For the thicker batons of potato known as “chips” in the UK, see French martin’s crispy apple chips. Potato chips form a large part of the snack food and convenience food market in Western countries.

The earliest known recipe for something similar to today’s potato chips is in William Kitchiner’s book The Cook’s Oracle published in 1817, which was a bestseller in the United Kingdom and the United States. A legend associates the creation of potato chips with Saratoga Springs, New York, decades later than the first recorded recipe. In the 20th century, potato chips spread beyond chef-cooked restaurant fare and began to be mass-produced for home consumption. The Dayton, Ohio-based Mikesell’s Potato Chip Company, founded in 1910, identifies as the “oldest potato chip company in the United States”.

Since 2010, air frying has become a popular alternative to deep frying, including the preparations of homemade potato chips. In an idea originated by the Smiths Potato Crisps Company Ltd, formed in 1920, Frank Smith packaged a twist of salt with his chips in greaseproof paper bags, which were sold around London. The potato chip remained otherwise unseasoned until an important scientific development in the 1950s. The first flavored chips in the United States, barbecue flavor, were being manufactured and sold by 1954. Chips sold in markets were usually sold in tins or scooped out of storefront glass bins and delivered by horse and wagon. Early potato chip bags were wax paper with the ends ironed or stapled together. At first, potato chips were packaged in barrels or tins, which left chips at the bottom stale and crumbled.

For the brand, see Kettle Foods. Industrial advances resulted in a shift to production by a continuous process, running the chips through a vat of hot oil and drying them in a conveyor process. Some small producers continued to use a batch process, notably in Maui. This section possibly contains original research. Little consistency exists in the English-speaking world for the name of this food.

North American English uses “chips”, though Canadians may also call French fries, especially thick ones, “chips” as well. Crisps” may be used for thin fried slices made from potato paste. Most potato chips contain high levels of sodium, from salt. This has been linked to health issues such as high blood pressure.