How do you make homemade veggie chips?

jcpmoore

I tried my hand at making homemade zucchini chips this weekend. They didn't come as the recipe said they would and I was disappointed. Anyone have any tried and true recipes? Thanks!

BigDnSW

I just bought a new veggie slicer as the old one was wearing out and wasn't adjustable. I plan on making zucchini, yellow squash, and sweet potato baked chips and "fries" ...no sodium, butter, etc. The new slicer allows for thickness adjustments as well as making a fries cuts which will be great for salads, mixed veggies, blah..blah. Will let you know how the mad scientist's experiments go, notably on the chips.

I used it the first time to make baked sweet potato fries with a very small amount of olive oil, paprika, curry, and Mrs. Dash salt free extra spicy. Just put them all in a baggie and shook together till fries were evenly coated. Of course you can make for your taste buds. Baked, then broiled at the end cuz I like em crispy; wasdelicious and really wasn't much work at all. Oh, when I get lazy will also sub Cavendars salt free Greek seasoning and/or Tony Chachere's salt free Creole as well. Both, with varieties of Mrs. Dash have been great when time is an issue. Will use same ideas for chips.

Hope this helps and only efforting to Jog the creative noodle. The main thing for me, and we all are different, is recently I cut my sodium down and watching the fats, carbs, and calories. It's a Duh! I know...but life without some type of chips is "life without parole".

OK, enough pontificating. Going to the store today after work and reload on fresh fruit and veggies. Then, into the dungeon for veggie chips. Good luck! (part of my job is to write detailed observations, scripting, etc...sorry if I insulted your intelligence...just my nature..and good thing I am basically an introvert till I get a keyboard in my hands).

jcpmoore

No insult, taken, hon! I really am very new at the veggie chip thing. I think I'm seeing my error. The recipe I used never called for broiling, so I'll add that to my process next time.

I have a number of salt-free spice mixes, so these are what I will probably use mostly for seasoning the chips when I try again. I personally have nothing against salt, though. One of these times I might even soak 'em in vinegar and cover 'em in sea salt. hehe My doc jokes that I'm barely alive due to my low blood pressure, so I count myself quite fortunate there. But I don't go over the salty deep end too often. Though now I'm thinking...might be time to pick up another zuke today.

kimmbird

When I searched veggie chips I came up w a lot of temp variances. What's the ideal temp?

I baked mine at 225'F, it took a long time. I was thinking of trying the baking method of 400 x 20 min then decreasing to 200'. Does anyone hv an oppion on this.

Note..I dont hv a slicer thingy, so I used a peeler and made long strips. It worked out well. I did hv to do it on the edge of the counter so I could get more slices. There was a bit of left over and I used it in soup, but salad would work too. And honestly it really wasn't that much waste

jcpmoore

I never have been able to get mine to lose the excess moisture. 2 hours is my limit of patience. So a question for everyone who has made these...

Have any you tried a dehydrator? Is that even a good idea? I saw one in a catalog and got to thinking, so thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

BigDnSW

I have not...it took me several tries with squash, zucchini, frozen whole green beans, and sweet potatoes before I got it down. Everyone's oven is different. For me..baked at 400 till brown on the edges, broil till crisp on top. But that's my oven. Some microwave first to cook inside, then broil. Not an exact science, but works. Same for yellow corn tortillas. One key for me is is to use EVOO spray on top...helps to crisp.

If you do get a dehydrator...would love to see your results as I am thinking of getting one for a variety of reasons.

Happy hunting!

jcpmoore

Thanks for the feedback! It might be awhile before we get it-DH is out of work in two weeks. But who knows what deals will come along, right?

BigDnSW

To quote Tom Hanks in "Castaway"..."You never know what the tide will bring in". Hope it all works out!