The kitchen paper trick chefs use to revive soggy oven chips – crispy again in under 5 minutes

Sophie Bennett • December 10, 2025 16:44

The tray came out pale and promising, then died in front of you. A slick of steam hit the cold air, the chips relaxed, and by the time everyone sat down they were soft, bendy and suspiciously like canteen food. Ketchup helps, but it doesn’t fix the flop.

I first saw the rescue at a cramped service kitchen in Manchester, during a football night rush. A commis had overfilled a tray, the tickets kept printing, and the chips slumped before they left the pass. The chef didn’t swear. He grabbed a roll of kitchen paper, a plate and a screaming‑hot pan, moved like it was a drill, and four minutes later the same chips came back shattering under the tongs.

The hero wasn’t a fancy gadget. It was a sheet of plain kitchen paper, used at exactly the right moment.

Why oven chips go soggy so fast

Oven chips are par‑fried at the factory, then frozen with a thin crust already in place. In your oven, that crust needs two things to stay crisp: high, dry heat and space for steam to escape. Most home trays don’t give them either.

We crowd them, we pull the tray just under done, and then we let the chips sit. As they rest, the hot, fluffy centres push moisture back towards the surface. With nowhere to go, that water turns into trapped steam that condenses on the chips themselves. The crisp shell you just worked for gets rewetted from the inside out.

To make things worse, a slick of surface oil can behave like cling film. Instead of evaporating cleanly, moisture has to fight through a shiny barrier. The result is familiar: chips that look golden but feel limp, especially once they’ve sat for more than two or three minutes.

The kitchen paper rescue, step by step

Here’s the exact move chefs use when a tray of chips starts sulking on the pass. You can do it at home in under five minutes.

1. Get your “re‑crisp” heat ready

Choose your weapon and crank it:

Air fryer: 200°C, preheated.
Oven: fan 230°C or grill on high with a rack in the upper third.
Hob: a large, dry non‑stick or cast‑iron frying pan on medium‑high until properly hot.

You want fierce, direct heat ready to go the moment you’ve dried the chips.

2. Dry them fast with kitchen paper

This is the quiet fix.

Line a large, microwave‑safe plate with two layers of kitchen paper.
Spread the soggy oven chips in a single layer on top. A little overlap is fine; a pile is not.
Microwave on high for 45–90 seconds, depending on how many chips you have.

You’re not trying to cook them again. You’re driving off steam and letting the kitchen paper catch it instead of your chips. As they reheat, excess moisture and some surface oil soak into the paper instead of resettling on the crust.

3. Flash them back to crisp

Work quickly while the chips are very hot.

Air fryer: Tip the chips straight into the hot basket (no paper), shake to spread, and cook for 2–3 minutes, shaking once.
Oven / grill: Slide the chips onto a preheated baking tray or rack with a thin film of oil. Roast or grill for 3–4 minutes, turning once.
Hob: Drop the chips into the hot dry pan with a teaspoon of neutral oil. Toss or turn for 2–3 minutes until the edges are singing.

Season with salt right at the end. If you taste one, you’ll hear the thin crackle again rather than a dull bite.

The trick isn’t magic; it’s moisture control under high heat.

What the kitchen paper is really doing

Soggy chips are rarely undercooked; they’re over‑steamed. The kitchen paper step solves three problems in one go:

It wicks away the burst of steam that escaped once the chips left the oven.
It blots the extra oil that’s stopping that steam from venting cleanly.
It preheats the chips all the way through so the final blast can focus on texture, not temperature.

Think of it as a reset button for the surface. The microwave plus paper dry things out without burning. The second, very hot stage rebuilds a crisp shell in minutes because the inside is already piping and ready.

Variations for whatever kit you own

You don’t need a restaurant line to pull this off. Adjust the last step to match your kitchen.

Air fryer addicts

Air fryers are perfect for this:

60–90 seconds on kitchen paper in the microwave.
2 minutes at 200°C in the air fryer, shake halfway.
Finish with flaky salt, maybe a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

Because the basket is perforated, steam escapes fast and the newly dried surfaces crisp even more.

Oven and grill people

If your oven’s still on from the first round, you’re golden:

Slide an empty tray back in while you do the kitchen paper step.
When the chips hit the hot metal, they sizzle instead of sweating.
Use the grill for the last minute if you want extra colour, but keep an eye on the tips.

A wire rack set over a tray works especially well, letting heat attack from all sides while any last moisture drops away.

Hob, one pan, late night

When the oven’s off and you’re already in your pyjamas, go pan:

Dry the chips on kitchen paper in the microwave.
Get a large pan properly hot with a teaspoon or two of oil.
Add chips in a single layer, toss occasionally, and stop as soon as you hear crisp edges.

You’ll get a few extra bronzed spots where the chips meet the pan, which nobody ever complains about.

Common mistakes to avoid

A few small habits can undo the good work.

Putting kitchen paper in the oven or pan. Heat and exposed paper don’t mix. Use it in the microwave or for draining only, then bin it.
Over‑microwaving. Go too long and the edges start to go hard before you can re‑crisp them. Start with 45 seconds and add 10–15 seconds if needed.
Crowding the second tray or pan. If the chips are stacked, they steam each other back to soft. Two quick batches beat one soggy mountain.
Saucing too early. Vinegar, gravy, curry sauce – brilliant at the table, lethal on texture. Crisp first, sauce later.
Skipping the preheat. If the tray, basket or pan isn’t properly hot, you’re just gently warming them a third time.

Quick reference: the 5‑minute chip rescue

Step	What you do	Why it matters
1	Preheat air fryer / oven / pan on high	Gives you instant, intense dry heat
2	45–90 sec on kitchen paper in microwave	Pulls out steam and excess oil fast
3	2–4 min in very hot air fryer / oven / pan	Rebuilds a crisp shell without drying the centre

Use this when takeaway chips arrive sad, when oven chips have sat too long, or when a tray came out a shade too pale and you only notice at the table.

From party save to weeknight habit

Once you’ve done this a couple of times, it stops feeling like a trick and starts feeling like a tiny system you can trust. You don’t have to bin half a tray of limp chips or drown them in mayonnaise to hide the texture. You know that one plate, one sheet of kitchen paper and a hot pan will save them.

On busy evenings, it also buys you freedom. You can take the chips out when the chicken’s ready, plate up without rushing, then give everything a 3‑minute crisp just before it hits the table. The food waits for you, not the other way round.

FAQ:

Does this work on takeaway chips as well as oven chips?
Yes. Spread leftover chippy chips on kitchen paper, microwave briefly to reheat and dry, then finish in a very hot pan or air fryer. They’ll never be quite “fresh from the fryer”, but they come surprisingly close.

Won’t the microwave make them even soggier?
On its own, yes. The difference here is the kitchen paper and the second, fierce heat. The paper soaks up the steam the microwave pulls out, and the hot tray or pan restores the crust.

Can I skip the microwave and just blast them in the oven again?
You can, but it’s slower and often dries the centres before the outsides crisp. The kitchen paper step removes moisture first, so the second cook can be shorter and sharper.

Is it safe to put kitchen paper in the microwave?
Plain, white kitchen paper is generally safe in short bursts, as long as it’s flat, not scrunched, and away from the microwave walls. Never use printed, metallic or greaseproof papers for this, and never put kitchen paper under a grill or in a frying pan.