There's Only One Type Of Chip You Should Use For The Ultimate Chocolate-Covered Potato Chips

You can cover just about anything in chocolate and you're probably not going to get a lot of complaints, but there certainly are some techniques you should follow. For picture-perfect chocolate-covered strawberries, make sure you dry the berries so you don't damage your melted chocolate. If you're going fully sweet, chocolate-covered ice cream bites might be the treat for you. But, for the perfect mix of salty and sweet (with a little umami tossed in for good measure), nothing beats chocolate-covered potato chips. And the single most important tip for making chocolate-covered potato chips? Use ridged potato chips.

Ridged (AKA, wavy or rippled) chips are much sturdier for dipping into chocolate. They can handle a little bit of heat and moisture as the chocolate fully solidifies, and they're wider with more of a "backbone," so they won't snap in two, no matter how thick your chocolate dip might be. Also, the ridges mean the chips have more surface area, overall, giving the chocolate more to stick to. More surface area also means more nooks and crannies for the salt to cling to and extra savory goodness to play off the sweet chocolate. For the best chocolate-covered potato chips use rippled, ridged, or wavy chips — it's surprisingly easy to do at home.

To make chocolate-covered potato chips, you don't even need a recipe; Just melt the chocolate, dip the chip, and let the chocolate harden on the counter or in the fridge. The best chocolates for melting are baking bars and wafers because they have a higher cocoa butter content and are designed for melting, while most chocolate chips have stabilizers that actually prevent them from melting properly. As for the potato chips, really any ridged brand will work. But, generally speaking, the thicker the better, so the chocolate hardens on the outside and the chip still stays nice and crispy, with a solid snap. For storage, separating each layer of chips with wax paper keeps them from sticking together.

Milk chocolate and a salty tuber chip is the classic combo, but if you're looking for something a little less cloyingly sweet, dark chocolate-covered potato chips are a great way to cut back on the sugar and up the bitter profile. Regardless of your chosen chocolate, sprinkling some sea salt or kosher salt on the chocolate before it hardens will amplify the flavors. For a little extra flair, you can cover the chocolate in colorful sprinkles, or mix orange or lemon zest into the chocolate. When it comes to chocolate-covered potato chips, stick to the wavy ones. But from there, you can get as wild as you want — maybe even try some jalapeño, salt and vinegar, or lime-flavored potato chips, too.