Salt and pepper chips are a popular UK Chinese takeaway dish. They are made from crispy french fries which are coated with a blend of spices and mixed with lightly fried onions and chillis. They take only minutes to make, especially if you have a bag of frozen chips in the freezer!
You're probably thinking that this isn't an authentic Chinese recipe, and you'd be perfectly correct. According to Wikipedia, this recipe for salt and pepper chips originated with Chinese immigrant fish and chip shop owners in Liverpool who wanted to add flavours from their own cuisine to the humble British chip. The dish grew in popularity and is now a firm favourite on most UK Chinese restaurant menus. My local restaurant calls them 5-spice chips!
The spice blend for the chips is a simple mixture of salt, black or white pepper, 5-spice powder and a few Sichuan peppercorns.
The spices are mixed with lightly fried onions, garlic and chillies before being tossed with crispy chips.
You can make salt and pepper chips in minutes by using frozen oven chips. If you've got a bit more time on your hands (or forgot to buy frozen chips) I've included instructions for making easy oven-baked chips below.
5-spice chips are a great dish to serve with a full-on Chinese meal. They also make a quick and easy supper served with either crispy-air fryer chicken wings or chicken drumsticks with sweet and spicy glaze.
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What you will need
Equipment
For making the chips (either frozen or freshly homemade) you will need a baking tray.
You will also need a sharp knife and a chopping board for cutting up the onions and chillies, plus a frying pan to fry them in. Make sure the frying pan is large enough to hold the chips when you mix everything together.
Ingredients
This will make sufficient salt and pepper chips for 4 people as a side dish.
This dish can be made either with frozen oven chips or freshly homemade chips. The ingredients shown are for making the dish with homemade chips.
- potatoes - if you intend to make chips yourself, you will need one large potato per person. Use whatever potato you would normally use for making chips. I used Maris Piper. If you are using frozen chips, use as many as you will need from the packet.
- onion - cut into quarters and separated into petals.
- chilli - I used a mild red chilli. You can use a hotter chilli if you like more heat. You could also use both a red and a green chilli for extra colour contrast.
- garlic - you can use either finely minced fresh garlic or ready-minced garlic from a jar.
- salt and pepper - you could use either ground black or white pepper.
- Sichuan peppercorns - these add an extra touch of heat and a mild citrus flavour, but they are not essential so if you don't have them you can leave them out.
- 5-spice powder - unfortunately not all 5-spice powders are created equal - some have quite an unpleasant taste. My favourite is made by Schwartz, and it's the only one I use now.
- spring onions - for garnish
**You can get the exact quantities on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
What to do
In a nutshell, these are the steps.
- Get the chips into the oven to cook.
- Chop the onions, garlic and chillies and fry them.
- Stir in the spices and cook for another minute.
- Mix in the cooked chips and serve.
The next 4 steps illustrate making oven-baked chips. If you are using frozen chips, simply tip them onto a baking tray and follow the cooking instructions on the packet.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into thick chips - about one-third of an inch in thickness. Place them in a mixing bowl and coat with the oil and cornflour. The coating of cornflour helps the chips to develop a crispy exterior.
Arrange the chips in a single layer on a baking sheet. I lined mine with baking parchment to make cleaning up easier.
Cover the tray with a layer of tinfoil and bake in a preheated oven (200C/400F) for 10 minutes. This allows the potatoes to steam and soften. Then remove the tinfoil and bake for another 10 minutes.
Use a spatula to turn the chips (after the second 10 minutes) and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes until nicely browned.
A note on the salt - I did not add salt to the chips when I put them in the oven as there is quite a lot of salt in the spice blend.
While the chips are cooking we can get on with the remainder of the dish. I would tend to start these steps about 15 minutes before the chips are ready.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan and fry the onions and chillies on moderate heat for 4 minutes until the onions start to turn translucent.
Add the crushed garlic and fry for one minute longer.
Stir in the spices and stir fry for another minute so the onions are well coated in the spices.
Remove the chips from the oven, and stir them into the onions in the pan.
Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with chopped spring onions and serve immediately.
Variations
You can vary this dish by frying a chopped red pepper (capsicum) with the onions.
