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These easy oven-baked zucchini chips are thin, crispy, and perfect for pairing with all your favorite dips!
There is so much you can do with zucchini, from Zucchini Boats to Zucchini Cakes. But I think these oven-baked zucchini chips might just be my favorite. Who knew you could turn zucchini into crispy chips for snacking?!
While you won’t mistake these for potato chips, they are an excellent swap for when you’re trying to cut back on carb-heavy snacks and work some extra veggies into your life. They’re paleo-friendly, keto, naturally gluten-free, vegan, and they pretty much fit perfectly into every possible diet since they’re only made with zucchini, oil, and salt.
The next time you find yourself with an abundance of zucchini to use up, you know what to do with it: make zucchini chips!
What You’ll Need
While you only need 3 ingredients for this recipe, you can also add seasonings, flavored salts, etc.
- Zucchini – Look for one that is large but not too large. The baseball-bat-sized zucchini you harvest at the end of August is not going to work here!
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
How do you make thin sliced zucchini?
I highly recommend using a mandoline slicer; if yours has thickness settings, set it to 2, otherwise, aim for 1/8-inch. It’s very difficult to cut thin, uniform slices of zucchini with a knife.
How to Make Oven-Baked Zucchini Chips
This is one of those recipes that comes down to technique. Follow these instructions closely and you’ll have perfectly crisp zucchini chips!
Prepare. Preheat your oven to 225ºF and line two large baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
Blot the zucchini dry. After you slice your zucchini, place the slices on a sheet of paper towels. Place another paper towel on top and press down to absorb any excess liquid.
Oil and season the zucchini. Line the zucchini slices on the prepared baking sheet. Don’t overlap them, but they can be very close, as they’ll shrink when they bake. Brush the slices with oil, then sprinkle them with salt.
Bake. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the zucchini for 2+ hours, or until they start to brown, feel dry, and seem crisp.
Cool. Let the zucchini chips cool on the baking sheet, then serve.
Can you make zucchini chips in a dehydrator?
Yes, zucchini chips can be made in a dehydrator, but you’ll need to follow the directions for your food dehydrator to make them. This recipe was developed for making baked zucchini chips in the oven.
Tips for Success
Again: technique is everything here. These tips will help you nail it.
- Cut thin, uniform slices. Thinly sliced zucchini rounds are a must. Thick slices won’t get crispy, and if your slices are uneven, you’ll have some chips that are burnt while others are still soggy.
- Be conservative with the salt. Use less salt than you think; the zucchini slices will shrink in the oven, so they can easily get too salty.
- Don’t walk away. Once you’re nearing the 2-hour mark, you’ll need to keep a close eye on the chips to make sure they don’t burn.
- Don’t rush them. Bake the zucchini chips until you see that most liquid has cooked off. If you don’t do this, the zucchini will stick to the parchment paper or your chips will be soggy. You’ll also need to let the zucchini chips cool on the pan before removing them.
How to Store
Keep zucchini chips in an airtight container at room temperature for no more than 3 days.
Serving Suggestions
Here are some of my favorite dips for pairing with zucchini chips:
- Beet Hummus
- Homemade Tzatziki Dip
- Street Corn Hummus
- Herbed Tahini Spread
If you love zucchini chips, you may like these recipes with zucchini:
- Roasted vegetables
- Zucchini Turkey Meatballs
- Zucchini Noodle Cashew Stir Fry
- Zucchini Brownies
- Zucchini Chicken Meatballs
Easy Oven-Baked Zucchini Chips
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225 °F (107 °C). Line two large baking sheets (I used two 17" baking sheets) with silicon baking mats or parchment paper.
- Slice your zucchini on a mandolin. Mine had 1, 2, or 3 for thickness and I used 2.1 large zucchini
- After you slice your zucchini, place the slices on a sheet of paper towels and take another paper towel and sandwich the zucchini slices and press on them. This helps draw out the liquid so it’ll cook a bit faster.
- Line up the zucchini slices on the prepared baking sheet tightly next to each other in a straight line, making sure not to overlap them.
- In a small bowl, pour your olive oil in and take a pastry brush to brush the olive oil on each zucchini slice.2 tablespoon olive oil
- Sprinkle salt throughout the baking sheet. Do NOT over-season, in fact, it’s better to use less salt initially because the slices will shrink; so if you over-season, it’ll be way too salty! You can always add more later.Kosher salt
- Bake for 2+ hours until they start to brown and aren’t soggy and are crisp.
- Let cool before removing and serving.
- Keep in an airtight container for no more than 3 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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I have tried this and other recipes for zucchini chips and have the same issue no matter which method I use. They don’t seem to get crispy. I use a mandolin and slice them thin, spray with oil and sprinkle with a little salt – parchment if in the oven or I have used the dehydrator. They all shrink tons and are not lovely, round and crisp as I would envision them to be. Any suggestions? I have used the oven recipe you post as well as the one with high heat for less time, and of course, as I mentioned, the dehydrator.
I honestly have no ideas :( even in the dehydrator, they should get crispy. Maybe you’re spraying too much olive oil on them instead of crisping up, they’re just steaming.
I wonder if it matters what type of oven is used – regular conventional or a convection one that helps circulate the hot air. I have an oven with convection modes (convection bake and roast) and will try that. Maybe that’s part of the trick for success in getting a nicely crisped chip?
