Dill Pickle Potato Chips

Steps

1. Slice the potatoes paper-thin with a mandoline set to 1/16 inch. Combine the pickle brine and water in a large bowl, add the potato slices, and soak for 20 minutes to infuse them with briny dill flavor.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Drain the potato slices thoroughly and spread across clean kitchen towels. Blot both sides until completely dry — this step determines whether your chips crisp or steam.

4. Toss the dried slices with avocado oil, then arrange in a single layer on the baking sheets. Bake for 18-22 minutes, flipping at the halfway point. Pull chips individually as they reach a light golden color.

5. Mix the dried dill, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, and citric acid in a small bowl. Dust the seasoning over the hot chips immediately after removing from the oven so it sticks to the surface.

6. Cool completely on a wire rack. The chips will firm up and become fully crisp within a few minutes.

Why It Works

Pickle-flavored chips from the store use sodium diacetate and “natural flavors” to approximate what actual pickle brine delivers naturally — vinegar tang, garlic, dill, and salt. Soaking potato slices in real pickle brine allows those flavors to penetrate the starch directly, so the dill-and-vinegar taste is baked into the chip rather than sitting on top. The brine also removes surface starch, which helps the slices dehydrate faster and more evenly in the oven. The dried dill seasoning applied after baking adds the bright green herbaceous notes that define the flavor.

Tips

• Brine quality matters. Use brine from a naturally fermented pickle jar with simple ingredients — vinegar, water, salt, dill, garlic. Avoid brines with yellow dye or preservatives.
• Double dill. For intense pickle flavor, increase the soak time to 30 minutes and add 1 tablespoon of finely minced fresh dill to the seasoning blend.
• Storage. Like other vinegar-soaked chips, these lose crispness faster in humid conditions. Keep in a tightly sealed container.
• Variation. Try this same technique with spicy pickle brine for a hot dill pickle chip. Jalapeno pickle brine works especially well.