Let's dive into this recipe on how to make zucchini chips in a dehydrator! This covers everything from slicing zucchini to how to make these veggie chips salty and crispy, to what you need to know about dehydrators.
Why you will love this recipe:
- Flavorful: Zucchini chips are versatile (that's why they are one of my favourite vegetables), you can make these chips with salt for a classic taste or add spices to make your favourite flavour, either way, they are healthy yet so tasty!
- Easy: Zucchini is somewhat easy to grow; therefore, I often have extra zucchini in summer so I can make these chips, or these awesome bran zucchini muffins. The hardest part in making dehydrator zucchini chips is waiting a long time (aka 7-9 hours) for the dehydrator to do its part.
- Healthy: These veggie chips are low-carb, there is no dairy, or gluten is needed to make this recipe. Zucchini is nutrient-dense and a wholesome alternative to your favourite potato chips.
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Ingredients for Homemade Zucchini Chips
These zucchini chips are a great, simple snack if you don't want to buy too many ingredients. All you really need is zucchini, then use whatever spices are in your pantry!
- Fresh Zucchini: Look for a medium-sized zucchini for this recipe; you are going to make rounds with it. Zucchini can be replaced with other summer squash (crookneck, yellow straight neck, chayote, but not pattypan because it will be hard to get even slices) for a very similar chip. You can make these chips with yellow or green zucchini. A large zucchini will have more liquid or water content and take longer to dry out. I like to use the small and medium ones.
- Oil: I like to use olive oil; however, you could also use grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil in a pinch. You only need a little, or else the chips don't dry as well.
- Sea Salt: I like to only cook with pure fine sea salt because it's not extra processed, it's just dried, and it's high in minerals. You can also use the same amount of regular salt if you don't have sea salt.
- Optional - Other spices: You get to choose what flavor of zucchini chips to make: fresh garlic, or garlic powder, onion powder, chilli powder, Italian seasoning, black pepper, red pepper flakes or sesame seeds.
Nutrition insight for zucchini
From my education in nutrition, I like to share some of my knowledge and why I like to make these recipes and eat them with my family. Let's dive into zucchini.
Zucchini is low in carbohydrates and high in nutrition. This green summer squash is an antioxidant. Antioxidants combat the exposure to free radicals that we encounter in the environment, products, and some foods, even daily. Zucchini is a good source of vitamins C, A, potassium, calcium, iron, and magnesium.
Because this recipe use a dehydrator instead of an oven a lot of the nutrition stays in the zucchini chips because of the low heat. Some would call these 'raw zucchini chips'.
Dehydrators
For this recipe, you need a dehydrator. If you don't have a dehydrator, see the FAQ section below to make zucchini chips in the oven.
I like to use an Excalibur dehydrator. It is square, it contains a big, powerful fan which I believe is why is faster and more efficient than other dehydrators.
When buying a dehydrator, look for one that goes from 105 degrees Fahrenheit on the lowest setting to 165 degrees Fahrenheit on the highest setting. This will be good to dehydrate anything from yogurt, fruit, or fruit roll-ups, vegetables, and meat.
Round vs Square Dehydrators: I personally have used both and like the square dehydrator machines a bit more. They feel are easier to manage in terms of placing and spreading food on, cutting the parchment paper to size (when needed), and washing afterwards.
The dehydrating process
These photos show the simple method I use to make zucchini chips in my kitchen! Follow the photos to make your own zucchini chips. See the recipe card below for ingredient quantities.
1.Start by washing the zucchini. Then slice the zucchini into thin rounds. I found a mandoline slices the squash well; however, a food processor or bread slicer would work fine too.
2. Keep slicing the fresh zucchini until everything is evenly cut into rounds.
3. Place the zucchini rounds onto dehydrator trays as a single layer. Brush lightly with oil, or spray them with cooking oil. Sprinkle on sea salt and any other seasonings.
4. Place trays of zucchini into the dehydrator. Leave for 7-9 hours at 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Remember, the thinner and smaller the slices are, the faster they will dry!
Make sure the zucchini is fully dry before removing the crispy chips from the trays. Store chips in a glass sealing jar for best results.
Making Zucchini Slices
The goal is to make thin, round zucchini slices. Being consistent in the slice size of the zucchini makes it easier to make these chips crispy. Tools to slice the zucchini:
>You can use a mandoline slicer, see what this looks like here. That's similar to what I used!
>Using a food processor is an easy way to make the zucchini rounds quickly.
>Another alternative is slicing zucchini with a meat or bread slicer.
