Crispy zucchini chips are a fabulous healthy keto snack. Learn how to make these easy zucchini chips in the oven, air fryer, or dehydrator. They will quickly become one of your favorite keto snacks!
Hungry for a crunchy, salty snack that doesn’t derail your keto diet? Then you’ve got to try this recipe for zucchini chips.
They’re so delicious, and when you add a little smoked paprika for seasoning, they taste just like the famous Canadian ketchup potato chips. But really, the sky’s the limit. You can season them any way you like best.
Zucchini is such a wonderfully versatile low carb vegetable and I am always finding new uses for it. It adds moisture to keto zucchini bread, and it’s also a great replacement for pasta in zucchini lasagna.
But who can resist the allure of a super thin, crispy chip? Zucchini is perfect for that too!
How to make crispy zucchini chips
I’ve been making these keto zucchini chips since 2012, and I’ve tested out a number of ways to make them truly crispy. You have some cooking options here, including:
- Oven baked
- Dehydrator
- Air fryer
There are pros and cons to each of these methods. I personally prefer oven-baking my zucchini chips, as it allows me to do more at once and I can check on them frequently to make sure they crisp up properly.
Air frying is the fastest method by far but you can’t do very many at a time, since the zucchini slices need to be laid out in a single layer.
A food dehydrator works well too, but not everyone owns such a contraption. It is also the method that takes the longest, as the chips need to dehydrate for about 8 to 10 hours to crisp up.
Baked zucchini chips
One of the tricks to getting zucchini chips nice and crispy is the advanced prep. By salting the zucchini and patting it dry, you reduce much of the initial moisture content, allowing them to crisp up much faster. Here’s how it works:
You will need:
- A mandolin slicer or food processor
- 1 large or 2 medium zucchini
- Oil or oil spray
- Seasonings of choice
Method
- Slice the zucchini very thinly. You want them no more than ⅛th of an inch thick. It’s very difficult to do this with a knife, so I recommend using a mandolin slices. If you happen to own a food processor with an adjustable slicing disk, that can work too.
- Layer and salt the slices. Arrange a single layer of slices in a colander in the sink and lightly salt it. Add another layer and more salt, and continue to do so until all of the zucchini slices are used up.
- Drain 1 hour. Allow the salt to do the hard work of drawing out the moisture.
- Pat dry. Lay the slices out on a tea towel pat them dry with another tea towel or rag.
- Arrange on parchment and lightly grease the tops. Parchment paper works best, as silicone mats will keep the zucchini chips from drying out properly. You can use a spray like avocado or coconut oil, or you can brush the tops with a bit of liquid oil.
- Season as desired. Sprinkle lightly because the seasoning becomes more concentrated as the slices shrink in the oven.
- Bake until crisp. Depending on how thin your slices are and how much you managed to dry them, this can take an hour to 90 minutes.
Air Fryer Method
- Prep the zucchini slices as outlined above, with salt, oil, and seasoning
- Set the air fryer to 350F.
- Lay in a single layer.
- Air fry 10 minutes or so, until crisp.
Dehydrator Method
- Prep the zucchini as outlined above, with salt, oil, and seasoning.
- Set the dehydrator to 135F.
- Lay the zucchini in single layers in the dehydrator discs.
- Dehydrate until crisp, anywhere between 8 and 12 hours.
How to season zucchini chips
How you choose to season your zucchini chips is up to you, but I do have some tasty suggestions!
As I mentioned earlier, smoked paprika makes them taste like the ketchup flavored chips I grew up with. Truth be told, that was never my favorite flavor, as I always loved sour cream and onion best. But I know they’re hugely popular with other people.
Pork King Good has just come out with some delicious keto friendly seasoning shakers, including Ranch, Dill Pickle, and Sour Cream and Onion. I am already planning another batch of these keto zucchini chips just to test them out. Yum!
More delicious keto chip recipes
- Keto Tortilla Chips
- Brussels Sprouts Chips
- Zesty Nacho Kale Chips
- Portobello Mushroom Chips
- Baked Cucumber Chips
- Air Fryer Pepperoni Chips
Baked Zucchini Chips Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini
- ½ teaspoon salt divided
- Avocado oil spray (or 1 to 2 teaspoon liquid oil)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- Additional salt to taste
Instructions
- Slice zucchini crosswise into ⅛ inch thick slices using a mandolin slicer or food processor.
- Place the zucchini in layers into a colander or sieve, sprinkling with a little salt with each layer. (You will use about ¼ teaspoon salt). Let drain one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 225F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Lay the zucchini slices out on a tea towel and pat dry with another tea towel. Then lay them out on the prepared baking sheets, close together but not touching. Spray lightly with the avocado oil spray or brush lightly with liquid oil.
- In a spice shaker, combine the paprika, pepper, and the remaining salt. Sprinkle over the tops of the zucchini.
- Bake 70 to 90 minutes, until dry, browned and crisp, rotating sheets halfway through baking. If some chips are crisp early, remove them from the pans and return the rest to the oven.
- Sprinkle with additional salt to taste. Serve immediately.
- Store in a covered container on the counter for up to 3 days. If they soften as they sit, simply re-crisp them in a warm oven.
SteveD says
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I love this recipe as it satisfies my need for a crunchy snack. While it takes time and seems labor intensive I find it so worth it. I make these at least twice a week. I also make them with Cajun seasoning and that way I have two flavors to munch on. In fact, I love and make many of your recipes.
