Are there any healthy alternatives to french fries? Of course. They are called chips and are baked in the oven, dried in the sun, or dehydrated with a dryer.
Svetlana Kolpakova/123rf
There are healthy alternatives to French fries? Of course. They are called chips and are baked in the oven, dried in the sun, or dehydrated with a dryer.
You can prepare them with numerous vegetables: from carrots to radishes, from aubergines to courgettes, up to sweet potatoes, but also with fruit. They will make your side dishes and appetizers lighter and more colorful, or the homemade aperitif.
Here are 10 recipes for making fruit or vegetable chips, all to try.
Index
Kale chips
- 1 bunch of kale leaves
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- Sesame seeds
- Whole sea salt
Wash, dry and cut the kale leaves into small pieces. Pour them into a bowl and season with oil, salt and sesame seeds. Pour them into a pan, even without baking paper, and cook them at 150 ° C for 25-30 minutes, until they are crunchy.
Carrot chips
- 2 large carrots
- Whole sea salt
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Peel and wash the carrots. Cut them into thin strips with a potato peeler. Pour them into a bowl and season with oil and salt. Mix them gently and arrange them on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook a 140 ° C for 45 minutes, until they are golden and crunchy.
Read also: Carrot chips: how to prepare them at home
Chips di banane
- 3 ripe bananas
- ½ lemon
Peel the bananas. Slice them into slices less than half a centimeter thick. Sprinkle them with the juice of half a lemon, after having poured them into a bowl. Cook the banana chips in the oven at 170 ° C, for about 50 minutes or until crunchy and dehydrated. Alternatively, you can use a dryer, but the preparation times will be longer, up to 18-24 hours.
Apple chips
- 2 apples
- Lemon juice
Wash the apples. If they are organic, it will not be necessary to peel them. Cut them into thin slices and sprinkle them with some lemon juice, mix and drain. Arrange the apple slices in an oven dish, preferably glass. Cook the apple chips for about 1 hour and a half at 130 ° C, or use a dryer, choosing the most suitable program.
Zucchini chips
Wash the courgettes, cut them into thin slices and dry them. In the summer you can cook the courgette chips in the sun, placing them on an oven rack or wrapping them in slices with aluminum foil. In winter you can use a dryer, or cook them in the oven at 170 ° C for about 40 minutes, or until crunchy.
Pumpkin chips
- 1 small pumpkin
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch of whole sea salt
Peel and slice the pumpkin. Form some thin strips, a few millimeters thick. Season with fine salt and extra virgin olive oil. Bake them in a baking tray lined with parchment paper at 180 ° C for about 40 minutes, or until crispy.
Eggplant chips
- 1 eggplant
- 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Wash and dry the aubergines. Cut them into thin slices and bake them in the oven at 200 ° C for 20-25 minutes, or in any case until the desired crunchiness is obtained. If you fear that they may turn out to be bitter, sprinkle the aubergine slices with salt before cooking, place them in a colander, let them rest for an hour; then rinse them, dry them and cook them in the oven.
Radish chips
- 20 radishes
- 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of curry
- 1 pinch of turmeric
- 1 pinch of paprika
- Salt and pepper
Wash the radishes and cut them into thin slices, without peeling them. Blanch the radish slices for a few seconds in boiling water. Rinse them with cold water and dry them. Season them with oil and spices and cook them radish chips in the oven for about 30 minutes at 180 ° C.
Chips in daikon
- 1 daikon
- 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon of garlic powder
- Salt and pepper
Daikon is a carrot-like tuber, but larger in size and white in color. Slice the daikon thinly and season with garlic powder, oil, salt and pepper. Bake the daikon chips in the oven at 180 ° C for 25-30 minutes, or on the stove, in a pan suitable for grilling, until crisp.
Sweet potato chips
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 or 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch of salt (optional)
They are the closest alternative to potato chips. The sweet potato chips they are not fried and will appeal to even the most traditionalists. Their taste will be sweeter than the usual chips. Peel the sweet potatoes. Cut them into thin slices. Arrange them in a baking tray, on parchment paper, and bake them at 180 ° C for about 50 minutes-1 hour, until they are crisp and golden, being careful not to burn them.
READ also:
- How to build a homemade food dehydrator
- How to dry fruit at home without buying a dryer
- Jerusalem artichoke chips: the recipe to make them tasty and crunchy
- How and why to make dehydrated strawberries to have them available all year round
