Shrinkage is legit.
I’m talking about spuds, my beloved sweet potatoes, so get your mind out of the gutter, ya dirty birdie. Confession: I totally would have went there too. It’s in my nature to be naughty.
Skirting around my fifty shades of grey, I now know why a brand new bag of potato chips is only half full directly after opening it. Those suckers shrink when you cook them, and I don’t just mean a little bit. I’m talking Andre the Giant shriveling to the size of Willow in a matter of minutes, or really hours if you want to get all technical about it.
I say hours because that’s how long it took me to make these. Now obviously that’s not all hands on labor, since my time these days is almost non-existent (I blame the tiny human). It only took me a couple of minutes to prep these and after that, I let the oven do my dirty work. Translation: I bake these low and slow. It makes my ability to burn them next to impossible, even if the babe requires my attention at the exact moment the oven timer is blasting off.
I’ve also gotten rather adept at flipping these chips with the phalanges on my left hand, while holding my fifteen pound bundle of joy on my right hip; multitasking at its finest. Since the oven temperature is so low, I didn’t burn myself or the child, and I got to lick my fingers clean. Now that’s winning.
In addition to reducing any margin of error, the lengthy cook process also allows them to get brilliantly crunchy, and I do mean crunchy. Since these chips were cut by my nimble fingers with a very sharp knife, they are not paper-thin; they are more like wedding invitation thin, which means they are not light and crispy. Rather, they are bold and crunchy, more akin to kettle cooked chips than a bag of Lays.
Either way, they are incredibly easy to consume and just a teeny tiny bit addicting. Case in point: I managed to house an entire sweet potato faster than it takes Ave to nurse, and she’s quick as a flash these days. Thankfully, with Ave being a girl and all, she doesn’t need to concern herself with shrinkage, and this time, I do mean it like that.
(The leaves are merely for a pop of color. I do not recommend baking nor eating them.)
- 1 medium Sweet Potato, sliced as thinly as possible.
- 2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 tsp. plus 1 pinch of Salt
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
- Slice sweet potato as thinly as possible. The thinner the potatoes, the sooner they will be done cooking. Add sweet potato slices to a medium sized bowl. Toss with olive oil and salt ensuring you cover all the sweet potatoes.
- Lay the potato slices on a cooling rack, as close to one another as possible without overlapping. Place cooling rack on top of a baking sheet and put them in the oven.
- Bake for a minimum of two and a half hours*, flipping them once halfway through.
- Remove from oven, sprinkle with a pinch of salt. You can eat them warm or once cooled.
- *The cook time will vary depending on the thickness of the sweet potato slices. Since the oven is at such a low temperature, you can check the sweet potatoes every 30 minutes or so (after the 2.5 hours) and continue to cook them until they are cooked all the way through and at desired texture. The thinner chips were done at 2.5 hours and I cooked the thicker chips up to 5 hours. They will be SUPER crunchy, not chewy, when done.
What’s your favorite flavor of chip? Do you prefer kettle cooked or regular chips?
Holy moly this is like a recipe for the dehydrator except you don’t need one and it takes way less time!! Aka – perfect for me because I’ve always wished I had a dehydrator to make veggie and fruit chips. I definitely prefer the thicker kettle cooked type of chips vs the thing flimsy guys. Well done!!
Cora recently posted…WIAW: Real Talk. Getting Jacked Up and Letting Anger Take Over
Yeah these were a lot of fun to make and eat. The no burning thing is huge for me right now. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Crunchy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips
i always wanted to try making chips like this! looks so easy and good
meredith @ cookie chrunicles recently posted…Out of Cookie Dough?! (WIAW)
You should definitely try it. The fun part is this flavor part is so basic, but you could add any kind of herbs and spices you want to jazz it up.
Meghan recently posted…Crunchy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips
Those leaves look so tasty though! Party pooper.
Suzy recently posted…Sigh Language
Alright fine, if you want to eat the leaves, go for it. Let me know how they turn out. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Crunchy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips
I was ready to eat the leaves. With ketchup 😛 And I love that you got these so crispy! That’s something I struggle with big time when it comes to sweet potatoes… which is probably why I’ve given up on them for the time being and gotten cozy with white potatoes. But this reminds me so much of something that you’d be able to make in a dehydrator… which I bought 10+ years ago and haven’t used in 9+ because who has 10+ hours to wait for something to finish?! Plus plus plus.
Amanda @ .running with spoons. recently posted…healthy coffee crisp smoothie
I attribute the crunchyness to baking them on a cooling rack a top a metal baking sheet. It allows the heat to hit them from all angles.
Why have I never thought of doing this???? I love sweet potatoes and I love chips. It’s so obvious! It’s also the only kind of acceptable shrinkage there is. I’d use my dehydrator, but I like how much quicker the oven is for something like this.
Heather Shoberg recently posted…Photo Dump… with Cats
Yes you should absolutely make them. If you do, I’d love to hear what you think.
