While a more traditional ranch dressing would be mayonnaise-based, this version starts with sour cream for a bit of added tanginess. Pickled jalapenos, chipotle peppers in adobo, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce bring added layers of heat and flavor to this spicy dip.
This dip tastes great with potato chips, and is easy to make once you have gathered all the required ingredients.
Crispy Potato Bites with Spicy Chipotle Ranch Dipping Sauce
While a more traditional ranch dressing would be mayonnaise-based, this version starts with sour cream for a bit of added tanginess. Pickled jalapenos, chipotle peppers in adobo, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce bring added layers of heat and flavor to this spicy dip.This dip tastes great with potato chips, and is easy to make once you have gathered all the required ingredients.
Ingredients
For the Spicy Chipotle Ranch Dipping Sauce:
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- ¼ clove fresh garlic (finely minced)
- Zest from 1 lime
- Juice from ¼ lime
- ¼ cup pickled jalapenos (finely chopped)
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (blended or very finely minced)
- 2 Tbsp hot sauce of choice
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp ground cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp ground onion powder
- ½ tsp ground garlic powder
- ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves (finely chopped)
- 2 Tbsp fresh chives (finely sliced)
For the Crispy Potato Bites:
- 3 Russet potatoes (scrubbed and left unpeeled)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ tsp Kosher salt (for salting the potato bites)
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salty water to a boil.
- Wash the whole, unpeeled Russet potatoes, and boil them gently in the salted water until they are tender in the center, or roughly 35-40 minutes.
- *Prick the center of the largest potato with a metal cake tester to see if you feel any resistance.
- When the potatoes are done boiling and are completely cooked and soft in the center, remove them from the water and transfer them to the fridge to cool down for 45 minutes.
- While the cooked Russet potatoes are cooling down in the fridge, preheat your oven to 380˚F.
- Add an empty sheet tray to the oven so that it can preheat for twenty minutes.
- Prepare the spicy ranch dipping sauce by combining the sour cream with the buttermilk, minced garlic, lime zest, lime juice, pickled jalapenos, blended chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, hot sauce, ground spices, and fresh herbs.
- Set the dipping sauce aside in the fridge for whenever you are ready to serve.
- Cut each boiled Russet potato into spears, with roughly six spears per potato.
- Carefully line the preheated sheet tray with aluminum foil, and drizzle the surface with some of your vegetable oil.
- Gently arrange the potato spears on the oiled sheet tray, and pour the remaining vegetable oil on top of the potatoes, coating the potatoes as best you can without breaking them apart.
- Roast the potatoes in the oven at 380˚F for roughly 30-40 minutes, turning them halfway through baking.
- The potatoes are done when they are dark golden-brown in color, and crispy all over.
- Sprinkle a few flakes of Kosher salt on the potatoes, and serve hot, with the spicy chipotle ranch dipping sauce that you made earlier.
Notes
These potato bites are best eaten right away, although the sauce can be saved for use later on throughout the week.
I cool the whole potatoes down in the fridge after boiling them because it makes them less likely to fall apart when I cut them and roast them. World-famous chef Heston Blumenthal has a recipe outlining a similar roasting method when making roasted potatoes. I believe that he cuts the potatoes before boiling, and then shakes the boiled potatoes gently in a colander to rough-up the surface before mixing with the oil and finishing roasting in the oven. You can try this technique at home if you like—it makes for a nice crisp crust on the outsides of the potatoes!