Microwave Potato Chips — Really!
I like to think of myself as a glass-half-full kind of gal.
I tend to have a sunny demeanor. I try to accentuate the positive even in the most grave of situations. And I’m optimistic that one can do anything one sets one’s mind to — or at the very least get darn close to it.
But when I stumbled upon a recipe early last year in Eating Well magazine for making potato chips in the microwave, I balked. I was a disbeliever. I was convinced this was beyond impossible.
I was wrong.
As part of the Reheat Anything Generation, I knew full well from experience that foods heated or cooked in the microwave most often turned out soft and limp, not crunchy.
So how could thinly sliced potatoes end up crackling crisp? Seriously?
They not only do, but they also possess a purity of flavor — of real, fresh potatoes. Unlike so many store-bought bags of potato chips with their long list of ingredients, there are just three in these: potatoes, olive oil and salt.
Plus, there’s no heating up a vat of oil or turning on a hot oven to make these.
The recipe calls for cutting up the potatoes into 1/8-inch slices. This makes a fairly sturdy, thick chip. I actually preferred using a mandolin to make almost paper-thin potato slices that are even crispier and more delicate.
Toss with olive oil, and salt. Coat a microwave-safe plate with spray oil, then spread a single layer of potatoes on the plate. Nuke, turn the potatoes over, and nuke again. That’s it. As they come off the hot plate and start to cool, they will crisp up even more. Indeed, they were still crispy the next day, too.
The beauty of this technique is that if you have just one forlorn potato lying around the kitchen, you can cut it up and make just enough crisp chips to enjoy with your sandwich. I’m thinking this would make a fun cocktail nibble, too. Amaze your friends by showing them how you can make potato chips emerge hot and snappy from the microwave. They’ll think you a magician.
I’m still a glass-half-full gal. But when it comes to this recipe, I’ve become a bowl-totally-empty gal. I couldn’t eat just one, after all. Neither will you. I promise.
Microwave Potato Chips
(makes 4 servings, 12-14 chips each)
1 1/3 pounds Yukon Gold or red potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed
2 teaspoons or so of extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
Slice potatoes into 1/8-inch rounds for thicker potato chips. For thinner ones, use a mandolin to cut very thin slices. Toss slices in a medium bowl with oil and salt to coat evenly.
Coat a large microwave-proof plate with cooking spray. Arrange some potato slices in a single layer on the plate. Microwave, uncovered, on High until some slices start to brown, 2 to 3 minutes (depending upon potato thickness and microwave power). Turn slices over (they will be hot, so take care with your fingers) and continue microwaving until they start to crisp and brown around the edges, about 35 seconds for very thin potato slices to 2 to 4 minutes for thicker slices. Check frequently and rearrange slices as needed to prevent scorching. Transfer chips to another plate and allow to cool completely. (They will crisp up more as they cool.) Repeat process with remaining slices.
Storage: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Per serving: 141 calories; 2 g fat (0 g saturated; 2 g monosaturated); 0 mg cholesterol; 26 g carbohydrate; 3 g protein; 2 g fiber; 291 mg sodium; 807 mg potassium. Nutrition bonus: Potassium (27 percent daily value)
Adapted from a recipe published in EatingWell, January/February 2009
More Microwave Magic: Make English Muffin Bread In Your Microwave
More Cooking Fun: Making Chinese Steamed Buns from Pillsbury Biscuit Dough
I am trying this! I can’t wait – I hope it turns out just as good as you say. thanks so much, this is so unique! 🙂
Okay I am so confused. Someone who understands food science needs to get to the bottom of why this works because it’s hurting my brain.
Wow, pretty amazing, I will have to try this asap!
Will definitely be trying this out – intrigued!!!
Hi Carolyn 🙂
I started making chips this way last year for my little girls who love chips, they are the real deal and the girls love them. I haven’t bought store bought chips since!
Wow, sounds amazing what an idea.
Holy cow! Just what I DO NOT NEED…yet another “bowl totally empty” idea from Carolyn Jung. First the macaroons, now this. Have you no mercy, woman? And it’s pretty ironic that the ad showing up between your post and these comments is that “tiny belly trick” thing that always makes me wonder if there’s some secret webcam in my house that I’m not aware of. Gah 🙁
Seriously, Carolyn, these sound really delicious. Alarmingly too easy, but a test of willpower is always a good thing, right?
