Potato chips are commonly linked to Saratoga Springs, New York, but documented recipes for thin, fried potato “shavings” existed in Britain and the United States decades earlier, so their exact origin is uncertain and not solely Saratoga.
Documented origins
- The earliest known printed recipe appears in William Kitchiner’s The Cook’s Oracle (1817, London), describing thin “shavings” of potato fried until crisp, predating the Saratoga story by decades.
- Early American cookbooks, including Mary Randolph’s The Virginia House-Wife (1824) and N.K.M. Lee’s The Cook’s Own Book (1832), also include crisp sliced potato recipes derived from Kitchiner, showing the idea was already circulating on both sides of the Atlantic.
Saratoga Springs story
- A popular legend credits chef George Crum at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs with inventing “Saratoga Chips” in 1853 to satisfy a finicky customer, but historians have shown this narrative has multiple factual problems and is considered a myth.
- Despite the myth, Saratoga embraced the association, and the term “Saratoga Chips” persisted into the 20th century, helping popularize the snack in the U.S.
What historians conclude
- Scholarly reviews conclude the precise place of invention cannot be pinned to one restaurant or person; thin, crisp fried potatoes evolved from earlier European and American recipes, while Saratoga Springs played an outsized role in branding and popularization.
- Reference works often still attribute the invention to George Crum/Speck, reflecting the enduring legend, even as primary-source cookbook evidence points to earlier origins.
