Foodie Fridays: Microwave Potato Chips
Homemade potato chips without the deep fryer!
I’m a member of the “get it now” generation. The temptation of instant gratification arrived fairly early in my life, the byproduct of remote controls, drive-thru windows, and one of my personal favorites, the microwave oven. After all these years, the microwave and I still have a pretty tight relationship; it zaps comforting cups of chai and bowls of soup and reheats leftover pizza quickly and without complaint. Recently I found a new way to partner my occasional hankering for a salty snack with the convenience of microwave cooking: homemade potato chips!
Microwaved potato chips? I know what you’re thinking, because I had the same thought at first: “They’ll be soggy!” But amazingly, these chips come out crispy and flavorful, all while boasting an ingredient list only three items long: potatoes, olive oil, and salt. This means you can have homemade potato chips in ten minutes or less any time you want. Sliced to your desired thickness. Salted to your taste. Dressed up with a little shaved Parmesan. Convenience never tasted better!
Microwave Potato Chips
1 large russet potato, unpeeled, scrubbed and patted dry
1 scant teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste
Using a sharp knife or a mandoline, thinly slice the potato to your desired thickness (1/8″ or thinner works best). Transfer to a medium bowl and toss with olive oil until completely coated.
Coat a microwave-proof plate with cooking spray and arrange potato slices in a single layer, ensuring edges do not touch. Salt as desired.
Microwave potatoes on regular power for 2.5 minutes. Turn slices and cook for another 2-4 minutes until the chips brown and crisp. Remove from microwave and transfer to a clean plate to cool and finish crisping. Repeat as necessary with remaining potato slices.
Yield: 1 big or 2 small servings
Looking for more great recipes? Visit my blog at
http://culinography.wordpress.com
Wow, I’m impressed with this one. My microwave is basically used for reheating, cooking frozen veggies and popping popcorn.
Michelle, any idea whether this works equally well with sweet potatoes? I’m excited to try this recipe!
Moe: I know, right?
Toni: You must be reading my mind! I haven’t tried it, but while I was making a batch a few nights ago I put “sweet potato” on the grocery list just for the purpose of finding out! I’ll report in post-grocery shopping this weekend!
I so can’t wait to try these!
Perfect for ingredient-phobics like me. And the idea of a sweet potato variation makes me positively giddy. Looking forward to your full report, Michelle!
Angela: The first time I tried them, I just couldn’t believe I’d waited so long. Can’t wait to pick up a sweet potato this weekend!
Count me in, too, can’t wait to hear how it works with sweet potatoes!
what a great idea! thanks!
how terrific! i like this idea very much…and i also like the looks of that sandwich in the background.
Alright, gang…. I bought two small sweet potatoes while I was out and about yesterday. Sliced them up and nuked them this evening — one batch with smoked sea salt and two with cinnamon sugar. Salted was good, but the cinna-sugar was AMAZING! I ate most of them standing at the counter while waiting for the next plate to finish!
They shrink a lot more than the regular potato and seem to be a bit more finicky — take a little longer to get to the crispy stage but go from there to burned in a matter of seconds, so they will require a bit of a closer eye during cooking. But absolutely worth the extra attention!
I’ll be blogging the sweet potato chips over at Culinography on Tuesday. Come see me!
Made the original recipe tonight and can honestly say I don’t know if I’ll ever buy chips again. SO good! We found that it took between 6-7 minutes after flipping to get them to brown and crisp, but that was likely due to my cutting them slightly thicker than ideal. (I considered it a tremendous victory that I managed not to slice off a finger during the prep. No joke — I’m that kitchen-challenged.)
Very much looking forward to the sweet potato version. Thanks for the cinna-sugar suggestion, Michelle!
I have made microwave potato chips several times. To keep them from coming out so oily, and still keep them from sticking to the plate, I use one of these brilliant gadgets: http://bit.ly/silpat