If your looking for a crunchy nibble that's super tasty and fun to prepare, you've come to the right place. Today, we'll show you how to make these colourful purple sweet potato chips from scratch. And because they're baked instead of fried, you can make a big batch and snack on them without guilt!
But before we dig into the recipe, let's talk a bit more about this wonderful root vegetable. Purple sweet potatoes are an amazing alternative to classic white potatoes and orange sweet potatoes. They have a vibrant violet flesh thanks to the high concentration of purple pigments called anthocyanins, also powerful antioxidants.
Purple sweet potatoes are slightly drier and denser than other potatoes, and they taste mildly sweet, floral, and nutty. Finding purple sweet potatoes locally is a bit harder compared to their orange counterpart. Speciality markets and Asian food stores should usually stock them, especially in autumn when they're in season. Alternatively, you could buy a crate online.
There are two varieties of purple sweet potatoes: the Okinawan and Stokes. While both types have a deep purple flesh, Okinawan purple sweet potatoes have a paler, almost whitish skin, while Stokes potatoes have a more classic brownish skin. When you head to your local market, make sure you don't confuse them with the red-skinned sweet potatoes, which are white inside, not purple.
Now that you know the ins and outs of purple sweet potatoes, let's turn them into super crispy chips. The key to homemade crisps is slicing the potatoes as thin as you can. Remember, the thinner, the crispier! Using a mandoline slicer with the blade set to 1-2 mm will give you perfect results. But you can also use a sharp knife instead and try to cut the chips all with the same thickness so they'll cook evenly.
As for the seasoning, we chose a mix of garlic and ginger powder, but you can also try bolder combos or go with simple salt and pepper if you prefer. We'll give you some seasoning ideas in the tips below. While classic crisps are deep-fried in oil, we'll show how easy it is to cook them in the oven instead. You'll get the same crispy results but with a fraction of the fats — and way less effort. Give our purple sweet potato chips recipe a go — and happy munching!
Ingredients
| Seasoning | |
| Extra Virgin Olive Oil | 1 tbsp |
| Lemon Juice | 1 tbsp |
| Garlic Powder | 1/2 tsp |
| Ginger Powder | 1/2 tsp |
| Salt | to taste |
| Others | |
| Purple Sweet Potatoes (peeled weight) | 320 g |
Step 1
Peel the purple sweet potatoes and then use a mandolin slicer or sharp knife to slice them into very thin chips.
Make sure the chips are about 1 to 2 mm thick; the thinner they are, the crispier they will get.
Step 2
Combine extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, ginger powder, and salt in a bowl.
If you want to make the chips fat-free, you can omit oil and use a little more lemon. Because purple sweet potatoes have a dry flesh, you need a wet ingredient like oil or lemon juice to help the seasoning stick to them.
Then, add the purple chips and toss them in the seasoning, rubbing them thoroughly with your fingertips until they're coated well.
Step 3
Now, line a baking tray with parchment paper and arrange the chips flat, keeping them close to one another as they'll shrink when baking.
As they probably won't fit all into one tray, we recommend baking the chips on multiple trays using the oven in fan mode. Alternatively, bake one batch at a time.
Step 4
Bake the purple crisps for 25-30 minutes at 140°C (285°F) in static mode or at 120°C (250°F) in fan mode.
Check the chips after the first 20 minutes of cooking and remove those already hard and dry.
Finally, transfer the baked purple sweet potato chips onto a wire rack and let them cool down completely. They'll crisp up even more as they cool.
Tips
You can swap ginger and garlic powder with chilli powder and/or cayenne pepper for a spicy twist. Or opt for warming spices like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg or cloves.
We recommend consuming these chips on the same day as they will lose some of their crispiness when stored for longer. However, you can still pack any leftovers and keep them for 3 to 5 days in a cool and dry place. Once the crisps are completely cool, transfer them into an air-tight container or single-serving zip-lock bags, and minimize the times you open and close the containers.