Chipotle is known for its tasty burritos, large salads and bowls, delicious guacamole (which of course costs extra at Chipotle) and of course its crispy tortilla chips, the perfect salty accompaniment to any meal. If you’ve ever tried to eat just a few – how did that turn out? You probably couldn’t help but devour the whole portion because they’re just so damn good.
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What’s the secret to making Chipotle’s chips so irresistible? It has to do with the chain’s very simple ingredient list (just five!) and no-fuss preparation method. Made entirely from corn flour and water, the chips are fried in sunflower oil until crispy. Once they’re done baking, they’re tossed in salt and a good squeeze of fresh lime juice to give them their signature flavor. It really is that simple, and often we find that there’s so much to love in simplicity.
Chipotle tortilla chips are made by humans – mostly
Adding to the simplicity of the Chipotle tortilla chip recipe, which showcases the high-quality ingredients, is the fact that the chips are handmade. In fact, they are hand-mixed with salt and lime not once, but twice, to ensure even distribution and maximum flavor.
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However, in 2022, Chipotle announced that it was using the efforts of AI-powered technology team Miso Robotics to test a robot named Chippy to make tortilla chips. Chippy could follow the same recipe as any human chef, including a human-like tendency toward small variations in the amount of salt or lime juice used at the end of the process. After much testing, Chippy was ready for its first real-world use and was launched at a restaurant in Fountain Valley, California.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite go to plan, with ingredients clogging the machine more often than not. “It just became too cumbersome for the team to clean,” Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol told Yahoo Finance. Nothing was said about the quality of the product; however, as with so many things, we have a feeling nothing compares to real hand-made tortilla chips. The chain was in the testing phase with an avocado-peeling robot called Autocado in 2023, so it hasn’t completely given up on its forays into AI.
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Can you ask the employees at Chipotle to make a fresh batch of tortilla chips?
There’s really nothing better than a fresh batch of Chipotle tortilla chips—they’re so crispy and light, with a satisfying crunch that doesn’t feel like it’s going to break your tooth. Sometimes, though, the chips can taste like they’ve been sitting in the bag for, well, more than a few hours. So is it OK to ask the staff to whip up a fresh, handmade batch for your order?
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The answer is yes and no. Technically it is allowed and of course you can ask, but be prepared to hear a no. The tortilla chips are supposedly made twice a day, at the start of the first shift and when the second shift comes in the afternoon between 2 and 4 p.m. Making the tortilla chips requires some preparation as they are made by hand, so if you order a fresh batch just for you, someone has to stop what they are doing and get everything ready.
One way to get fresher chips is to bring back the old bag and ask for a new one. Try a chip right at the counter and if it doesn’t meet your freshness standards, you can simply ask for a refund.
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