I bet convection would be awesome for chips! I did mine with regular conventional but I’d be curious about convection!
Wondering if you pressed the water out…maybe that’s why they didn’t crisp?
That’s a good thought – it’s in the directions to do so so I’m curious if you did?
Quite randomly I just saw this comment from Pat about not the chips getting crispy… I wonder if she is crowding too many on the sheet at once. Julia child once said: ÈDo not croud the mushrooms or they will not brown. Same goes for zuchini. They just sweat and go mushy instead. They should be a thin layer and not touching. Also important to put them into a preheated oven. That may help too. Thanks for the recipe!
I made these with no oil. I added very little salt and a little cayenne pepper because I love spicy food. I used the thinnest setting on my mandolin and baked for 2 hours 15 min. I put a few thicker (not much thicker) pieces in and they did not get crispy. They have to be almost paper thin from what I experienced. And they were delicious:)
Whatever it is I used the recipe from your blog and it turned out nice so thanks lol
I got here by clicking on a grammar comic strip because I was trying to find the original artist. I like to credit them when I post. Didn’t find the cartoon, but I did find this yummy looking recipe, so pinned it! :)
i used foil cause that’s what I had on hand. The zucchini is stuck to it now. Do they peel off parchment paper easy? How did you get them off? #possiblefailonmypart #firsttime
They did not stick on parchment at all. They literally just came off when I pushed it with my finger. I didn’t use foil for the very reason you said – I wish I could tell you how to get them off. Sorry! :(
There is a type of foil that has no stick on it and that would work. But if given the choice I’d use parchment paper, more environmental friendly I think.
I think I know why someone had problems with sticking. The first batch came out great because I immediately removed the chips from the parchment. The second batch all stuck because I was too busy eating the first batch and left the second batch sit on the parchment to cool! So remove chips immediately and you will have no problems!
Hello! Can you tell me on #5 when brushing the zucchini with olive oil, do you brush both sides? Or,just top? Thanks!
I just did the top
It’s zucchini season. That means it’s hot! Any suggestions for how NOT to turn the oven on for two hours? I mean, has anyone tried this on an outdoor grill? I just sliced and prepped but can’t bear to cook indoors. Thanks.
I feel like the outdoor grill would burn this to a crisp if it was left on the grill even with low heat. I would suggest just doing this in the winter if it’s too hot for you to turn on your oven. Freeze some zucchini now and defrost and make these in the winter :)
I want to freeze some to use later for chips. I would assume I would go ahead and slice them before freezing? May sound like a stupid question but I’m new to all of this. TY
Yes, definitely slice them before freezing.
Have you tried using a dehydrator instead of the oven?
No, I haven’t, sorry.
Hi Julie, feel ashamed to ask, but when you say bake, I’m sure everyone gets the temperate and oven mode… but could you be more specific for a rookie?
Thanks, btw, these look amazing!
There should be an option on your oven that says ‘bake’ press that and then input the temperature.
Hi… These look fabulous and very diet friendly. Just one question… would using olive oil spray work just as well?
Yes
Would this recipe work without adding salt?
Thank you so much :)
Yes it will
Positively addictive!
I know I saw it, Howe er it’s too bad the someone else posted their own version of their recipe which had a similar name and unfortunately did not name you as the owner you do not own any recipe in the world , and I am sure what you posted is not your own but copied, so get of your high horse and accept the fact that others can cook and make similar named stuff as you do. The other recipe shows their variation with nuts etc.. as you yourself prolaim. So it’s not your version of the recipe as you so wrongly claim. For your info. Check and see how many versions of butter chicken the are on the net an none other claim they are the writers own recipe.
I don’t need to get off my high horse because you don’t know what you are talking about. I’m not as concerned about the recipe itself being stolen – it’s easy. Olive oil, salt, and zucchini. Big deal – anyone could think of that. My issue is the people who stole my original image is claiming that their recipe (yes, the one with nuts) comes out looking like my photos above. That’s deceiving and false advertisement. I’ve had so many people come back to my site blaming me for a horrible recipe because my image was used and tagged with an incorrect recipe. Please get YOUR facts straight before you come telling me to get off my high horse. I don’t appreciate that kind of negativity on my blog.
Great comeback Julie!!!! Sounds like busybee needs an attitude adjustment and you took care of it..
They look really good… Could you use coconut oil instead of olive oil
Yes, you definitely could!
BusyBee really should use spellcheck before commenting….wow. I had a hard time trying to make sense of what she wrote to only then realize I had wasted my time on such a negative person….
As a photographer/artist I can appreciate your main concern that someone has stolen your image. It happens a lot… people have not learned to respect other people’s property. (ie if it’s a wall outside, it must be ok for me to scribble on it…. if it’s on the internet, it must be mine for the taking!) I hope you report the theft and follow thru with making sure the thief receives proper chastisement or penalty (take down their website?).
Good on you!
If you do not have that mandolin cuter a potato peeler works great. I haven’t done the recipe yet. I’ll let you know. Thanks
Wow, Busybee!
I wonder how you came up with your username. Based on your incredibly rude and petty comments, I would agree that you are definitely some kind of “B”!
LOL. Ok, this comment wins, haha
Thanks for the recipe! I can’t believe someone would take the time or even have the time to waste to write a comment so negative… Sad…