For no food waste: Place the scraps (either end of the squash) in a ziplock bag in the freezer along with any other veggie cuttings. Then add them to your next veggie broth! This is an excellent way to use all veggie scraps. When the bag is full of vegetable scraps, use this recipe to make broth!
Tips for the best dehydrated zucchini chips
I tested this recipe 4 times between two dehydrators. From my experience, I found:
- Too much oil makes these chips chewy.
- It's easiest to brush each slice with oil or spray them with oil and sprinkle seasoning, rather than mix it all together in a bowl as they break.
- Go easy on the salt, because the water evaporates, and so they become more salty when the chips are dry.
- They shrink! It's worth it to make a big batch and fill the whole dehydrator to make lots of chips. This recipe makes about 5 full trays.
Edible zucchini flowers
You can dehydrate zucchini flowers, too! The female flowers will grow more zucchini (you will see a little lump or baby zucchini behind them), so don't use those ones, but the male ones are super tasty, covered in a little oil and sprinkled with sea salt.
Flavor variations
I like to make the first batch with sea salt and the second batch with a fun flavour. Here are some great options and examples of what you can do!
- Parmesan Cheese: Toss the sliced zucchini with parmesan cheese before dehydrating!
- Salt and Vinegar: Use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar to coat the zucchini before dehydrating.
- Crunchy Hippy: 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast and 2 tablespoons of ground-up flax seeds, mix together with the salt and then sprinkle on the sliced zucchini and the olive oil.
- Other seasonings: Chilli flakes, chilli powder, dried dill, lemon juice
FAQ
Signs a fresh zucchini is bad include: soft with bruises, slimy with nicks or cuts, spongy, or covered with dark spots. A good zucchini is shiny and firm.
Summer squash can go bad fast. Keep zucchini in a cool place and eat within 3-5 days, or store it in the fridge (keep it in a crisper for best results) and enjoy it within 2 weeks. If you start to see zucchini going bad, you can freeze it (grated or in chunks) or make muffins with it.
A zucchini can last 7 days to 2 weeks in the fridge. If it is a cut zucchini, it will only last 1 week in the fridge. An unwashed zucchini will last longer. For best results, keep zucchini in a plastic or paper bag that is slightly open for air circulation and then store it in the crisper of the fridge.
To make zucchini chips in the oven, place them on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper, turn the oven on to the lowest setting (usually 170F-180F) and bake for a couple of hours. Prop the oven open to maintain a cooler temperature. Check every 2 hours for crispiness. They may become darker due to the higher heat.
Make thin slices of zucchini, and place them on a dehydrator tray. Brush them lightly with oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and other seasonings. Dehydrate at 125 degrees Fahrenheit for 7-9 hours until crispy.
Other healthy snacks!
If you have a lot of zucchini next make these zucchini bran muffins or this delicious zucchini feta bake!
🥒 I hope you enjoyed these perfect crispy zucchini chips! Let me know what you thought down below and leave a star rating - this will help others make this recipe!
Dehydrated Zucchini Chips
Equipment
Ingredients
optional:
- 1-2 fresh garlic cloves or 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Start by washing the zucchini and removing any dirt. Then slice the zucchini into even thin rounds using a mandolin or a food processor. (I make the slices as thin as I can). Place the zucchini rounds onto dehydrator trays.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the tops lightly with oil (or spray them with cooking oil). Sprinkle on sea salt and any other seasonings.
- Place seasoned zucchini pieces on the trays into the dehydrator. Turn the dehydrator to 125 degrees Fahrenheit (50 C) and leave it for about 7-9 hours. They will be fully dry and crispy when they are done. Remove the chips from the trays. Store chips in a glass sealing jar for best results to keep them crispy!
Maura Muller says
I'm thinking of getting a dehydrator. Do you love a certain brand?
Danika Vanderpyl says
I love the excalibur brand! Here's the link to the one i really love. You can get it with less trays - it just depends how much you want to dehydrate. https://amzn.to/3R0YCNc
I have specifically found square ones better than round machines overall.
Frieda says
Yum yum yum.
The garlic & sesame seeds are a great touch I haven’t done before!
It’s a nice alternative for what to do with my zucchini other than frying or shredding it for Baking!
Moriah says
We tried this yesterday! They taste good, but I think we sliced them too thin maybe? They didn’t seem to shrink properly and left the middles empty…. Not sure…. Thoughts? We have SO much zucchini!
danikavanderpyl says
The middle disappeared? Sounds like they are too thin. Can you send me a picture on IG?