We know. We know. This peanut butter and jelly sandwich with potato chips probably isn’t the sorta recipe—if you can even consider such a simple thing as this to be a recipe—you’ve come to expect from us. Then again, perhaps it is. We have a thing for recipes that are reliable, you know that. But we also like for them to be revelatory. If this deeply offends your sensibilities, so be it. But let’s just be honest, shall we? Don’t try to pretend you don’t sometimes indulge in a PB&J. And don’t pretend that the notion of slipping some potato chips into your PB&J didn’t just make your heart skip a beat. We all know that sorta desperation—and revelation.
–Renee Schettler Rossi
LC Whole Lotta Leeway Note
Okay, PB&J fiends of all ages, you gotta whole lotta leeway with this peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Consider it instead a basic blueprint, because thankfully, this last-minute godsend of a sandwich accommodates whatever you crave or happen to have on hand, be it whole grain or white, crunchy or creamy, jelly or jam, hand-made kettle-cooked chips or cheap store brand crumbs languishing at the bottom of the bag. Whatever you fancy will not only suffice in this recipe, but will be quite swell.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich With Potato Chips
Ingredients
- 2 slices bread (any type)
- Enough peanut butter, to slather each slice of bread (we used 1 to 2 tablespoons any type)
- Enough jelly (any type) to cover each slice of bread (we used a little less jelly than peanut butter)
- A few handfuls plain salted potato chips
Directions
- 1. Take your bread slices and put them in the toaster. (If you have a toaster setting option, it’s best to set it low for a perfect warm-to-soft-to-crisp bread ratio. It’s important not to have your bread too toasted because it will detract from the potato chips. But you’ll still want your bread warm and firm.)
- 2. From there, allocate your personally preferred portion of peanut butter onto each slice barely toasted toast. Then heap on the jelly. (You want to make certain you slather on sufficient sweet jelly to contrast with the salty chips and peanut butter.) Next, dump a bunch of potato chips atop a slice of jelly-slathered toast and sandwich it with the other jelly-slathered slice. Then take a bite. Now tell me that’s not good.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich With Potato Chips Recipe © 2014 Hannah Hart. Photo © 2014 Robin Roemer. All rights reserved.
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Now, I’ve been known to stuff a few nice chips (and pickle slices) in a tuna “sangwich” on occasion, but chips in in a PBJ?! That’s taking it to a whole ‘nother salty-sweet-crunch level! Nicely done, LC! (And love that recipe was aptly culled “My Drunk Kitchen!”)
Hah! Bow of gratitude for the kind words, Alex H. Sounds like this recipe has your name written all over it…
Along this same line try peanut butter, Fritos & Swiss cheese!
Doh!!
Nice! I like how the flavors and textures work together. I enjoy a grilled PBJ on occasion, now I have another arrow in my PBJ quiver. Thanks for the recipe, and your extraordinary website…oh, and thank you for all the hard work.
What a lovely note to find waiting for us! You are so very welcome, Rich. Thank YOU! Look forward to hearing your thoughts on this PBJ with some crunch when the mood strikes you. (Also, I occasionally indulge in a grilled PBJ, too. Have you ever tried it using freezer waffles in place of bread. Sounds insane, I know. But the Kashi 7 Whole Grain kind have a lovely nuttiness to them, and when you use them straight from the freezer, the outside crisps so nicely while the inside thaws and becomes nice and airy while the PBJ part becomes all gooey and warm. I came up with this when I was working at Real Simple, it’s in their first cookbook, Meals Made Easy. Ridiculously satisfying.)
It’s all about the (marcelled as in Ballreich Potato Chip) crunch in this recipe.
Yes! Exactly, Penny.
One of my favorite sandwiches, but one I haven’t had in years. It MUST be made with Welch’s grape jelly & potato chips – neither of which I buy anymore. :(
I understand, Martha in KS. My favorite quote from the late Leonard Nimoy is, “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.”
Live long and prosper! RIP Spock.
This is a reply to Robert McCune’s, “I tend to do some strange combos with peanut butter. Another favorite is peanut butter, iceberg lettuce, and mayo.” Another longtime favorite here is peanut butter, ketchup, and horseradish — try it before you sneer or scoff! Like this recipe, start with toast. And credit where credit is due. The inventor father of a college classmate invented this one; it is not an original from me, though I may be its biggest mouthpiece!
