Some quick items of business:
1. Kate and I will each be doing book signings either today or tomorrow!
Boise, Idaho: Saturday September 22, 11:30am-1pm. Deseret Book Store, Boise Idaho (that’s the store on Overland, not Eagle Road)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Friday September 21, 7 pm. Barnes and Noble 7707 Bluebonnet Blvd, Baton Rouge (that’s TODAY!)
** Feel free to bring in books you’ve already purchased, come say hello!
2. We have a giveaway going on right now- click here to enter!
3. We’re still accepting entries in our photo contest through today- so send them over! We’ll be featuring more of our faves this weekend and announcing the winner of the KitchenAid next week. Woot!
3. You need to make these Sweet Potato Chips. Like, now.
I’m kickin’ it totally old-school today because I used to make chips like this when I was in, like, 6th grade after school. Sweet potatoes are incredibly versatile and incredibly good for you! They’re high in vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin D, iron, potassium and magnesium. They’re also super sweet, but unlike regular potatoes, they won’t spike your blood-sugar. It’s crazy how easy these are, and how good the results are. Sweet potatoes have a reputation for being a little soggy in the oven, but don’t be fooled- these will turn out perfectly crisp.
Sweet Potatoes come in all sorts of random shapes and sizes. Keep in mind that it’s helpful for the slices to be close to the same size in order to cook evenly, so if you spot some evenly-sized sweet potatoes (like the one shown on the left- see how it’s straight and long as opposed to all curvy like the one on the right?) grab ’em. But in the end it doesn’t really matter much so don’t stress too much about the perfectly shaped sweet potato.
You will need to have either a mandoline, a food processor with a thin slice attachment, or some crazy ninja knife skills. A mandoline is definitely the easiest. If you’re using a food processor, you want the thinnest slice possible, and you’ll probably have to cut your sweet potatoes so they won’t be round. I gave mine a slice with my mandoline (I also sliced my finger off for the first time. With the frequency that I use my mandoline and my history of injury in the kitchen, it’s fairly miraculous it’s never happened before.)
Now, these can be baked in the oven at about 400 degrees, but I’ve made them a million times a million ways and you want to know what works the best? The microwave. It’s faster, and at least for me, produces more consistent results and crispier chips. In the oven, I almost always get burn chips on the pan along side chewy ones that aren’t cooked. So I recommend the microwave for this one. If your microwave doesn’t have a turn table, you might need to rotate during cooking. To fit the most chips in at once, I just use the glass plate/tray that’s in the microwave already. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit it and lay your sweet potatoes right on there. They can be touching, but try not to overlap them. Squish as many as you possibly can on there because they shrink a ton.
At this point, you can just pop them in the microwave. Or you can give them a quick spritz of non-stick cooking spray and season them. A light sprinkle of sea salt or kosher salt is great (and I really do mean light sprinkle.) I like them with cumin, or the seasoning mix I use for my Sweet Potato Fries. I also love the flavor of rosemary with sweet potatoes.
There’s a great burger place where I live called The Boise Fry Company. When you order fries to go with your burger, you can choose from a ton of different types (russet/red/sweet/blue etc) and then there is a Smörgåsbord (seriously, that’s the correct spelling. I Googled) of flavored dipping sauces (blueberry mayo! Spicy Thai!) and flavored salts (vanilla! Chipotle!) My favorite salt is a rosemary-garlic one and last time I used it I sprinkled it on sweet potato fries and they were so good. So I made my own little version.
I just combined kosher salt, garlic powder, and fresh minced rosemary.
Process it in the blender until it looks something like this:
The flavor of the rosemary is actually really mild, because you don’t sprinkle very much on. There’s a lot of salt in there and once the chips are cooked and the moisture evaporates, everything is intensified. It is very easy to over-salt these things, so consider yourselves warned. Sprinkle it on with a very light hand.
Then place the plate into the microwave. Now, when it comes to cooking in microwaves there is a huge variance in heat temperature and cooking times. Every microwave is really different so you might have to experiment a little. I’ve found that cooking at 50-60% power for 8-10 minutes is perfect in my microwave. If you’re only cooking a few chips, they’ll be done much quicker than that. You’ll want to keep a close eye on them once the edges start curling up. Keep cooking them until you see slight browned spots. Not dark brown all over- that means they’re burned, just golden brown-ish in the middles. Keep a close watch on your first batch so you know what to expect from your own microwave.
You’ll need to let them cool completely before they get their crunch. If cooked properly, they’re super crispy and crunchy and naturally flavorful.
My kids devour these things- and little do they know they’re eating straight-up veggies, score one for Mom!
They’re even sturdy enough for dipping, but they totally don’t need it. They have so much flavor they’re great all on their own. But if you wanted to dip- try the honey-lime dip in this post, it’s awesome.
And since I know people will ask- yes, you can use this same method on regular potatoes. I’ve found it does take longer for them to cook, and red potatoes tend to work better than russets. I do however think both the flavor and texture is much better with sweet potatoes.
Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Chips with Rosemary Garlic Salt
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Ingredients
1 sweet potato
non-stick spray
4 tablespoons kosher salt or sea salt
2-2 1/2 tablespoons fresh minced rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)
Instructions
Cut a piece of parchment to fit the glass plate inside your microwave. Slice sweet potato with a mandoline and lay slices in a single layer on the parchment. Spray lightly with nonstick spray and sprinkle very lightly with the salt mixture. Microwave on 50-60% power for 8-10 minutes*, but keep an eye on them after bout 5 minutes) until sweet potatoes start to very lightly brown. Let cool completely before eating and store in an airtight container.
