Baked Zucchini Chips

August 15, 2011  •  Popular, Vegetables

When zucchini plants start producing, they gain momentum and can take over your garden, your kitchen, and your diet. I’m always trying to think of something new to do with them, and frankly trying to think of ways I’ll enjoy eating them as I’m not much of a fan of plain zucchini. Last week it came to me – if I baked them into chips, I could eat them in place of potato chips – you get that crunchy, salty mouth-feel in a healthier snack.The first time I went to cooking school Italy, in a little hilltown just north of Rome, we made a fabulous fresh zucchini salad with mint. The zucchini were little tiny things like this – tender with almost no visible seeds in the center. The flowers are still lovely enough to use for another dish as well, making it ideal to harvest at this size.But every year, because I plant WAY too many zucchini plants, I can’t keep up and my zucchini grow overnight into these huge vegetables. Remember, if they are large, you need to cut out the spongy seeds from the center before cooking.I selected the most slender long ones to thinly cut into slices for my baked zucchini chips. Since they were slender, the seeds were less of an issue. You’ll need either a very stead hand with your sharp knife or a mandoline to cut them thinly.Spread them on a baking sheet lined with a silicone liner (or parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray). They can be very close together because they’ll shrink in the oven – just don’t let them overlap. Spray very lightly with olive oil or canola oil spray over the top and sprinkle with salt. You could season with other spices as well at this point, but I wanted a clean fresh chip.Be careful not to over salt your baked zucchini chips – when they shrink down they’ll have a more concentrated taste. Bake at your oven’s lowest setting until crisp. I did mine at 175 F for a tad over 2 hours – they actually could have gone another 30 minutes for a totally crisp texture.Remember, baked zucchini chips shrink so much in the drying process that one medium zucchini ends up being about 1 serving of chips, so plan accordingly. Store in a covered container – that is, if you can keep your hands off them and actually have any left to store!

4.6 from 5 reviews
Baked Zucchini Chips
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients
  • 4 medium zucchini (long and thin), sliced very thinly
  • cooking spray
  • sea salt
Instructions
  1. Line baking sheets with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Lay zucchini slices on baking sheets and spray top of slices very lightly with cooking spray; sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake at your oven's lowest temperature (150-200 F is ideal) until completely crisp, about 2-3 hours. Let cool on baking sheet then store in a covered container at room temperature.
Notes
These chips are crispiest when eaten straight from the oven. Once they cool, and over time, they become slightly chewy again, so eat them warm!

 

Comments

22 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Lea Ann says:

    Love this idea!

  2. Diane says:

    Love this Idea! I love fried zucchini but these would be much healthier and you still get the crunch instead of fried breading! Thanks!!

  3. Ky says:

    OMG! These were soooooooooooo goood..Was eating them right out the oven!! Healthy and good is always a BIG plus!!

  4. Lesley says:

    OMG! I made these today and they were delicious! 🙂 I’m so happy, I’m on a diet and this helped with the chip craving 🙂 Totally making these again. THANKS!

  5. Michelle says:

    I looked at several different recipes that said they were chips, but were actually just baked thick slices – not chips. Your recipe was actually “chips” and well worth the search! Thank you so much for sharing!

  6. Laura says:

    I accidentally overcooked mine, however what I could salvage was amazing! Why have I not heard of these before?! All the times I could have been eating this healthy and guilt free snack instead of having a packet of chips!!! I will definitely be making these more often, thank you for the recipe.

  7. Amanda says:

    I can’t wait to try this, one thing i miss in my “healthy eating” is the crunch of chips. I will have to try it with salsa. Thanks foe the post.

  8. Chyann says:

    Im baking some right. Now can’t wait to try them

  9. Jeryl Marr says:

    Thanks for the recipe. Always looking for low sugar , sugar free snacks. Have you ever tried kale for a snack?

  10. Regina says:

    just made this and I couldn’t stop eat 🙂 great snack!

  11. Sue says:

    I came up with the same idea, but I used my dehydrator.
    the first batch I sprinkled with salt as you did,but this
    caused some chips to be to salty and others to flat.
    I solved this problem by making a brine with about a tablespoon
    of salt(table or pickling) to about a gallon of “tepid warm”
    water.I slice the zucchini 1/4in. thick into the brine and let the slices set in the brine for 15 to 20 min.then onto the trays and into the dehydrator. I store them in zip-lock bags and they don’t go soft.

  12. Melissa says:

    Just came across this recipe and have two batches baking in the oven right now, with different seasonings on each. Can’t wait to try them and I’m definitely adding you to my list of blogs to follow. Thanks!

  13. Dudley Landingham says:

    Wow, wonderful blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your web site is excellent, let alone the content!. Thanks For Your article about Baked Zucchini Chips!

  14. Gypsy says:

    Made these today and let them bake while I did housework & laundry. Used 2 smaller ones and sliced with mandolin for evenness. Tumbled in bowl w/olive oil, pinches of Mrs.Dash and pink himalayan salt.
    MAN.. they are not kidding about shrinkage. Filled up baking sheet (slightly overlapped) but was not enuf to share. :o)
    Now I’m starving because I actually liked them but I gobbled them up in about 2 minutes.
    Would make them again in larger quantity.

  15. Fredro says:

    Nice post!

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