������̳

by Sophie Whitbread

Watching TikTok videos of people making ‘pasta chips’, my first thought was “what’s the point?”, and then “who’s going to do that?”. Well, a lot of people, if TikTok video views are anything to go by – at the time of writing, the hashtag #pastachips has racked up over 615 million on the platform.

So what are pasta chips? Creators on TikTok are giving a twist to a recipe that arguably needn’t be messed with – crisps (AKA ‘chips’ in American-English). You boil pasta, season it, then bake it in a scorching oven until it’s crunchy like a crisp. Why? I don’t know. But I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt and seeing what all the fuss is about.

You can use whatever pasta you want, but most videos appear to use a short smallish shape, such as farfalle, penne or rigatoni. The pasta is boiled in salted water until just al dente (firm when bitten), then drained.

You toss the pasta in olive oil and seasonings. Popular flavourings include dried chilli flakes, herbs, garlic granules and grated cheese, usually Parmesan but you could use Cheddar. It’s basically aglio, olio e pepperoncino pasta baked (I’m so sorry, Italians). I’m going for this classic flavour combo, but some people add less typical pasta seasonings, such as masala spices or Korean gochujang paste.

Many on TikTok cook this snack using an air-fryer, which acts like a small very hot oven, with the heating element on the top and a large powerful fan that whips the air around evenly. According to , nearly 40 percent of homes in the US had one of these gadgets in July 2020, but they are less common in the UK. To try to replicate the effect you can use your oven on the hottest setting, as I am doing, and bake the pasta for 15 minutes.

Some people make a simple dip, such as seasoned yoghurt or whipped feta, to have with their pasta chips, while others make a tomato sauce to replicate crispy lasagne edges.

When my partner asks why I’m giving him raw pasta, it makes me question the need to boil the pasta in the first place only to dehydrate it again in the oven. So I bung a batch of raw, dried fusilli, dowsed in olive oil, into my oven, which I’ve preheated to as hot as it will go. It takes 10 minutes to brown, so wins for speed, but if you felt like you were eating uncooked pasta before there’s no doubt about it now. The bite is almost jaw-breaking.

It’s back to the drawing board, and I wonder if a thinner pasta, pre-boiled, would give the texture I’m after. I tried using linguine. After boiling the pasta for 5 minutes, I toss it with the seasonings on a baking tray and slide it into the oven. Fifteen minutes feels like a long wait to find out if you’ve created the ultimate pasta crisp…

The verdict on pasta chips

If you’re a die-hard fan of crunchy pasta, you’re probably going to like pasta chips. They smell deliciously cheesy and taste good. But they’re never going to taste or feel like crisps made with potatoes. My first attempt, made in the classic TikTok way with pre-cooked short pasta, was crunchy with a slight chew. It tasted good, but was reminiscent of stale crisps or cooked pasta that’s been refrigerated for a couple of days, which isn’t for everyone. For me, the crunch of the linguine is as good as it gets without deep-frying – but as pasta is made from wheat flour, the herby, spicy, garlicky, crunchy pasta stick tastes a bit like a cheese straw. While that’s by no means a bad thing, it’s not a crisp is it?