Making this gorgeous treat hardly requires a recipe at all. In fact, crafting homemade potato chips is so easy, and the results so delicious, that once you give ’em a try, I bet you’ll think twice before buying store bought chips again. Really….. still warm from the fryer, and seasoned with a generous sprinkle of salt, they are very hard to beat.
I first pursued making sweet potato fries and chips as a means of getting the kids to take more of a liking to them….um….that would be the sweet potatoes, not the chips and fries. It’s funny, but while they all love potatoes, and adore all things sweet, when you put the two together, not one of them would eat them. I’ve baked them, steamed them, and smashed them, and always the answer was the same….no thanks.
Finally, while on vacation this past winter, we discovered what we should have known all along. If you want your kids to like a challenging food….FRY IT! It was a large bucket of sweet potato fries served with a spicy aioli that did the trick, and ever since then, they can’t get enough. One day, I’ll try to recreate the dish that one them over, and when I do I’ll post the recipe here. Until then, these lovelies will have to suffice.
Unlike it’s sister the french fry, the chip only needs to be cooked once to achieve a delicate, crisp perfection, and is therefor a much quicker, and less labor intensive goodie to bring to your table. The cooking temp varies slightly depending on whether you are cooking standard, or sweet potatoes, but aside from that the technique is exactly the same (standard potatoes generally cook at around 350℉). As with making fries, using an OXO Good Grips Mandoline Slicer
To make these a little more like the spicy fries we enjoyed, try mixing your favorite cajun seasoning in with the kosher salt prior to sprinkling on your hot chips.
Enjoy! – Steve
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled - for every 4 people you want to serve
- Corn oil for deep frying
- Kosher salt (and other seasonings as you desire)
Instructions
- Slice potatoes very thinly on a mandoline. The slices shouldn't be floppy and paper thin, but rather still have some structure to them, with nice clean edges.
- Pour 3-4 inches of oil into a heavy bottomed, deep pot and (checking with a fry thermometer) heat over medium-high heat to 325℉ degrees.
- Preheat oven to 200℉ degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with paper towels and keep handy.
- Add about one-quarter of the potatoes to the hot oil and cook, turning once with a wire skimmer, until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Watch the temperature and keep it as close to 325℉ as possible when cooking. Once the chips start to color they will darken quickly, so pay attention starting around the 2 minute mark.
- Transfer to the paper towels to drain and immediately season with salt. Place the baking sheet in the oven to keep them warm while you cook successive batches of chips.