Homemade Beet Chips
May 21, 2013
I dare you to eat just one of these amazing homemade beet chips. They are just downright addictive. This is healthy snack food that you can feel good about eating. They are super easy to make and only take about an hour in your oven. You don't even have to be a beet lover to love these chips. I've had a couple of people try them who loved them and were totally surprised to learn they were beets.
I was slicing beets for a raw beet salad one day on my mandoline and was thinking about how it was like slicing the apples for my homemade apple chips. I wondered if I could make chips out of these, too. So I sliced a bunch farily thinly and tossed them with some olive oil, sea salt and pepper and roasted them slowly in the oven. I did several batches over several days, experimenting with the oven temperature and the cooking time until I was totally happy with them.
The technique for making these kinds of chips is to slow roast them in the oven on a fairly low setting for a long time, dehydrating them. You draw out the moisture in the vegetable or fruit, which concentrates the flavor. You end up with an amazing flavor. You just have to try it.
the stems on the beets make a great "handle" to hold as you slice them
Slicing them on a mandoline really makes the job easy, fast and the slices uniform. If you don't have a mandoline, get one. You don't have to buy a really expensive one - they have become very popular and you can even buy a little handheld one. I have a nice stainless steel one, but I do use mine all the time. I love slicing things on it.
One thing I learned from cooking several batches is that, unlike the apple chips, the beets cook up faster. You also do not need to flip them, like the apple chips. I tried flipping them halfway through the cooking time and then not flipping them, and it didn't matter. The cooking time will depend, of course, on the beets you get - how fresh they are, how large they are, how much moisture they have, etc. A convection oven will draw out the moisture even better and you will be able to make three pans at a time. If you don't have a convection oven, you will have to rotate the pans. So there are a lot of variables. Make a batch and see how your oven performs. Watch the beets - they will start to really darken and even burn a little if you let them go too long.
Also, I made both red and yellow (or golden) beets. They are both delicious, but I did prefer the golden beets. I think the flavor was just a little different and they had less moisture, so they crisped up a little better. If you've never bought golden beets, try them. I love them anyway raw on salads.
Homemade Beet Chips
for a printable recipe click here
You really can use any sized beet you like and make chips out of them. They shrink a lot in size, so bigger beets will make a nice size chip. The seasoning is totally up to you - adjust it the way you like. I like a lot of pepper on mine.
If you have a convection oven, you can make 3 pans of these at one time.
Ingredients:
- 2 large beets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 300° F. (or 275° F for convection oven). Line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper.
Peel the beets. Slice them to about 1/16" inch (1.6 mm) thick, at the most. Toss them in a large bowl in the olive oil and salt and pepper. (If you have time, you can wait for 30 minutes or so after this step - especially with the red beets, the salt will draw out some excess moisture). Lay them on the baking sheet, just barely touching.
Bake for about one hour until the edges are crisped up and most of the beets have dried out. Because you will have different sized slices from the same beet, you will have some smaller chips and some larger chips. This will let you have a little bit of variety in the crispiness of the chips and you can decide how you like them for your next batch.
Remove from baking sheet when you think they're done and place them on a serving plate on in a bowl. They crisp up a little as they cool down. They are fine over night at room temperature or you can refrigerate them for a little longer storage. To crisp them up again, just put them on a baking sheet and bake them at 400 ° for a few minutes.
They're so good though, it's rare to have leftovers.
Reader Comments (17)
The beets look good, but as someone who has sliced off the tip of her finger while using a mandoline, your photo makes me cringe. Please, people, always use the safety guide when using your mandoline. Mandolines are very sharp, and it happens quickly! Watch your fingers!
Great post! We've tried--and love--kale chips, but I haven't tried beets. Interesting tip about the beet green handle--keeps the fingertips out of harm's way. Ken
Thanks! I can't wait to try these. We have some sliced, blanched, and frozen from last year - I'll see how those cook up. I know fresh will be better, but this year's first crop is weeks away from ready :)
Has anyone tried this using a dehydrator?
Wow . . . another awesome recipe from the Italian Dish!!! I can't wait to try this . . .we make the kale chips too and my son just loves them (which we season w/ a lite sprinkling of one of our homemade dry rubs for less sodium). He's kind of a beet lover so hopefully he will love these as well . . . I've tasted the store bought beet chips and thought the texture was so much more appealing than potato chips . . . looking forward to trying this one too!! ~the Burtons
I'm all over this recipe. I buy those beet chips in the store but want to try making my own after seeing your success.
Thanks for this great recipe. I've used them before to garnish my salads. Nice texture
Another fab recipe - can't wait to try it, thanks!
These look awesome! Will be making them very soon.
Can be use canned beets?
This recipe sounds amazing! I've eaten plantain chips before and they were so yummy...these would be great fun to try.
I have to say that your photography is amazing! I could eat my computer screen, it just looks so mouthwatering. Makes me want to go out for some authentic Italian:)
My family's handcrafted artisan Kitchen Ware would go so perfectly with your dishes...I'd love to have your opinion about our unusual products for the kitchen.
I just made these and they are incredible. You're right! You can't eat just one. I've just picked some fresh beets and am going to make another batch.
I am wondering what is the point of using the parchment paper???
From The Italian Dish:
Anna: The parchment paper is to keep the apples from ruining your baking sheets. Without it, the pans would be very hard to clean with all that baked on apple. I use parchment or foil whenever I bake or roast on my baking sheets - clean up is so much easier!
I bought a mandolin on Sunday to make beet chips and a after few slices I cut my finger tip off!!! So painful. Dangerous tool, but it does work good. Im making more beet chips right now, I use an oven mitt when I am using it.
You post such interesting recipes and best of all.....delicious and uncomplicated. I also appreciate that you do not send new recipes ALL the time.
I cut my fingers on my mandolin so quit using it. THen I bought a fishermens glove used for cleaning fish and it works great to protect your fingers