The Craziest Thing You Can Do with a Potato Chip

For those nights when you get home hungry, stressed, and impatient, Hangry is here to help. Each Monday, Kendra Vaculin will share quick, exciting meals to rescue anyone who might be anxiously eyeing a box of minute rice.

Last week, we told you to cover potato chips in blue cheese. This week, we tell you to cover potato chips in chocolate (and marshmallows). When will the madness end?! 

You are not supposed to go grocery shopping while hungry or in a bad mood, and definitely not while hungry and in a bad mood. But I don’t always make the best decisions.

True to this column’s name, I was a stage-5 HANGRY person a few weeks ago and set out for the store anyway, sure that I could exhibit restraint. This was not the case, and I still have the stocked pantry to prove it. 

I made out like a bandit at the market, loading up a basket with everything that looked even remotely interesting to me. Sesame pretzels? Absolutely. Ice cream? Thank you. Regular wasabi peas PLUS the Sriracha-flavored ones, because who has time to make a decision right now? Oh is that a bar of meat? Yes, certainly, throw it in the basket. Milk chocolate-smothered potato chips? I mean of course, why wouldn’t I buy—

HOLD UP. Milk chocolate-smothered potato chips! I screeched to a halt in the store, holding perhaps the only product that could have hit the breaks on my rampage. Packaged all cute in a brown paper coffee bag, the chips were wedged on a shelf between similarly coated graham crackers and pretzels, but were of course the only thing that mattered. I saw the ridges of the chips even through the chocolate layer, started having heart palpitations, and ran to the checkout counter. 

We have those chips to thank for curbing my grocery store take-over while it was still in its nascent stages, and also for being the only part of my haul that I opened to munch on during the walk home, a true testament to their appeal. How have I lived without you for so long? I said on the street to my milk chocolate-smothered potato chips. How will I go on once I’ve eaten you all up?

Obviously recreating this crazy-addictive and “not a low calorie food” in my own kitchen became a high priority very quickly. Dipping Ruffles in melted chocolate did the job in a hurry, but I wouldn’t be a mad scientist if I didn’t think there was room for MORE. Visions of rocky road fudge and puppy chow swirled in my head, and these sweet-salty-crunchy bites were born.

Chocolate Marshmallow Potato Chip Bites

Makes as many as you want 

9 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 3/4 of an average bag)
1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
3 cups roughly crushed potato chips (I used Ruffles; don’t go crazy crushing these! They will inevitably crush more when you’re stirring them into the melty chocolate mixture)
3 cups mini marshmallows

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photo by James Ransom