Sweet Potato Chips

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Growing up I wasn’t really a fan of sweet potatoes. But now I love them! There are so many things you can make with them from this sweet potato pie recipe to this sweet potato fries recipe and many more recipes of course. Being a chip addict, I thought it fitting that I show you how to make sweet potato chips!

These homemade sweet potato chips are thin crispy and oh-so yummy and make a healthy snack! And they are incredibly easy to make too. If you are a fan of sweet potatoes and chips or crisps as they are known in other parts of the world, give these a try! Let’s get started!

Step 1: Gather the ingredients

In order to make sweet potato chips you need just a handful of easy to find ingredients:

• Sweet Potatoes
• Water – I generally use filtered water, because my tap water is gross.
• Oil – Canola oil, vegetable oil, coconut oil, peanut oil, etc. You can even use olive oil since we won’t be deep frying them at a high temperature.
• Salt – I use normal table salt or Kosher salt. Both for the water and then for seasoning after they come out of the hot oil.

Tools

• Peeler
• Bowls
• Knife
• Mandolin slicer
• Paper towel
• Spider strainer or slotted spoon

Step 2: How to make thin crispy sweet potato chips

Start by washing and drying the sweet potato. Then peel it with a vegetable peepler. You can leave the skin on if you like. Or you can peel it and compost the sweet potato skins, or even fry the skins separately. The skin is definitely edible and will make a nice crispy snack as well.

Next, cut off the ends, you can save those ends and fry them as well. This just makes it easier to slice, and those ends would make really small chips anyway.

Take a medium bowl or large bowl and fill it full of cold water along with a teaspoon or two of salt. Then slice the sweet potato very thinly. A mandolin makes it super easy. You can try the thinnest setting or the next setting up.

The thinner you make the slices the crispier the chips will turn out. Thick slices just don’t fry up very well. It is so hard to get them crispy. And if you don’t have a mandolin you can use a sharp knife.

Place the thin slices of sweet potato in the bowl of cold water along with about a teaspoon or two of salt.

Allow them to soak for 20 to 30 minutes. Soaking the sweet potato chips brings out some of the starch. If you don’t do this, they burn too easily before getting done.

Step 3: Drain, Boil, and Dry the sweet potato slices

Take a large deep pot and add about 1 inch deep of cooking oil to it. Set the heat to medium and allow the temp to reach 325F/162 C.

In a separate pot add about an inch or two of water. Set the burner to high and bring the water to a boil. Once it starts to boil add the sweet potato slices to the boiling water. Only add about a third or half of the slices. Depending on the size of your pot of water.

TIP: You can start the water about 5 minutes before the sweet potato chips are done soaking.

Allow the water to come back to a boil and boil the slices of sweet potato for 3 to 4 minutes. Then remove them with a slotted spoon or spider strainer and place them on a plate with a paper towel to dry.

Step 4: Fry up those sweet potato chips

Now you can dip those boiled slices of sweet potato in the hot oil. Gently drop them in the hot oil. And be careful!! That oil is super hot. If you are a young person, make sure to have adult supervision.

Don’t overcrowd them. For one regular-sized sweet potato, I usually do a third at a time in my Dutch oven.

Fry them at 325F/162C for 4 to 6 minutes maybe longer maybe a little less, the cooking time will vary, stirring them occasionally so they fry evenly. They are done when they are lightly golden brown and most of the bubbles subside, and feel crispy/crunchy when you scoop them up.

Place the crispy chips on a separate plate with a paper towel to dry or on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Then hit them with a bit of sea salt, table salt, or Kosher or other seasonings like garlic powder and black pepper if you like for extra flavor.

There you go, now you know how to make yummy thin crispy sweet potato chips. The perfect snack for people who like chips but want to stay away from unhealthy chip varieties. They will go nicely as a side dish for hamburgers, sandwiches, etc.

And they are an awesome alternative to classic French fries, even though I really like those too, haha.

Enjoy!

How long do sweet potato chips last?

They will last about a week in an airtight container. However, they don’t keep their crispiness. They taste the best right after making them.

Do I have to boil the sweet potato slices first?

No, you don’t have to boil them. In this picture on the left, I show the sweet potato chips that weren’t boiled before frying. Frying them at the same temp and the same amount of time until crispy they get much darker. They are still good but don’t look as nice as the ones on the right which were also boiled.

Boiling leaches out even more of the excess starch.

Can make air fryer sweet potato chips?

Sure! Prep the sweet potatoes the same. Then lightly spray them with some olive oil or another cooking oil. Arrange the slices in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Cook at 325F for 10 to 12 minutes until crispy. I usually turn them over after about 8 minutes to promote even cooking.

Here are other recipes that you may like:

Gluten-Free Churros

Blackberry Cobbler

Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin

Candied Pecans

Cinnamon French Toast Sticks

Do you like this sweet potato chips recipe? Share and Pin it! Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.