Make these simple and easy zucchini chips in your dehydrator, or oven. Enjoy using up your zucchini abundance and experiment with fun and fascinating flavors along the way. You can make these chips for any taste and flavor preference, and even make multiple flavors from the same batch.
With a yearly trend of overabundant zucchini, sometimes it’s challenge to find something new to do with these long, green vegetables. Zucchini chips are a fun and interesting way to create healthier, lower calorie, chip substitutes, and all it needs is a bit of patience and a good dehydrator. You can even flavor the chips in multiple ways, to imitate your favorite potato chip flavors. Or, create new flavors for fun, and more interesting healthy eating adventures.
Since zucchini chips shrink during cooking/dehydrating, it is actually better to use the older and larger zucchini to make these chips. Save the small, tender zucchini for stir-fry and other uses, and use the older, dryer, and larger mini-torpedoes for these. If you have a dehydrator, it will take 8-12 hours for the chips to dry completely. Alternatively, many people use their ovens on 235F for two hours to get the same effect, though there is a higher risk of burnt chips with the regular oven technique.
These chips should stay crisp, in a sealed container, for about three days if oven baked. If dehydrated, they can retain their crispness longer, but due to the oil and seasoning they do have a much shorter shelf life than plain dehydrated zucchini.
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Easy Homemade Zucchini Chips
Description
Simple and easy zucchini chips to enjoy a low carb and healthy alternative to potato chips.
Ingredients
- 1 large or two medium zucchini
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt, or seasoning salt
Instructions
- Thinly slice zucchini into even pieces. A mandolin can be useful to achieve perfectly thin and even slices.
- If desired, press the sliced zucchini between two layers of paper towel to remove excess moisture.
- Coat the zucchini slices in olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Place the zucchini on dehydrator trays, or baking trays lined with parchment if you are cooking them in the oven.
- Dry in the dehydrator until crisp, 8-12 hours depending on your relative humidity level.
- Alternatively, dry in your oven on 235F for 2 hours, check crispness and let cool in the vented oven.
- Store in a sealed container for up to 3 days, long term storage is not recommended.
Easy Homemade Zucchini Chips
Create these tasty and simple zucchini chips as an alternative to potato chips, or as a healthy and low carb snack to use up excess zucchinis. These chips are also suitable for ketogenic and paleo dietary preferences.
Ingredients:
- 1 large or two medium zucchini
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt, or seasoning salt
Directions
- Thinly slice zucchini into even pieces. A mandolin can be useful to achieve perfectly thin and even slices.
- If desired, press the sliced zucchini between two layers of paper towel to remove excess moisture.
- Coat the zucchini slices in olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Place the zucchini on dehydrator trays, or baking trays lined with parchment if you are cooking them in the oven.
- Dry in the dehydrator until crisp, 8-12 hours depending on your relative humidity level.
- Alternatively, dry in your oven on 235F for 2 hours, check crispness and let cool in the vented oven.
- Chips should be crisp, and crack easily when bent. If they are still flexible or can be bent without cracking, they may need a little longer dry time. If they feel leathery, they will also need more dry time.
- Store in a sealed container for up to 3 days, long term storage is not recommended.
- Consume on their own, with your favorite dip, or with hummus.
Remember to keep flavors separated in your dehydrator, and avoid drying highly spicy or strong smelling chips with sweeter or plain flavored chips. You can put an empty tray between types, with a parchment paper liner on it, to prevent drips and cross contamination during the initial drying. Make sure to rotate trays for even drying, and let the chips cool completely on the dehydrator trays to check if they are done.
If the chips lose their crispness during storage, you can always re-crisp them up in the oven or dehydrator again. Or, if no one wants to finish them, extra chips can be thrown into a soup or stew to add flavor. When the thin slice re-hydrates, it will dissolve into the broth. 
Zucchini Chip Variations:
You can create flavor variations for these chips quite easily by adding additional spices to the oil, before you coat them. Or, by using a seasoning salt, like what is used on popcorn, to add flavor after coating. If you like making spice and herb blends, you can adapt the ones used for kale chips to add more interesting flavors to the zucchini chips.
For garlic and ginger zucchini chips, add one clove crushed garlic and one teaspoon minced ginger to the oil before coating the zucchini chips. If you’d like a more oriental flavor, add a splash of soy sauce instead of using salt.
If you are oven baking your zucchini chips, try sprinkling Parmesan cheese on one side of the chip before baking. These chips are also not recommended for storing, but rather for immediate consumption. The cheese, while well aged, can impact the store-ability of the finished chip.
Other flavor variations include adding dried hot peppers to the oil, for spicy chips. Or adding oregano and basil for a more Italian flavor. Don’t be afraid to experiment, and try out your favorite combinations, or just create new flavor combinations for fun.
If you like a combination that’s sweet and salty, you can add a light sprinkle of sugar, or a touch of maple syrup to the oil. This variation may have a shorter shelf life than other variations.
You can also use pre-made vinaigrette as a coating, just make sure to go lightly with it. This can give you a wider variety of interesting flavors, particularly if you are making these as small-scale snacks.
Your Turn:
What is your favorite flavor combination for zucchini chips? Have you tried sweet and salty, or maybe spicy?
Thanks for the recipe! These chips are really delicious and crispy.