Equipment
* optional
Ingredients
Vegetable Base
- 500 g sweet potatoes, scrubbed, dried, and unpeeled
- 20 ml extra virgin olive oil
Toasty Sweet Seasoning
- 3 g fine sea salt
- 2 g ground cinnamon
- 1 g smoked paprika
- 4 g maple sugar
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 157 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- 27 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fiber
- 4 g
- Sugar
- 6 g
- Sodium
- 360 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 1 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 4 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 1 g
- Potassium
- 432 mg
- Calcium
- 44 mg
- Iron
- 0.9 mg
- Magnesium
- 32 mg
- Phosphorus
- 60 mg
- Zinc
- 0.5 mg
- Vitamin A
- 892 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 3 mg
- Vitamin E
- 1.1 mg
- Vitamin K
- 6 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.3 mg
- Thiamin
- 0.10 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.08 mg
- Niacin
- 0.7 mg
- Folate
- 14 mcg
- Water
- 97 g
Sources: USDA FoodData Central
Method
Preheat your oven to 150C or 300F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
Using a mandoline slicer or a very sharp knife, slice the sweet potatoes evenly into rounds that are about 1.5 millimeters thick.
Lay the sweet potato slices flat on paper towels and gently press another paper towel on top to absorb excess surface starch and moisture.
Transfer the dried sweet potato slices to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle the sea salt, cinnamon, smoked paprika, and maple sugar evenly over the top. Toss vigorously with your hands until every slice is perfectly coated.
Arrange the seasoned slices in a strict single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Do not let any slices overlap, or they will steam instead of crisping.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove the trays, carefully flip each chip, and rotate the trays. Return to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes, watching closely toward the end to ensure the natural sugars do not burn.
Immediately transfer the chips to a wire cooling rack. Allow them to cool and dry out for at least 10 minutes, during which time they will firm up into a rigid, crispy chip.
Chef's Notes
- Moisture is the absolute enemy of crispiness. Taking the extra time to thoroughly pat down your sweet potato slices with paper towels before oiling makes a drastic difference in achieving a commercial-quality crunch.
- Do not judge the final texture while the chips are hot. They will feel soft and slightly pliable straight out of the oven, but the crucial shattering texture develops rapidly as they cool on a wire rack.
- Sweet potatoes shrink significantly as their water content evaporates during baking. Expect your large, crowded pan of raw slices to yield a much smaller volume of finished chips.
- Keep a very close eye on the chips during the final 5 minutes of baking. The high natural sugar content of sweet potatoes means they transition from perfectly toasted to deeply burned in a matter of seconds.
Storage
Reheating: If chips lose their crispness over time, refresh them in a 150C oven for 3 to 5 minutes until warm, then cool completely on a wire rack.
Troubleshooting
Chips are chewy in the center instead of shatteringly crisp.
Cause: The slices were cut too thick, the slices were overlapping on the pan, or they were pulled from the oven prematurely.
Fix: Return the chewy chips to the oven at 120C for 5 to 10 extra minutes, checking frequently until dehydrated.
Prevention: Ensure completely flat, single-layer spacing on the baking sheet and use a mandoline for uniform, paper-thin slicing.
Chips taste overly bitter or look blackened.
Cause: The natural sugars in the sweet potato and the added maple sugar burned due to high heat.
Fix: Cannot be fixed. Discard burned chips.
Prevention: Stick strictly to the low 150C oven temperature and monitor the chips closely during the final 5 minutes of baking.
Cultural Context
Sweet potatoes are native to the tropical regions of the Americas and have long been prized globally for their natural sweetness and high nutritional density. Transforming them into baked chips is a modern culinary approach that satisfies the universal human craving for a crunchy snack while offering a nutrient-rich, fiber-dense alternative to traditional deep-fried potato chips.
