medium heat for 2 minutes to toast the spices.
- Turn off the heat until the chips are ready. Once ready, pour the chips in whilst piping hot and heat through for 2 minutes over a medium/low heat, stirring to combine fully.
- Optionally top with spring onions and dive in!
Notes
- Timing for Serving: Serve the chips right after making them to ensure optimal crispiness and flavor.
- Applying Seasoning: Add the seasoning to the hot chips directly from the oven to help it adhere better.
- Taste Adjustment: Sample the chips and adjust the seasoning as needed, adding more salt or MSG if desired.
Nutrition
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