DIY Zucchini Chips
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Zucchini chips are an awesome way to use your summer harvest – and replace the unhealthy potato chips you may want to get rid of. There are so many seasoning varieties to do – and I bet you can’t eat just one!
There’s always the yearly joke of zucchini showing up on neighbor’s doorsteps every summer because someone plants way more than they can use.
But I wonder if that’s because people just don’t know how versatile zucchini really is – and all the amazing things you can do with it besides making zucchini bread!
Zucchini chips are an awesome way to create a healthy snack to eat with lunches to replace tired, unhealthy potato chips you may already be serving your kids.
Another fun fact – Zucchini are called courgettes in most of the rest of the world.
How to Make Zucchini Chips
A dehydrator is a great way to make zucchini chips. You prep and load before you go to bed in the evening When you wake up in the morning, crisp, tasty chips are waiting for you!
Here’s how to use a dehydrator. Oven instructions will follow below.
Equipment Needed
- Dehydrator
- Mandoline I am using the Dash Safe Mandoline that you can get from Amazon (watch for sales!)
- A reader told me that Bed Bath and Beyond also carry them and you can use your 20% off coupon on them as well.
- Knife –
- Cutting board
- Peeler
Instructions:
- Wash Zucchini
- Cut off blossom end
- Peel if desired
- Cut into 1/8″ (3mm) slices. You can go a little thicker if you’d like, but these make really crisp chips – similar to Lays potato chips
- Season
- Place on dehydrator trays lined with mesh or parchment/baking paper
- Dry at 135-140°F or 60°C for 6-10 hours.
- Cool before testing. Chips should easily break
- Store in airtight container.
Store Zucchini Chips
Store in a good airtight container. They are best enjoyed within a couple of weeks.
If your zucchini chips start to lose their crispness, throw them back into the dehydrator for an hour or two.
Seasonings for Dehydrated Zucchini Chips
- BBQ sauce – you can use bottled BBQ sauce and brush on a thin layer to your chips
- Everything But the Bagel seasoning – be heavy-handed with this one – it’s worth it!
- Nutritional Yeast – gives a nutty cheesy flavor – be heavy-handed with this one as well!
- Salt and Vinegar – soak zucchini slices in a salt and vinegar blend before dehydrating
- Pizza Seasoning – our very favorite (recipe is below)
Even more dehydrated veggie chip seasoning ideas
DIY Zucchini chips
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Peeler
Ingredients
- 1 Zucchini
Pizza Seasoning
- 2 tbsp tomato powder
- 1/4 tsp celery powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tbsp Italian herb mix
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp ground fennel seed
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Wash Zucchini
- Cut off blossom end
- Peel if desired
- Cut into 1/8″ (3mm) slices. You can go a little thicker if you’d like, but these make really crisp chips – similar to Lays potato chips
- Season
- Place on dehydrator trays lined with mesh or parchment/baking paper
- Dry at 135-140°F or 60°C for 6-10 hours.
- Cool before testing. Chips should easily break
- Store in airtight containers for about two weeks.
Video
Darcy’s Tips
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only. Nutrient information for dehydrated foods is based on fresh. Use 1/4 of the servicing size for the same nutrient information. Thus 1 Cup of fresh fruit has the same sugars as 1/4 dried.
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We loved them! Will be a staple in out house. Thank you for the easy directions!
Great!!! Glad you loved them!
Mine are in the dehydrator right now. I made ⅛” and ¼” slices to see which ones turned out better. The ⅛” ones are VERY small after only a few hours but it shells heavenly in my garage where the dehydrator is. I’m so excited! I do have a question about bananas: can I use koolaid to soak them in before dehydrating? If all koolaid is is citric acid, wouldn’t that work? Also, could I put a little sugar in the koolaid mixture to kick it up? I’ve looked all over but I can’t find anyone who has done bananas with koolaid.
Hey Darcy, I just bought a rotary barrel slicer and it happened to have a waffle slicer blade so I thought I’d give these a try. I couldn’t change the thickness of the slice, so I wasn’t sure how they’d come out. But what do you know! PERFECT crunch factor! I used a powdered ranch dressing packet I had on hand, since I haven’t dehydrated enough tomatoes to make the pizza topping as written in the recipe. But I promise you, I’ll be making some soon. I’m thoroughly addicted! 😀
Awesome! Glad you like them!
When pasta is cooked, then dried, what is the ratio of water to pasta when cooking? If using this pasta in a meal in a jar recipe I’m sure less water will be used when cooking it or the sauce might get watery. Is this a correct assumption?
https://www.thepurposefulpantry.com/how-to-dehydrate-pasta/
Do you have tips on dehydration process for gluten free pasta? Is it the same as regular? What if it’s fresh homemade pasta? Well shoot, both regular or GF on that last question.
If it’s homemade with eggs, it’s recommended to cook first then dehydrate – all dehydrating is the same.
Darcy, do you need to moisten the fresh chips so that the seasoning will adhere prior to dehydrating? Thank you! I love your dehydrating channel!
No – I would have shown you that step if you needed to do it. It sticks with the moisture in the zucchini. If yours is really dry because you left it out, then you might need to.
I made these only using salt. They’re very good! Never would’ve thought of this. Thanks so much for your recipes!
The flavor possibilities are endless!