Storage
This dish is best eaten fresh. I find that if I warm up any leftovers, the chips are not as crispy as when the dish is freshly made. That said, you can store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
I find the best way to reheat them is on a baking tray in a hot oven for about 5 minutes, which may help to crisp the chips a little. You could also reheat them in the microwave, but then the chips will definitely not be crispy.
This dish is not suitable for freezing.
Top tip
Here are my top tips for making this dish.
- Do not have the heat too high when cooking the onions or they may burn and develop a bitter taste.
- Do not overcook the onions - they should be cooked but still retain a little crispness.
- I find the easiest way to get the onions done as I like them is to cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat to low. The onions will sweat in their own juices and turn translucent in around 4 minutes.
FAQ
Sichuan (sometimes spelled Szechuan) peppercorns are not actually peppers! They are the berries of the prickly ash tree which is a member of the citrus family and they have a mild citrus flavour.
Once harvested, the berries are allowed to dry naturally until they open and release their inedible seeds. Only the outer casing of the berry is eaten.
The heat from these little peppercorns is not a burning heat as you would get from a chilli. It is more of a sensation that causes the mouth to tingle.
5-spice powder is a blend of fennel seeds, star anise, cinnamon and cloves. The fifth spice may vary depending on the brand of 5-spice powder you buy. Some brands contain Sichuan peppercorns, but others may contain ginger or black or white pepper. The brand that I like to use contains ginger instead of Sichuan pepper which I why I've added a few Sichuan peppercorns to this recipe.
This is an easy recipe to scale.
Make as many chips as you think the family will eat. Use 1 large onion for every 4 people. The amount of chilli you add will depend on how hot you make the dish.
You can double all of the spices except the salt. I think doubling the salt would make the dish too salty so increase the amount of salt with care. Taste first then add extra if necessary.
Save for later
If you would like to try these salt and pepper chips why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click on the image below.
Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.
Related recipes
You may also be interested in these other easy Chinese-inspired dishes:
You can find these and other Chinese-style recipes on my Asian-inspired recipes page.
📋The recipe
Salt and pepper chips
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Sharp Knife
- Chopping Board
- Saute pan
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds / 750 grams potatoes peeled and cut into thick chips
- 1 large onion quartered and separated into petals
- 1 medium red chilli or more to your own taste
- 2 cloves garlic finely crushed
- 1 teaspoon 5-spice powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil for coating the chips
- 2 tablespoons cornflour / cornstarch for coating the chips
- 2 spring onions for garnish
Instructions
Chips
- If you are using frozen chips, simply tip them onto a baking tray and follow the cooking instructions on the packet. Skip down to salt and pepper onions.
- For homemade chips peel the potatoes and cut them into thick chips - about one-third of an inch in thickness. Place them in a mixing bowl and coat with the oil and cornflour. The coating of cornflour helps the chips to develop a crispy exterior.1½ pounds / 750 grams potatoes, 1 tablespoon sunflower oil, 2 tablespoons cornflour / cornstarch
- Arrange the chips in a single layer on a baking sheet. I lined mine with baking parchment to make cleaning up easier.
- Cover the tray with a layer of tinfoil and bake in a preheated oven (200C/400F) for 10 minutes. This allows the potatoes to steam and soften. Then remove the tinfoil and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Use a spatula to turn the chips (after the second 10 minutes) and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes until nicely browned.
Salt and pepper onions
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan and fry the onions and chillies on a moderate heat for 4 minutes until the onions start to turn translucent.1 large onion, 1 medium red chilli, 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- Add the crushed garlic and fry for one minute longer.2 cloves garlic
- Stir in the spices and stir fry for another minute so the onions are well coated in the spices.1 teaspoon 5-spice powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
- Remove the chips from the oven, and stir them into the onions in the pan.
- Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with chopped spring onions and serve immediately.2 spring onions
Notes
- Do not have the heat too high when cooking the onions or they may burn and develop a bitter taste.
- Do not overcook the onions - they should be cooked but still retain a little crispness.
- I find the easiest way to get the onions done as I like them is to cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat to low. The onions will sweat in their own juices and turn translucent in around 4 minutes.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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