Steve in Florida says
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I love this recipe as it satisfies my need for a crunchy snack. While it takes time and seems labor intensive I find it so worth it. I make these at least twice a week. I also make them with Cajun seasoning and that way I have two flavors to munch on. In fact, I love and make many of your recipes.
Katie says
I love these both by themselves and with different dips and spices! So yummy and I love that they’re healthy.
Krystle says
These come out so crispy! I am addicted!
Andrea Thueson says
I have tried making these zucchini chips before, but mine never turned out before. With this recipe, they turned out so perfectly crisp!
Valarie Dukes says
Can you make chips using the yellow summer squash too?
Carolyn says
I would assume so!
Rebecca says
Have you ever tried to make them in an air fryer? Just curious if there are any tips for that.
Carolyn says
Did you read the blog post?
darlene olsen says
This sounds like a fantastic recipe My brother likes things with turmeric, garlic, and cyan pepper on so this will make him very happy. Also the fact that you put as much salt on them is a big plus. Potato chips are to salty, and they are very unhealthy. This recipes allows you to customize your chips to your taste buds.
Diane Paterson says
What temperature is the oven set aat?
Diane Paterson says
Never mind, I found my answer.
Jessie says
What was the temp. Fo this. ??
Kathyinozarks says
Oh these sound delicious-saving the recipe
Nicole Foster says
These are delicious! I will be doubling the recipe next time.
Melissa says
Thanks for this recipe! I’ve tried them once before, and now that I have time, I’m making them again. Last time, they weren’t really crips like real chips, but I don’t really mind that, as long as I have something relatively healthy to snack. Raw veggies with yoghurt-garlic dip tend to get boring after a while ;-p
Steve says
As a recent convert to low-carbing your site has inspired me no end! Instead of facing a lifetime of salads, bacon and eggs and tins of tuna, you have placed a whole world of culinary creativity before our eyes. Thank you for your tireless efforts so much!
Back to these zucchini chips. I think I’ll try chucking some of these in the dehydrator to get them really crisp. You could bake them in the oven to get that cooked taste, then when they are cooled enough put them in the dehydrator for a few hours or ovdernight. Then it wouldn’t matter how soggy they were when they were first baked. You probably wouldn’t even need to drain them first. I’m planning on making a heap of these to take on a 5 day kayaking trip later this year.
Carolyn says
Yes, the dehydrator can definitely help. I only recently got one myself and haven’t tried the chips in there yet but I hear it works.
Mama Owl says
I know I’m a late chime in, but…
I have never baked them. We always fry ours like when making homemade potato chips. hmmm… will have to give the baking them a try. It would definitely free me up to do other things 🙂
As far as baby zucchini, those are the best to eat!!!! All the big ones, that somehow manage to hide when I am picking, get grated or sliced and thrown in the freezer! 🙂
Tracy says
Chiming in again…I read a lot of complaints about soggy or uncrispy chips. It has been my experience that too many veggies on the tray crowd the tray and steam the oven to death. Fewer veggies per tray allows the dry heat to surround the chips and deal with the humidity coming from the veggie. So you can only roast so many per batch but at least 3 hours will give you the same yield if, as one commenter shared, you were involved for that amount of time. Ping-ping…2 cents…..
Carolyn says
Hey, that’s actually a great tip and I never thought of that!
Tracy says
Since I didn’t read through every single response to your invitation to sautéed baby zucchini, I will just state my feelings about “baby” zucchini. If you can tell, my married last name is Italian and my green-card-carrying Tuscan husband insists on buying the smallest zucchini we can find at the store. In Tuscany, they would throw anything larger than 3/4 inch in diameter in the compost. If it’s as large as a kindergartner’s forearm, too big. I find the “medium” zucchinis to be very tender and usable. I just don’t let my husband see me cooking. In my humble layman’s opinion, a bitter baby zucchini is an unpollinated zucchini. That also sounds like why you had a late harvest. Maybe the plant wasn’t getting pollination. That also happened to me (I now grow my own zukes and can control how big I harvest them). I had to go out and pollinate them with a q-tip to get them started. After a couple of days of early morning pollinating, the plant just started to go. Baby zucchini are the best for delicate egg dishes and cream sauces. They can be cut into discs and they are so pretty, especially at a brunch or in a company’s-a-comin’ casserole.
Carolyn says
You should see me this year, I am out every morning with a q-tip pollinating the females. So far I have harvested 2 nice sized zuke with 3 more growing well. We spaced them out SO much more this year and they are doing fabulously. I hope we get over-run with zucchini. I hope!
John says
These sounded so good. But I couldn’t get them to crisp for anything. Salted and sweated. Cooked for about 3+ hrs and even raised temp to 300. They shriveled but remained soggy. 🙁
Carolyn says
I haven’t made these in ages but was going to try them again this week. I will see if I can identify the problem but it could just be some very moist zucchini! Did you use parchment underneath?
Sonja says
Thanks, it looks yummy! (Just like all your posts!) I’m a bit confused about the 1/4 inch slices though (6.3mm?), as it sounds thick and the ones in your picture look a lot thinner… more like 2mm… Is the instructions correct?
Francine says
How many chips are 1 serving.
Carolyn says
Depends on how big your zucchini is. I’d say I got 40 or 50 chips out of mine, so half of that would be 20 to 25.
paul says
have you tried the recipe using a dehydrator?
Carolyn says
I haven’t, but I am sure it would work.