Curried Baked Carrot Chips

This recipe for Curried Baked Carrot Chips makes an easy, portable, healthy snack that packs a punch of flavor and nutrition.

Carrots for Days

Last weekend, I harvested carrots.

Lots of carrots.

Tiny carrots.

I always have problems with vanishing seedlings when I try seeding directly in my raised beds, so last fall I thought I’d be smart and sow a ton of carrot seeds and then pull the extra seedlings out when I was sure they were big enough to survive any attacks from small animals or insects. But then it got cold and I got busy and I never thinned out the seedlings. So when I was preparing my raised beds for spring last weekend, I pulled out about 50 bitty carrots.

They might be small and okay, they’re a little bit pale too. But I grew them! And they were perfect small carrots. I was kind of excited about my wee carrots, but Chris made fun of them and thought I should throw them in with the compost, to which I responded:

“I’m going to blog about this!”

(That’s my new response anytime he says or does something I don’t like, by the way.)

About the Recipe

My carrots may have been too small to use for much, but after I harvested them, I started coming up with ideas for carrot recipes and I was just itching to try them out. So I bought some normal sized carrots and got to work. Dara from Generation Y Foodie mentioned carrot chips to me a few weeks ago and making a curried version was at the top of my list.

I’ve never had carrot chips before, curried or otherwise, but I’m completely enamored with these Curried Baked Carrot Chips now. Carrots aren’t exactly my favorite vegetable, so I figured I’d eat a few of these and give the rest to Chris. But no! These are really, really good—so good that I didn’t want to share. (And maybe I shouldn’t have after he so cruelly mocked the wee carrots I grew!) If you’re not a fan of curry, you can make these with salt and pepper or any other seasoning you like. All you need is a large carrot, a vegetable peeler, a little bit of olive oil, and in a few minutes, you have delicate, crispy oven-baked carrot chips.

Curried Baked Carrot Chips

These spicy, crispy carrot chips make a healthy single-serving snack. If you double the recipe, use two baking sheets and alternate them in the oven halfway through baking time. Adapted from Chow’s Carrot Chips.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 1 serving 1x

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 large carrot, peeled
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2–1 tsp sweet curry powder (stick with 1/2 teaspoon for milder chips)
• salt + pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil mister or cooking spray.
2. Holding onto the small end of the carrot, use a Y-shaped peeler to peel paper thin carrot strips. Try your best to make them uniform in thickness. You’ll have some carrot leftover when it gets too thin to peel. Either eat it or throw it in your vegetable scrap bag to make broth with later.
3. Place carrot strips in large bowl. Toss with olive oil, curry powder, salt and pepper. Transfer strips to baking sheet in a single layer; the edges can be touching, as they’ll shrink when they bake, but don’t overlap them.
4. Bake for 10–12 minutes or until chips are just starting to brown. Place baking sheet on a wire rack and cool until chips are crisp, about 3 minutes. Carefully remove chips from baking sheet (they are thin and will break easily!); eat right away or store in airtight container for up to 5 days.