So, in the nutritional information, what counts as “a serving”? If it’s the entire 1.3 lbs of potatoes, I’m in!
Wow, what a surprising recipe/technique! Too bad I don’t have a microwave 🙁
Oh wow. I’ve got to try this out!! Thanks for sharing!
WHAT, that is crazy talk! 🙂 if you ask my husband what my favorite color is, he would answer without hesitation “potato chips”. i totally need to try this out!
What a cool recipe!! I can’t wait to try it out. i’ve actually made salami and pepperoni “chips” in the microwave by nuking small rounds of them for about 30-45 seconds. They come out crisp just like a chip (it’s a total Atkins trick). This one sounds even cooler though. Thanks for sharing!
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How neat! I like that I don’t have to buy additional gadgets for this recipe!
Lovely !! I will try this: thanks!!!
Clever idea.
re: “they were still crispy the next day, too.”
Uh, how do you know??? 🙂
Kelly asks how this works. I can speculate…
Frying is a two-stage process. First, the food heats above the boiling point and the water boils off. Then the food starts to brown. For potato chips, we usually end the process before much browning happens.
The same thing happens here but the heat comes from the microwave rather than from a pan or from a vat of hot oil. A microwave oven heats by vibrating water molecules. The microwave energy bounces around the oven, passing through the oil and the plate, absorbed by the water molecules, which heat up enough to boil away, leaving a nice dry chip.
This technique would probably even work without oil but the dry chip would probably burn in spots and wouldn’t taste very good.
By the way, oven frying is similar but much slower. You toss chips in oil and heat in the oven and that approximates frying. (Shake and Bake is the same idea). But the fast frying in deep fat is usually superior to oven frying, and it seems like microwave frying approximates the fast fry of deep fat.
I can’t wait to try it!
Carroll: I have stopped laughing in order to answer your question. One serving, according to the recipe, is about 12-14 chips. So no, it’s not the ENTIRE 1 1/3 pounds of potatoes. I wish!
Alejandra: That is so cool about the salami chips. I am definitely going to try that. I bet that would be great atop a crisp salad. Better than croutons.
Moe: I forced myself — believe me, it wasn’t easy — to save a few chips for the next day, just to see if the crispness held up. 😉
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Darn! Oh well…another dream shattered by the harsh blows of reality 🙁
I heartily second the “salami chips” thing. I nuke a circle of about 8 slices or so, arranged between paper towels until all the fat has been rendered and they’re nice and crispy. Never thought of putting them on salads, but that’s a *great* idea! Guess I got something usable out of this post after all 😉
(Secretly hiding my grocery list for the week which, unaccountably, now has “potatoes” on it)
Holy Cow Pie! This is amazing and thanks for sharing it!
I can’t believe that it is possibly! I need to try these microwave chips soon, very soon 😀
All the best,
Gera
typo error: possible sorry 🙁
Hi Carolyn, I may be able to make this faster than you. My microwave is completely possessed and cooks food almost 75% faster than most ovens ha! A cup of coffee will be scalding hot in nearly 8 seconds. Great posting, I am very excited to try this.
I’ll make these very soon! I would have never ever thought of making chips in the microwave…
I cook a lot with my microwave but this I got to try!
This is absolutely great. You get to have your share of potato chips without the fat, grease and oil. I’m going to bookmark this to try out in my microwave. Thanks for sharing.
They look perfect! Thanks for posting this.
I will have to give this a try – sounds like a dangerous thing to know though. The last thing I need is the ability to make fresh potato chips.
I love microwaved chips!! I wish mine wasn’t broken or I would go make some right now.
Man, your chips are so perfectly round and gorgeous! And they are crisped so evenly. I’m so amazed. I tried making sweet potato chips in then oven. Although they were delicious, it was hard to control the browning, and I burnt many a chip!
Jen: You just didn’t see my overly browned ones. Hah. Of course, I only took pics of the beauty-queen ones. My first batch was much more brown in color. It takes maybe a plateful or two to get the hang of the timing to know just how long to nuke them so they’re crisp, but not too dark in color. But really, even the “reject” ones are still pretty darn tasty to nibble on.
No freaking way!!! They look PERFECT! They look….deliciously greasy and crisp! OMG. GOt to try this…will it work with sweet potatoes?
Tried them, with just some russets on hand, and they turned out with the most wonderful potato flavor — fantastic!!! Ten times better than store bought!!! Thank you !!!!
this just blew my mind. can’t wait to try it out.
