Baked Sweet Potato Chips to Help Your Family Go Unprocessed
Oct 03, 2012, Updated Sep 28, 2017
I’m a mom of three glorious kids, but it isn’t easy trying to please every taste bud and palate. When the kids were babies, it was definitely easier. They blindly opened their mouths and accepted whatever I gave them. Then they grew up and developed opinions. And they are pretty honest about sharing their opinions, too. So add to the equation healthy and unprocessed, meal time can be a very daunting task.
Over the years, I have educated myself on nutrition and experimented with all sorts of grains, vegetables and fads. But how do you get a mainstream family, used to frozen nuggets and pizza to eat unprocessed? The answer is simple: one step at a time.
The first big step is to use only fresh ingredients that are in season. This is easy on the budget, too, as what is in season is typically what is on sale. One standard at our dinner table, rain or shine, is a fresh salad. Whether leafy green, a cabbage slaw, or a raw vegetable medley, a salad always graces our table.
Another standard on our counter is the fruit bowl. Keep it full, within reach, and full of variety. Fill it up with a fall favorites including an assortment of apples, pears, and persimmons. Pomegranates are a terrific fall fruit, full of antioxidants and fiber, and the kids LOVE IT.
Another step to getting the family on the road to eating unprocessed is to introduce whole grains to the table. This is usually the most difficult step. If you cannot convince the family to go 100% whole wheat, don’t worry. Most baking recipes are pretty forgiving if you substitute half of the white all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. I know this because I do it ALL THE TIME. It is easier to alter the taste buds by making these smaller changes and slowly increasing the percentage of whole grain ingredients as time goes by. You can even swap out a few tablespoons of white flour with some wheat bran, flax meal, ground nuts or oats, too.
Snack time can be a toughie, I know. Especially with kids. Besides the fruit bowl, offer a protein like nuts, yogurt or cheese and the kids won’t be whining that they are hungry 30 minutes later. My family loves nuts, and snack on a variety like pistachios, almonds and cashews. Bring on the veggie chips, too. Alternative chips like sweet potato, kale and seaweed are great choices to replace that bag of cheese puffs.
White rice lacks the fiber and nutrients, so mix in a bit of brown or wild rice, and slowly wean the family off the white. Introduce other great grains like barley and quinoa, too. Keep introducing new ingredients and flavors to the table and make meal time an adventure. And don’t give up so easily. Maybe your first attempt at a new recipe wasn’t warmly greeted. I read somewhere that children may have to be introduced to a new food as many as 12 times before they develop a taste for it. And that includes spouses, too! I believe it. I have watched all three of my children change and develop their palate as they grow older. My eldest hated vegetables for years, and now he takes a few bites of spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts and mushrooms. Without a fight, too.
The key is not to give up. And, of course, take baby steps.
Baked Sweet Potato Chips
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Scrub the sweet potato clean.
- Using a mandolin, cut the sweet potato into 1/8-inch slices. Combine sweet potato slices in a bowl and coat both sides with olive oil and season with salt.
- Place the sweet potato slices on a baking sheet in one layer, making sure the slices are not touching each other.
- Cook for 12 minutes, then flip over. Cook for an additional 10-12 minutes until edges start to brown and crisp.
- The last 3-5 minutes are crucial as the chips can quickly go from perfect to burnt, so remove promptly when edges are starting to brown.
- Allow the chips to cool on the pan until crisp further and serve.
Nutrition
Laura Bashar, a.k.a. Family Spice, writes about food and her life as a wife and mom of three living in San Diego, CA. She started blogging as a mission to get families back at the dinner table. Laura shares recipes using fresh ingredients from all over the world, but especially likes to feature her Persian heritage, both in recipes and traditions. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.
Ooooh – I love these! And I just happen to have some sweet potatoes on hand – lucky me! As for feeding the kids, these are great tips. Making chips is a great call too, because my kids tend to eat just about anything as long as you call it a “chip” ; )
Nice post!!
OMG! As I started reading I was thinking, “wait, is she writing MY story and MY life!” – Baby steps, I keep telling myself that every night when my 2 year old refuses to eat yet another meal! He does love Baked Sweat Potato fries. I have asked for a mandolin for Christmas, so hopefully Santa comes through!
I can’t stand eating salad for exactly that reason.. it was on the table every.single.night. while I was growing up.
My husband felt that way, but it was because it was iceberg lettuce, a few carrot shreds, and bottled dressing.
He’ll eat a spinach salad, massaged kale salad, Greek salad, or spring mix with vinaigrette now – and happily.
That’s funny – my husband’s favorite salad is iceberg lettuce and shredded carrot, mercifully with sunflower oil, though, rather than bottled dressing as normally about half the ingredients are on his allergy list. My parents insisted on salad every night, too, unless supper was baked beans or scrambled eggs in the kitchen; for a few years after leaving home I wanted *anything* *but* salad; I can stand itnow as long as I also have avocado and a half-way-decent tomato to add.
We have a person in our household who is allergic to potatoes, so sweet potato chips are a great treat. I found its hard to get all the chips fully done/dry using the methods most recipes recommend without burning a lot & still having some undercooked. What I do is bake several sheets of the sweet potato chips until mostly done & then dump them into a large roasting pan. I put the large roasting pan back in the oven after I turn it off and let them finish off/dehydrate for a couple hours as the oven cools. This makes them keep much longer.
Great tips! And great guest post – Laura really knows her stuff. Love the baked sweet potato chips. Sweet potatoes have become one of my fav foods, but I’ve never made chips – definitely need to try that. Thanks.
I love sweet potato chips! I always boil them for 10 minutes first and then bake them after. But I’ll try it this way. Less pans to wash is always good. 🙂 Thanks!
Does boiling them first makes them crispier?
I make all kinds of veggie chips (cabbage are actually really good)…..I find the best way is to treat your oven like a dehydrator and cook at about 220 for 2 hours. They will stay crispy. I check about every half hour but if you are doing household chores anyway it isn’t that big of deal at a higher heat I could never get the veggies to stay crispy I like to spray cooking sheet with Pam, lay out the veggies, then spray again so sea salt and seasonings stick ?
Laura is a good friend of mine :)and I love her blog ! Chips look sooo good ! Love the addition of paprika on the chips. I think my problem with making them before was the discrepancy in slice size. Some were getting burnt.Will try these & try to keep them uniform.
Thanks, Sue! Definitely invest in a mandolin. It will keep your slices uniform. Just be careful with that last slice… I also cut myself!
A terrific recipe, so simple that any home cook could prepare these chips –
I make sweet potato baked chips/fries (basically thicker slices) all the time! So quick and easy and of course delish! My favorite is to coat them in cinnamon and I find that I don’t miss the ketchup!
I love the addition of cinnamon!
These look delicious and surprisingly easy. I can’t wait to make these for my family today!