Love it, Elsa! Although, uh, I’m going to take your word on it…
Oh, where have you folks been for the last *mumble* years? I was doing this back in the …um…decade that doesn’t need to be enumerated.
Another one is peanut butter and yellow mustard with either saltine crackers or potato chips. The trick to that one is you spread the mustard one piece of bread and the PB on the other, then put the crackers in the middle. If you put the PB and mustard touching, the texture gets all wrong. Also requires a glass of ice-cold milk (although, as an adult, I discovered it goes pretty well with a cold beer.)
Don’t make that face. Everyone eats something someone else finds weird. I think Cincinnati chili and Frito pie is weird.
Completely with you in terms of everyone eats something that someone else finds weird, Renee. We each have our, what shall I say, quirks that render us even more lovable if a lot more unique. And yeah, we don’t think we invented this recipe, we merely took it upon ourselves to share it.
This sounds amazing! I always put chips in tuna sandwiches and they’re also great in ham and cheese sandwiches, and Italian combo subs, and…….!!
Ooooooh, love the way you think (and crunch), Carin! Thanks for sharing, you’ve certainly inspired me and, no doubt, others to try these.
Validation! I’ve been eating PBJ this way for years and thought my sambo was a little weird. I use homemade blueberry jam on mine, so delicious.
Validation, indeed, Linda! Plus our highest esteem for being a pioneer in the realm of potato chip sambos.
My brother came up with a different variant when we were kids, which we still eat to this day… Rice Chex cereal rather than potato chips. All the crunch, but none of the fat grams or sodium of chips. Admittedly, at the time, it was more a matter of available materials rather than a quest for a more “health conscious” version.
Loooooooooooove!
About 30 years ago at a cool Burlington VT restaurant they served and I ate and continue to eat today on hearty wheat bread spread with crunchy peanut butter, honey (enough so it drips) banana and potato chips! Yum.
AndD, I’m a peanut-butter-and-banana-on-toast freak. Gotta try your version.
It makes me happy to be associated with a website that features this recipe alongside the likes of seared scallops, ancho coffee lamb shanks, and fois gras. Kudos to everyone involved. PB and J stands the test of time…especially when made with homemade plum jelly of Southern origin.
Matt, a bow of gratitude to you for those exceptionally kind words. We just planted a Santa Rosa plum tree in our yard, so next year when we have fruit I’ll be pestering you for a jelly recipe of Southern origin…
This has been one of my very favorite sandwiches since I was a kid. Dare I say you should also try it with Cool Ranch Doritos in place of plain potato chips? Yup. Mind-blowing. My only requirement for eating this childhood favorite is an ice cold glass of chocolate milk on the side—no milk, no sandwich!
Hah, Tara, way to gild the lily! I can already feel the Cool Ranch stuff coating my fingertips…!
Well. If the sloppy “gotta whole lotta” Americanese doesn’t turn you off, the grape jelly, peanut butter and greasy potato chip sandwich in artificial bread certainly will. I was born in the USA, but I live in Europe. Except for the unfortunate incursions of McDonalds, KFC etc, the food is still genuine here. And largely very wholesome. If you get hooked on junk food, you probably crave it. I’m not and I don’t, and this does NOT qualify as a ‘recipe’ by anyone’s standards – unless you think “cooking” means opening processed meals and microwaving them or making “Smores” after your Brownie troupe goes camping. Please, please. Grow up. Find out what real food is. Yes, sweet, salty, crunchy together works. Ask any Thai; they’ve known for millennia. America – you can do so much better. Please try.
Jude, thanks for your comment. And if you take a deeper dive, you’ll discover we have all kinds of from-scratch, even-France-would-love-them recipes. To pick one of of thousands isn’t representative, in my humble opinion.
Ha! You actually think you get to copyright a “recipe” of pb&j with potato chips on it! ????? I’ve been eating this combo since I was old enough to make my own sandwiches, perhaps I should accuse you of stealing it, though I am sure people have been doing it for ages.
Your Special, of course not! We don’t claim a copyright to a dish. We’re following the federal requirements of copyright law regarding the written expression of the recipe, specifically the directions–how they are written, the order of words, and such. (Remember plagiarism from your 9th grade English class? That’s what we’re talking about.) And, yup, this has been around longer than me–and that’s 57 years.