Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Chips
/I am giddy with excitement about these crispy baked sweet potato chips. I mean, happy dance in the kitchen, shoveling them into my face, can’t stop making them, GIDDY.
Why?
Because they are 100% C-R-I-S-P-Y!
I went through a major trial and error process before settling on the best method.
I started by checking out a handful of recipes for crispy sweet potato fries to see what people thought worked. I read extremely varying things. Some used very low temps, some high. Some used parchment paper, some foil, some on metal cooling racks on the pans. Some people tossed the fries with cornstarch or other things to try and draw out some of the moisture and create a crispy exterior.
I tried all of these methods, and I know they were geared towards sweet potato fries, but I found none of them worked to make crispy chips.
With the oven temp too low they became leathery and hard to chew. I mean, who wants that? They also took for-ever.
With the oven temp too high they burned too quickly.
With parchment paper they never fully crisped and had that leathery texture.
With cornstarch they tasted a little gummy and I didn’t like the coated feel on my tongue.
With too thin of slices they burned. With too thick of slices they never fully crisped.
So what did work?
You’ll see way more details and tips below, but the key is baking these bad boys on FOIL and coating the foil with oil along with both sides of each slice of potato.
Oh, and having a crazy amount of patience also helps. I’m not going to lie, these are kind of annoying to make. They also don’t make a ton. Two large pans will make about 2 servings. I recommend parking it in the kitchen with something to read and just knowing that you’re going to be doing a lot of flipping + switching.
I don’t really recommend trying to bust these out for a party. Unless your only party duty is to make baked sweet potato chips and you have time to spend an entire morning making them. That would be totally cool and they do stay crispy for at least 6 hours after baking.
While they’ll be a test to your patience, they’ll also be absolutely worth the effort.
You won’t believe you’re eating homemade baked sweet potato chips. The crispiness factor is off-the-charts.
I think the photo below is evidence enough.
And seriously, don’t forget to make the dip. It is INsane.
I’ve tried to come up with as many tips as possible to make this process as foolproof as can be. I’ve made these chips a handful of times and they always come out perfectly crispy if you follow the method in the instruction and tips below.
Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Chip Tips:
-- I used orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (typically labeled yams) with excellent results. I did not try this with white-fleshed sweet potatoes.
-- A mandolin slicer is key, but I did successfully make crispy chips slicing by hand.
-- If slicing by hand: Cut a small slice off one side of the sweet potato to position it securely on your cutting board so it doesn’t roll as you slice.
-- Slices should be just under 1/8-inch thick for the best results. If they’re thicker they’ll need to bake longer and will result in a not fully crisped chip with a leathery texture. If they’re too thin they’ll burn easily.
-- If slices are uneven you may end up with partially crisp chips.
-- Do not overlap slices on the pan or moisture will build as they bake.
-- Covering the pans with foil and coating with oil is key. Make sure you don’t have a pool of oil on the foil but make sure it’s fully coated.
-- Do not bake on parchment paper or the potatoes will have a leathery/chewy texture and won’t crisp as well.
-- Do not pre-salt the potatoes (I’m not positive this will have a negative impact but I left the salt off until they were finished.).
-- Do not raise oven temp over 325° F to try and speed up the process. This temperature yielded the best tasting chips in the quickest amount of time.
-- Once the slices start to brown remove them from the pans. It may take a few rounds before all of the slices are removed.
-- The chips will feel a bit soft when removed from the pans. Once cooled they will fully crisp if they were sliced evenly and thinly.
-- If you only cook 1 pan at a time keep it on the center rack of your oven and disregard the switch pan position portion of the instructions. The chips will also cook a bit quicker only using 1 pan, but will only be enough for about 1 serving.
-- I do not recommend filling 3 pans if you have 3 racks in your oven.
-- I kept one pan in the center and one in the top position, with my heating element at the top of the oven. You may find with trial and error that your chips turn out better with different pan spacing. Ovens can vary widely gas/electric/heating element position/etc.
-- I do not recommend using a peeler to make your potato slices as they’ll be too thin.
-- If you want to make these ahead of time, after baking, leave them on your cooling rack or place them on a place once fully cooled. Don’t cover. Ours were crispy a full 6hrs after baking and could have lasted longer but that’s when we finished them.
Print Recipe! (tips included)
Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Chips with Avocado Lime Sriracha Dip
gluten-free, vegan // yields 2 servings
- 1 medium/large sweet potato (skin on)
- refined avocado oil (or safflower/sunflower)
- flaked sea salt
- 1 ripe avocado
- juice from 1 lime
- 2-4 teaspoons sriracha
- salt
Preheat oven to 325° F.
Evenly slice your sweet potato just under 1/8-inch thick (get the ruler out!) with a mandolin slicer or very sharp knife. Every slice may not be usable, as sometimes you’ll get a slice that’s too thick or thin or really uneven. Save the bad slices in the fridge to cook at a later time.
Line 2 large baking sheets from edge to edge with foil. Brush (or use a paper towel) the foil with 1-2 tablespoons of oil, until fully coated. The foil should look shiny, but you don’t want any standing pools of oil.
Place half of the sweet potato slices in a large bowl. Toss with as much oil as needed to coat both sides of every slice. You don’t want them dripping with oil, just a thin coat to make them glossy. (refer to photo 3)
Place each slice on the pan but do not overlap. The edges can touch but you want them in a single layer. (refer to photo 3)
Toss the rest of the slices with oil and fill up the other pan.
Place pans on separate racks (mine were in the middle and top position with my gas heating element on the top) and bake for 15 minutes. Switch the position of the pans after 8 minutes.
Be sure to pay attention to which pan you had on which rack. Remove pans from the oven and flip every potato slice over with tongs or carefully with your fingers (hot!). Switch pan position and bake for another 8 minutes, switching the pans again at 4 minutes. Potato edges should be starting to curl slightly.
Remove and flip potatoes over again and switch pan position. Bake for 3-4 minutes. Repeat this process until the edges are curled and their coloring starts to turn a light shade of brown. This will take between 6-10 rounds of baking for 3-4 minutes/flipping/switching pans. Some slices willl finish before others. As they start to brown, remove those slices and place on a cooling rack. Top with salt immediately. Continue to bake/flip/switch until all potatoes are finished. Let potatoes fully cool for the crispiest bite (about 5-10 minutes). The slices don’t need to be evenly browned all over. Once they start browning that’s the sign that they’ll be crispy when cooled.
To make the dip:
Mash 1 avocado with juice from 1/2 lime. Add 2-4 teaspoons of sriracha and a generous pinch of salt. Mix well. Add more lime juice, sriracha, and salt to taste. Serve with cooled chips and store in the fridge with saran on the surface for 2-3 days.
I cannot control myself with these around. Hope you find you have the same problem.
Ashley
