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Potato chips will always be the perfect party snack. Salty, crispy, and easy to eat with your fingers, they’re a timeless choice for any gathering. While you might typically reserve a flavorful bowl of potato chips for more casual affairs like movie night, you can easily upgrade this snack into a refined bite fit for any cocktail hour or elegant holiday celebration.

As someone who previously served as the social media editor for Food & Wine and now writes about food trends for our website, I spend a lot of time scrolling through food videos on Instagram and TikTok. And there’s one simple potato chip-centric appetizer idea I’ve had saved on social media for a few months now, which I plan to make to impress guests this holiday season.

When the internet introduced me to the idea of “Basque nachos,” this eye-catching snack stopped me in my tracks. Potato chips topped with shaved serrano ham, finely grated manchego, and briny pickled peppers are an immediately alluring sight.

Content creators often cite Ernesto’s — an acclaimed Spanish restaurant in New York City that offers house-made potato chips topped with jamón Ibérico on its menu — as their inspiration for their renditions of the dish.

Basque nachos — also occasionally called Spanish nachos — are, quite clearly, not your traditional nachos. They draw inspiration from the chip-based, handheld format of nachos, but that’s where the similarities end. The first part of the dish’s name refers to the Spanish ingredients sprinkled on top. They look sophisticated, deliver bold flavor, take just a few minutes to prepare, and should definitely be part of your next party spread.

How to make your own Basque nachos

You’ll need to assemble at least four ingredients to make this appetizer at home: thicker, kettle-style potato chips are ideal, along with thin slices of serrano ham or jamón Ibérico, manchego, and a briny component, such as guindillas (pickled Spanish peppers) or Castelvetrano olives.

Spread the potato chips on a sheet pan and bake at 400°F for about 5 minutes, or until warmed through. You’ll want to do this just before serving, so the chips are still warm when you begin plating.

After heating the chips, you can serve them on a sheet pan, a platter, or a large plate. (If you go for a plate, you may need to do two layers of chips and toppings.)

Once the chips are spread across your chosen serving vessel, layer them with the cured ham. As Meredith Hayden (@wishbonekitchen) explains, the heat from the potato chips will gently temper the cured meat, helping to infuse the chips with its flavor.

Next, go in with your briny, pickled element. If you’re using olives, tear them up with your hands or give them a rough chop. Pickled peppers can be left whole, both for dramatic effect and as punchy whole bites that guests can alternate with the rich potato chips.

The finishing touch is the cheese. Use a microplane or the finest side of a cheese grater; aim to create thin, delicate shreds of manchego that scatter across the plate of chips. Be generous — this should be a veritable shower of manchego that falls on every visible chip. Once everything is coated in cheese, your Basque nachos are ready to serve.

You can customize this recipe

Basque nachos serve as a flexible template for similar appetizers that you can customize to match your taste or available ingredients. If you don’t have cured Spanish ham, prosciutto makes a good substitute. Pecorino Romano or Gruyère are both nutty, hard cheeses that can easily replace manchego. (The former pairs perfectly with prosciutto, and adding banana peppers can enhance the Italian flavor profile.)

If you’re all-in on briny, salty flavors, consider adding anchovies on top. (In August, chef José Andrés shared his recipe for pintxos-inspired Spanish nachos on Substackcovered with an array of tinned fish.)

A bit of finely grated lemon zest or chopped tender herbs would brighten up each bite. As long as you have hard cheese and cured meat, you can quickly make a batch of these elegant-looking potato chips, which is why they’ll be my go-to entertaining option as we enter the holiday season.