*Note this time and cooking length is for my microwave, definitely experiment to find the perfect combo in yours, as all microwaves are different and cooking time will depend on the thickness of the potato slices.
Rosemary Salt: Combine salt, rosemary, and garlic powder in a food processor and process until granules are evenly sized (this can take a few minutes). Note: you will not use all of this mixture. Place it in an airtight container in the fridge and use it to season other foods!
Questions & Reviews
I made these on Sunday. My hubbie had bought a sweet potatoe probably with other plans, but they became our chips. We thought they were really good and this is a keeper recipe. Considering I hated sweet potatoes as a child, I am growing up.
Seriously, last night I was actually dreaming about these and I haven’t even tried them yet. I think my subconscience is telling me that I need to buy some sweet potatoes ASAP!
What brand of Mandoline do you recommend? I purchased one years ago and it doesn’t work at all.
These look wonderful! They remind me of the Sweet Chips served at a restaurant here in the Orlando-area. Can’t wait to try them!
What a great, healthy snack idea! I love sweet potatoes!
Our local grocery store in Salt Lake carried all different kinds of specialty salts. I just bought Rosemary Salt last week and was wondering what to try it on first. Problem solved! Thanks!
If one doesn’t have a microwave, what are the temp settings for doing it in the oven and how long will it take? Can’t wait to try it. We have a ton of yams.
You’ll want to put them on parchment and bake at 400, just keep an eye on them, baking time varies!
Thanks! Living overseas….. No microwave!
A tip I picked up about baking these in the oven is that if you slice up the potatoes, lay them on the baking pan(s) and then salt the heck out of them, the potatoes will sweat out extra moisture. Just blot away the moisture (after you let them sit 5-10 mins), and then bake. They do turn out much crispier in the oven that way! And I bake them at I think 450-ish for 5-6 mins, then flip & another 6-8 mins (just check on them to make sure you don’t burn them since that seems to happen to me if I’m not careful).
Bountiful Baskets just gave us about 10 lbs of sweet potatoes, so your post is very well timed. I’m going to end up trying this tonight; I’m eager to have a ‘healthy’ snack the kids may even eat! Thanks!
Sweet potato, rosemary, garlic salt = *faint*
How long will these last for after they are cooked? Say if they arent all eaten right away? Thinking about making them in large batches for a cookout….
They’ll keep if put in an airtight container. Mine have never been around longer than 24 hours- but at least that much works!
Wow, these look awesome….I really cannot wait to try them! Thanks for sharing!!!!
Well this recipe made my day. So easy (I didn’t make the seasoning salt, although it looks amazing), read your post, sliced a sweet potato on the slicer part of our grater (not as good as a mandoline, but it worked) and 10 minutes later my anti-vegetable toddler inhaled them. My husband and I got to try a couple and we all loved them. My new go-to snack.
I’ve heard of making potato chips in the microwave but have never tried it! These sound so good and like a fun experiment! I will have to try these soon- like tonight!
Microwave?? Awesome! I just bought sweet potatoes so that I could try these! Can’t wait.
That so reminded me………………I was at my sister’s once, and we were making salads. My brother in law was slicing without the guard and sliced off the tip of his finger. I took over and proceeded to brag about how I never used the guard, and promptly sliced the tip off my finger! Did I ever feel dumb~we both ate dinner with one hand up in the air in order not to bleed on anything.
I love how easy these seem, and they are so perfect! I need to get a mandolin JUST to try these. I love your cute little holder too!
I need to buy a mandolin, any suggestions? Sounds like you’ve had yours awhile, and use it alot. Excited to try this!
Didn’t see the link in my reader…see it now! Thanks
I have an obsession with sweet potatoes. This is definitely going to help feed that addiction. Yum!! Can’t wait!!!
Wish I would have seen this about 2 months ago…before I bought the Pampered Chef microwave chip maker thingy. It does work great but I could have saved 25 bucks 🙂 Have you ever tried this method with apples?? Delish! Especially with fresh Washington apples 🙂
This is great since I eat paleo and have limited options for snacks! AWESOME, THANKS!
I’m excited to try these. If all goes well, this will be “the” snack for the house!
I just have to say that every time you talk about the book signing being at the overland Deseret Book rather than the Eagle Road one I kind just laugh. Only Boise people know exactly where they are in that town based on the cross street rather than actually knowing an address. I’m from Boise but I live in the Seattle area now and I miss the easy directions of the mile grid for the main roads.
Love your website, food, and how exciting and easy you make cooking.
Beautiful!! Chips and that fabulous dish towel in your final pictures 🙂
I can’t wait to try these. And thanks for the restaurant recommendation. I know where we are going for dinner tonight!
Wow! These look great….a snack, an appetizer or a side with burgers….yummy. Thank you for sharing!!
What a great tip to use the glass plate in the microwave. I was just using a big dinner plate, but it doesn’t fit as much! Thanks 🙂
Thank you for my newest addiction… I will enjoy these without guilt. Love your site!
These look great and so easy! The microwave!! Who knew?
So, does microwaving work for regular ol’ potato chips, too? I never would have thought chips could be any good cooked in the microwave, but I trust you gals. I will totally try these- as soon as I pull my sweet potatoes from the ground. (Really, they’re so easy top grow- throw the plants in and then don’t touch them until it gets cold).
Yep, read the whole post- last paragraph 🙂
Oh- duh. Missed that last picture caption and went right to the recipe.
I used to try making potato chips like this at our old place, but the built in microwave there didn’t have a turn table! It did not work well. I’ll have to try them again now that we’ve moved!
Oh, and I even found a little rack (from Korea) that lets you place a whole bunch of chips standing upright instead of flat, so you can fit more.
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