How to make your own baked root vegetable crisps that are better than store-bought
Making your own oven baked root vegetable crisps requires 4 ingredients – the vegetable you wish to crisp, olive oil, salt and pepper – of which there are no set quantities. Which makes this not so much of a recipe as it is a set of instructions. It will however yield the most delicious vegetable crisps, of an amount of ½ of your choosing (they shrink).
You can choose any root vegetable, I used beets, potatoes and sweet potatoes. Before making them there are a few things to note:
- You don’t have to peel the vegetables, if you’re leaving the peels on just scrub them very well or be a little extra and use this veggie spray.
- A mandolin slicer is highly recommended but not necessary. It just makes it a lot easier and quicker to get super thin and even slices. If you’re using a mandolin slicer, I used the second lowest setting which yielded a crisp thin enough to be deliciously paper thin and crisp, but thick enough so that it wouldn’t burn. If you’re using a knife, try get them as thin and even as possible, your knife skills should be amazing at the end.
- The aim is to get them crispy, not oily. To do this I used a ratio of 1 teaspoon olive oil to 1 vegetable. This was for medium sized veggies, so if yours are smaller, go with less, if you don’t think it’s coated enough – go extra.
- The same applies for salt and pepper, sprinkle it on the way you’d season a salad – enough to taste it, but not too much that it’s unpalatable – less is more.
- Different vegetables have different baking times. I find sweet potatoes take the quickest (10-15 minutes each side), while beets and potatoes take longer (10-20 minutes each side). For this reason, I like to cook different vegetables on different pans so it’s easier to monitor times. Because of this, it’s a stay in the kitchen and check the oven regularly recipe and not a put in the oven, set a timer and walk out recipe.
- Baking paper (or a silpat mat) is crucial. If you don’t use one, your crisps will stick to the pans and you’ll have crisp crumble (a non-stick spray will not work).
- Prepare yourself for shrinkage, they come out smaller than they go in. They’re also best eaten within the hour they’re made, they do lose crispness over time.
Ingredients
- Root Vegetables beets, potatoes, sweet potato, butternut, parsnips
- olive oil
- Freshly Cracked Salt
- Freshly Cracked Pepper
Servings:
Instructions
- Wash your vegetables well / peel them.
- Slice them in thin even slices. If you’re using a mandolin slicer, go for the second lowest setting.
- Pat vegetables dry (this applies mainly to potatoes which tend to be more wet).
- Place vegetable slices in a bowl and add in olive oil (approximately 1 teaspoon per vegetable) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Coat well.
- Place slices on a prepared baking sheet. Being careful not to overlap them. They will shrink so they can be touching but not overlapping.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven, turn them over and bake for another 10-15 minutes until crisp.
- Some slices may be ready sooner than others, so check the oven once you’ve flipped them every 5 minutes to see what needs to come out. When the crisps are browned at the edges and no longer shiny, they’re ready.
- Let them cool and eat.
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Photography: Feige Lewin
Zissy Lewin
Zissy is the co-founder of Nutreats. She likes to make things, do things and wear things.
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