4 Servings || Estimated Preparation Time: 90 minutes

  Purple Potato Chips
      Nourish & Thrive
     
  
  
  Sometimes you just NEED something crunchy. Sweet Potato Chips to the rescue! Here we’ve used purple sweet potatoes for an extra boost of antioxidants and a really fun color. There are many recipes for homemade chips, but I love the reliability of a low and slow method. This is a mostly hands off recipe that just needs lots of time to hang out in the oven, and the satisfying crunch is worth the wait. Serve these as a side, or dip them into guacamole, but these crispy treats won’t last long. 
  
  
  4 Servings
  
  2 purple sweet potatoes
  1 tbsp of olive oil
  1/2 tsp of sea salt
  fresh ground black pepper

  Preheat the oven to 250F degrees
  Scrub the (2) large sweet potatoes until clean and then thinly slice with a mandoline (keep that nutritious and fiber/potassium/iron-packed skin on!)
  Lightly oil two baking sheets with olive oil and lay the sliced potato in a flat layer without overlapping.
  Spritz the tops of the chips with olive oil (I use a little tool called a “Misto”), then season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
  Bake for 1.5 hours and flip and rotate pans halfway through. Season the other side with salt and pepper.
  Baking can take less time or up to 2 hours depending on your oven, but don’t give in to the urge to turn up the heat; the low and slow method is what delivers the crispiness!
  The chips may brown a bit in the process, but once they appear done, take them out of the oven and let cool at least 5 minutes as they’ll continue to crisp up in the process.
  Try adding dried spices for a different perspective. Garlic, onion, chili powder, or cayenne are all fun ways to make this snack personalized to your tastes.

Sometimes you just NEED something crunchy. Sweet Potato Chips to the rescue! Here we’ve used purple sweet potatoes for an extra boost of antioxidants and a really fun color. There are many recipes for homemade chips, but I love the reliability of a low and slow method. This is a mostly hands off recipe that just needs lots of time to hang out in the oven, and the satisfying crunch is worth the wait. Serve these as a side, or dip them into guacamole, but these crispy treats won’t last long.

Health Highlights

Sweet potatoes are full of vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, vitamin B6, potassium, fiber, and iron. Here we also get the added benefits of anthocyanin, which is responsible for that gorgeous color! But if your store doesn’t happen to carry these purple beauties, no worries, swap in regular sweet potatoes and you’ll still get a treat that packs a big nutritional punch.

Ingredients

(2) purple sweet potatoes
(1) tablespoon of olive oil
(1/2) teaspoon of sea salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Tools

mandoline
(2) baking sheets
“Misto” oil mister (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 250F degrees
Scrub the (2) large sweet potatoes until clean and then thinly slice with a mandoline (keep that nutritious and fiber/potassium/iron-packed skin on!)
Lightly oil two baking sheets with olive oil and lay the sliced potato in a flat layer without overlapping.
Spritz the tops of the chips with olive oil (I use a little tool called a “Misto”), then season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Bake for 1.5 hours and flip and rotate pans halfway through. Season the other side with salt and pepper.
Baking can take less time or up to 2 hours depending on your oven, but don’t give in to the urge to turn up the heat; the low and slow method is what delivers the crispiness!
The chips may brown a bit in the process, but once they appear done, take them out of the oven and let cool at least 5 minutes as they’ll continue to crisp up in the process.

Adaptations

Try adding dried spices for a different perspective. Garlic, onion, chili powder, or cayenne are all fun ways to make this snack personalized to your tastes.

Cancer Tips

Anthocyanins are plant colorants responsible for the red, purple, and blue hues evident in many fruits, vegetables, and even grains. Recent studies using purified anthocyanins or anthocyanin-rich extracts on in vitro experimental systems have confirmed the potential potency of these pigments. Demonstrable benefits include protection against liver injuries; significant reduction of blood pressure; improvement of eyesight; strong anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities; inhibition of mutations caused by mutagens from cooked food; and suppression of proliferation of human cancer cells. Along with other phenolic compounds, they are potent scavengers of free radicals, although they can also behave as pro-oxidants. Because of their diverse physiological activities, the consumption of anthocyanins may play a significant role in preventing lifestyle-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular and neurological diseases. [More info]
Sweet potatoes are rich in carotenoids (such as beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin), which may inhibit cancer cell growth, work as antioxidants and improve immune response [More info]
Eating foods rich in carotenoids has been linked to a reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence. Carotenoids are the natural pigments found in yellow and orange foods (such as carrots, sweet potatoes and squash) and dark leafy greens such as kale, spinach and Swiss chard. In a 2009 study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, increased consumption of carotenoids was associated with "greater likelihood of breast cancer-free survival." [More info]

Recipe adapted from the Minimalist Baker’s “Baked Sweet Potato Chips”. This site is a wonderful resource for many colorful plant-based meals!