Name: Baked Polenta Chips
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Ingredients: 400 mL vegetable stock ((~ 1 ½ generous cups)); 150 g quick-cook or instant polenta (plus 2 tablespoons for dusting (1 heaped cup)); 40 g Parmesan cheese (grated (½ cup grated)); 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs (oregano, rosemary or thyme); 1 teaspoon onion or garlic powder; 1 teaspoon black pepper; ½ teaspoon salt (or 1 teaspoon if use water rather than stock); Pinch chilli flakes (optional); 2 tablespoons Olive oil (for cooking)

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Crispy polenta chips are a great addition to a platter or alongside soup, dips or burgers served with tomato sauce or aioli.

What is polenta?

Polenta is a simple Italian dish made with ground corn and other food staples: water or stock, butter, salt and pepper. It is prepared to a consistency somewhere between porridge and mashed potato. Or it is allowed to cool as a loaf, which can then be sliced and baked, fried or grilled. This is essentially what we do to make baked polenta chips.

So, polenta is really the dish, while ground corn or cornmeal is the ingredient.

However, the names polenta and cornmeal are often used interchangeably. Here in New Zealand and Australia, you’ll find it in the store named polenta.

The cornmeal used to make the traditional dish of polenta is quite coarse. However, to make baked polenta chips, you’ll want to choose fine cornmeal, labelled quick-cook or instant polenta.

Where to buy polenta?

You can find polenta at the supermarket or in wholefood stores. It is usually near the pasta and rice or in bulk bins.

How to make baked polenta chips

Quick-cook or instant polenta needs very little cooking time to achieve a gooey, porridge-like consistency.

In the below recipe, I share how I prepare polenta on the stovetop. However, cooking polenta in a microwave is possible. Cook it on high heat and stir a few times throughout the 5-minute cooking time.

Although polenta is quick to cook, you’ll need to allow 1 hour for the polenta to cool before you can cut it. Once cooled, it will be quite firm and cut easily without crumbling.

Can you make polenta chips ahead of time?

Yes.

For crispy chips with soft, not dry, centres, I recommend either refrigerating for 1-2 days or freezing the chips after cutting but without cooking.

To freeze, place on a baking tray lined with paper and freeze for four plus hours. Once firm, transfer them to a bag, removing excess air. They are best if frozen for less than 1-2 months before cooking.

Defrost in the fridge overnight before placing in the oven and cooking as per the recipe instructions.

Can you reheat polenta chips?

You could, but they can dry out quite a bit. I prefer making them fresh or freezing ahead of time.

Baked, not fried

We often see, ‘baked, not fried’, on packaging to indicate that a food is lower in fat than the fried alternative. This is definitely the case with polenta chips in comparison to deep-fried chips.

You would consume considerably less saturated fat and salt with these polenta chips than store-bought chips.

Not that you should omit store-bought chips, as the taste doesn’t really compare, and all foods fit in a balanced diet.

However, these baked polenta chips are easy to make at home. And if you keep a bag of polenta in the pantry, you can pretty much whip them up at any time.

close up of a baked polenta chip with a bowl of chips in background

How do they taste?

To be honest, polenta has very little flavour. Maybe a slight corn flavour. But it is very mild.

It’s really about the flavours you add to polenta and the crispiness of the outside as contrasted to the soft, doughy centre that makes baked polenta chips delicious.

Feel free to adjust the flavour additions in the recipe below to get it just right for you.

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