Food
Fact-checked

At DelightedCooking, we're committed to delivering accurate, trustworthy information. Our expert-authored content is rigorously fact-checked and sourced from credible authorities. Discover how we uphold the highest standards in providing you with reliable knowledge.

Learn more...

What are Vegetable Chips?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Vegetable chips are thin slices of vegetables which are deep fried or baked until they are crisp. One famous type of vegetable chip is the potato chip, a favorite all over the world. Vegetable chips can be made from a wide assortment of vegetables, and they can also be seasoned and flavored to taste. Many markets carry these chips, and they often include regional foods and flavors to appeal to the local market.

This food was probably invented at around the same time as potato chips in the 1800s, although obviously people have been frying or baking slices of vegetables for much longer. However, these wedges of vegetables would have been soft, rather than crisp; finely cut, crisp chips do not appear in culinary records before the 19th century.

Vegetables.
Vegetables.

Chips can obviously be made with potatoes, but they can also be made with carrots, beets, yams, taro, sweet potatoes, and parsnips. Undoubtedly, enterprising cooks have made vegetable chips with other vegetables, including those which are not widely known outside of the small areas where they are grown. Depending on the vegetable, the skin may be left off or on, and the thickness of the cut may vary; carrot chips, for example, are often quite thick, while sweet potato chips may be very thin.

Vegetable chips can be made with carrots.
Vegetable chips can be made with carrots.

After vegetable chips have been fried, they can be seasoned. Spicy seasonings are often added to the finished product, along with mixtures of herbs, but other seasonings can be used as well, including tamari sauce, various cheeses, and mustard, among many others. They can be eaten plain or dipped in various substances for additional flavor, and they may be used like potato chips in recipes.

Vegetable chips can be made from beets.
Vegetable chips can be made from beets.

Vegetable chips can be eaten hot or at room temperature. When well prepared, they should not taste greasy, with a light, crispy flavor which can make it tempting to eat a lot of them. Some people prefer mixed vegetable chips to potato chips, either for flavor or nutritional reasons. They are sometimes more nutritionally diverse in terms of the vitamins and minerals they offer, but when deep fried, they are just as potentially unhealthy as regular potato chips.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a DelightedCooking researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a DelightedCooking researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

PurpleSpark

@googie98: I love to make vegetable chips at home. Surprisingly enough, my kids love them. They probably don’t even realize that they are eating something that is good for them. Their favorite is sweet potato and butternut squash. I usually do around two pounds at a time.

You can use whatever your favorite is. Many people use potatoes (russet or sweet), squash, carrots, rutabaga, beets, and turnips.

Peel your vegetables and slice them as thinly as you can. Sprinkle the slices lightly with salt. Let them sit out for about 20 minutes.

Spray a jelly roll pan well with cooking spray. Place the vegetables on the pan and spray them lightly, as well. Bake at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes. When the veggies are completely dry, they are done.

googie98

Is making the vegetable chips a better way to get kids to eat their veggies?

Post your comments
Login:
Forgot password?
Register:
    • Vegetables.
      By: Ovidiu Iordachi
      Vegetables.
    • Vegetable chips can be made with carrots.
      By: Dionisvera
      Vegetable chips can be made with carrots.
    • Vegetable chips can be made from beets.
      By: mates
      Vegetable chips can be made from beets.
    • Potato chips are very popular vegetable chips.
      By: Jiri Hera
      Potato chips are very popular vegetable chips.
    • Yams can be sliced to make vegetable chips.
      By: Bill
      Yams can be sliced to make vegetable chips.