This is such a genius idea – why hasn’t it been around more!? These would be wonderful at a party or sleepover, but who am I kidding, these would be wonderful anytime of day! Delicious.
this unfortunately did not work for me at all. not even one! what have we done wrong? my sons and i tried various thicknesses and everything. they just kinda got hard but soft. like shoe leather. ick.
what can go wrong???
Carmel: So you cooked the potato slices in the microwave, then put them on another plate to cool off? Did they get crispy then? If they were crispy but then turned soft, you might not have cooked them long enough. I had a few that were like that, as a result of too short of a time in the microwave. It’s better to get them a little browner in order to get them crispy than to take them out too early in order to keep them pale colored. I hope you give it a try again. As I said, it does take maybe one or two platefuls of experimenting to get the timing down just right.
those look awesome… and tasty!
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I need some help! These looked so delicious, so I just tried them right away, but they failed horribly. I used a mandolin on the thinnest setting, I put olive oil (and salt) on the slices, and my microwave was on 900W (highest setting), but they just wouldn’t brown or get crispy at all. After following your initial time instructions, I have put the slices in for several more rounds of 2-4 minutes, but nothing did the trick. I also tried patting them dry at some point, but no results. Do you have any idea what I should do? Cause I am really dying to try these haha.
i will try again and experiment. cos they look damn good. am doing it now….hehe…
good news! i did it again, but with the thinnest potato slices i could cut on my mandolin. like paper thin! i cooked them three minutes and then flipped them and did 35 seconds and they all came out perfect. so maybe my last ones were too thick? i had a few sizes but anyway, not as thin as these ones.
only one bit of advice, if you are being greedy/lazy/greedy and want to fill up the plate and use the sides… DON’T. even with oil those ones stuck – i assume this happened cos the oil slid down the plate as it heated up. anyway, now i have a neat plate with permanent baked on potato decorations. haha
thanks for the encouragement to try it again and love the post!
I’ve used the microwave to cook bacon (very crispy indeed!), browned shallots to garnish my stir-frys (for that added crunch!) and thanks to this post, I will add yet another item to my microwave repertoire! Thanks so much!
Crispy Chip report from Cupertino:
Potatoes were purchased.
Potatoes were sliced and dressed.
Potatoes were nuked precisely per instructions.
Potatoes were completely consumed before other resident family member even knew there was a culinary experiment in process.
Potatoes were deeeeelicious!
Portion control? Never heard of it!
This can be our little secret, right?
The fact that one of your readers used to know my husband shouldn’t worry me, right? (Moe, you are sworn to secrecy!)
What’s read on Food Gal stays within the Food Gal community, right?
(I wonder if my husband will be at all curious as to why I am packing the mandoline for our forthcoming trip to Hawaii.)
But, Carolyn…one thing puzzles me. From the picture, you don’t *look* like you weigh 400 pounds. How is that possible?
Sorry Mo. No “e” 🙁
Wait, WHAT??? You have two Mo/e readers! I *did* mean Moe with an ‘e’. Sorry to implicate you, Mo.
Move along now everybody. Nothin’ to see here.
Carroll: Believe me, there are some days when I FEEL like I weigh 400 pounds! LOL
Why does food have to have calories? Why, oh why?
Oh thanks. Like I don’t have enough trouble staying away from the chips in the vending machine at work, I now have to worry about the chips that hide in my potatoes at home? I’m doomed, I tell yah, doomed.
Wow…I stumbled on your recipie from foodgawker I think. I was shocked…but I was kinda scare the whole time I was nuking them…and I couldn’t find the mandoline so for the thin slice experiment I used a potato peeler [and it worker well kinda] and for thick slices I carefully cut with a knife.
I gotta say they were mainly salty…I’m missing that flavour of potato that Miss Vickies original chips had before Miss Vickies chips became really popular [they adopted a less flavourful and cheaper method of making them I think]. Although I’m guessing it’s cuz the potatoes sucked.
But I definetly enjoyed it…especially the thicker ones….I burned my fingers quite a bit :D.
I tried making these this time last year but I soaked the uncooked slices in water to get out the excess starch. I didn’t have a mandolin, and had to resort to slicing with a knife which I found very difficult (to get all slices even thickness). And the ones I let get a little brown did not stay crunchy for too long either. It was an interesting experiment, though, and after every microwave batch came out they disappeared. I may try again someday if I ever get a mandolin!