This makes me want to go watch that Seinfeld episode about shrinkage. And eat chips. Lots ‘o chips. We just bought sweet potato tortilla chips for a halloween party… if I wasn’t so lazy I’d make these. But I’d have to make as ass load for a party… because, shrinkage. 😉
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table recently posted…Running… Is a Struggle. Food is not. [WIAW]
Kettle chips trump regular chips – always always!
These look 100% worth the oven time and hey, if you are going to be in all afternoon anyway then why not!
Jen @ Chase the Red Grape recently posted…Macro Counting – the good, the bad and the ugly – part one #5TTT
You’d have to buy a billion potatoes to make enough for a party. No one’s got that many ovens. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Crunchy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips
I tried making beet chips once years ago and they were a total fail – I think I’ve been scared of making root vegetable chips ever since! These make me want to give them a shot again though.
My favourite flavour of chip is sour cream and onion. Cannot stop myself around them!
Chelsea A recently posted…What I Ate Wednesday: Dietitian Edition 4
I made beet chips years ago and was totally disappointed, mainly because they still tasted like beets. Ha! 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Crunchy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips
OH YEA, these are gorgeous!! They look perfect, I would eat them all. I have to argue with the chip bag being half full though, they fill them AFTER they’re cooked so there is NO excuse to not fill that shit up more! #deprivedcustomer.
Brittany recently posted…Port Madison, Bainbridge Island
That’s because it would take like 50 potatoes to fill up a bag. Ain’t nobody got time for that. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Crunchy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips
I think your potato chip and my cheese jalapeno chips need to make a baby. Yes? I mean food recipe baby. No labor or waiting included. Mm k?
p.s I kinda want to bake leaves now just for kicks haha
I smoked grass once….like literal grass rolled up in notebook paper. I burned the hell out of my throat.
Meghan recently posted…Crunchy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips
How many servings is one sweet potato?
Personally, I’d say one sweet potato is one serving. They shrink down pretty quickly when they cook, and it’s amazing how fast the chips are gone once you start snacking. Then again, I love salty chips so there’s that….
The leaves are merely for a pop of color. I do not recommend baking nor eating them -> best ever!
These chips look sooooooooo crispy! My mouth is watering! When we’re back from London I am going to try your baking method. I am usually too impatient for this 😛
Aaaaaand I’ll whip up a large batch of guacamole to dip.
Juli @1000lovelythings recently posted…Chicago – A Love Story
The guacamole dip would be amazing with these: a match made in heaven. You might want to skip the leaves though. 😉
Meghan recently posted…Crunchy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips
Brilliant! I love burn proof and idiot proof recipes. All I can think about right now is that 15 pounds of joy in the hip. I throw my 14.5 pound bundle over my shoulder or in a carrier but it’s still heavy after a while. I think some sweet potato chips would be a great way to eat yummy energy to supplement the energy it takes to carry her 🙂
My meal planning/shopping/cooking starts next week. I’m cutting off the blue apron string and going on my own. I may go off the grid while this happens but these babies will get me through it I’m sure.
Danielle recently posted…WIR sleep less play more
Oh yes, these babes are getting heavier. I almost always carry her out of the car seat these days since I’m pretty sure the combined weight is close to 25 pounds. I should also start using my left side or I’m gonna be lopsided. 🙂
Good luck cutting those strings. I think maybe I should pick them up. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Currently: October 2016
These look so so good! I am not a huge chip fan (weirdo, I know!) but when it comes to homemade chips? Ummm…… yeah… don’t expect a pan to last any longer than 0.00001 seconds because I’ll have eaten half the batch before they even make it out of the oven. I mean, you’ve got to test them to make sure they’re crunchy and cooked through – right?
Kristy from Southern In Law recently posted…Recent Things: Beesy, Beesy, Beesy
Absolutely, I always test (and then retest) them to make sure they’re not poisonous. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Currently: October 2016
OMG KETTLE CHIPS. The crunch factor = elevated. Omg you’ve got me craving them now.
I wish there were a tasty vegetable which ….. elevated instead of shrinkage. These look delicious and this non-sweet potato lover is besotted.
Wait, what a stupid word, besotted.
Arman @ thebigmansworld recently posted…Healthy Paleo Breakfast Cookie Dough
Cabbage. That’s one veggie that seems to grow every time I cut it. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Currently: October 2016
Oooh I don’t think I’ve ever made chips at such a low oven temp – I need to try it! I loveeee crunchiness. And Ave is looking so cute! I love her appearances on IG.
Nicole @ Foodie Loves Fitness recently posted…My Workouts Lately // Sept & Oct
Aw thanks. I try to intersperse the Ave pictures with lots of food but sometimes I fail and post practically back to back pictures of the babe. Oops.
These chips are the bomb. I’d love for you to try them.
Meghan recently posted…Scalloped Sweet Potato Casserole with Bechamel Sauce and Candied Walnuts