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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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Thank you,these worked a treat?
Julie–Any chance of getting the measurement of the thickness of your #2 mandolin slices? My mandolin gives infinite thicknesses (you adjust the thickness with a screw-type thing and stop it wherever you want). I have done this twice now, and they haven’t come out good….:-(…. I think I am making the slices too thin. I tried to make them like they look in your picture, but since they shrink up so much, I guess you need to start with a larger thickness than what we see in the photo i.e., in the finished product. I’m pretty sure I must be making them too thin. Thanks!
It was 1/8 of an inch!
Thanks! I’ll try again at 1/8″….:-)….
Would like to try these, they look and sound delicious. Do you think a spray olive oil could work? Thanks.
Yup, it would work.
These look good until I saw oil,as a ingredient . I am a plant based diet and avoid oil. ( not healthy ,all fat ) . I will try without the oil ! Nice photo !
I am so glad I found your recipe!!! I have been eating low carb since January 1, and really miss potato chips. I have tried making “cheese chips” but they just didn’t cut it. these zucchini chips, however, were PERFECT!!! I can’t believe it, but I like them as much as potato chips! And agree with you, the hardest part was waiting around for them to be ready! Thank you so much!
BTW, I dipped them in Ranch dressing (not dip) and they held up just fine! Delicious!!!
wow, a lot of negativity here, too bad, it ruins a good site, For the zucchini chips I have made them for over 30 years, The way my grandmother taught me was to salt the chips and let them set for about 1/2 or so in a colander with a bowl under, the salt draws off the excess liquid, then pat dry, then place them on a baking sheet drizzle with oil and bake or fry., Another way to make a thin pancake batter (about 2 cups worth) add 1 tsp vinegar, 1/2 tsp onion powder, dip the chips, and deep fry at 360 degrees until golden brown.
.about 1/2 hour or so (to make sure they don’t turn brown, put 1 tsp lemon juice in a cup of water in a spray bottle, and spritz them).
So I was wondering, are these thick enough for withstanding dips? Or else should I use 3 on a mandolin instead? Judging from your pictures they seem a tad thin, but that could but just the angle of the photo.
No, they definitely will not withstand dips! They’d break immediately. If you use 3 on a mandolin, your chips may not turn out as crispy or you may actually need to cook them way longer than the time I put in the recipe.
oh okay, thanks. I’ll try cooking them for longer and see how they turn out. Then I’ll let you know :)
Hi!
1. Zucchini differs tremendously from season to season–sometimes very sweet and sometimes rather tasteless or even bitter.
2. Zucchini has a VERY high water content. It is probably good to use the traditional method for removing water from eggplant slices before frying: sprinkle with salt and let sit for at least a half hour. The slices sort of ‘bleed’ water. Then rub off both salt and water with a paper towel. Of course the eggplant slices are larger and thicker, so it is easier….but the principle is the same….:-)….
3. Before making zucchini pancakes, you are supposed to let the shredded zucchini sit in a colander to drain.
4. MANY ovens do not heat evenly and do not have heat settings that match the dial!! Always use an oven thermometer and turn the pan around periodically if you are having trouble.
5. With all my great advice, I must admit that I never got chips to come out like the pictures—but I have a very simple ANCIENT oven which I know does not have all its elements functioning….:-)…. This recipe should be great in a convection oven!
Thanks for the cooking time/temp recommendation! Very helpful.
LOVE this recipe! I tried it the first time and it was amazing! The second time, my zucchini all got stuck because
I think they were too thin. I’m going to use parchment paper. Thanks for the AWESOME healthy recipe! These little guys are addicting!!!