These baked purple sweet potato chips are crispy, salty, and made with just three ingredients. Slice purple sweet potatoes (also called ube) thin on a mandoline, toss with a little coconut oil and salt, and bake them low and slow until the edges curl and they crisp up. They’re naturally gluten-free, vegan, and paleo.
The trick is baking at 250°F instead of blasting them at a higher temperature. It takes longer (about 35 to 45 minutes), but you get evenly crispy chips without the burnt edges. Keep an eye on them toward the end and pull any chips that finish early while the rest keep going.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredient Notes
- Purple Sweet Potatoes – Sometimes labeled as ube, Stokes Purple, or Okinawan sweet potatoes depending on the variety and where you shop. Any purple-fleshed sweet potato works here. Look for them at Asian grocery stores, Whole Foods, or farmers markets. They’re not the same as regular orange sweet potatoes, which won’t give you the same color or flavor.
- Coconut Oil – Use melted coconut oil to lightly coat the slices before baking. It helps them crisp up without weighing them down. You can also use avocado oil or olive oil if you prefer. You don’t need much, just 1 to 2 tablespoons for the whole batch.
- Salt – I use fine sea salt or kosher salt before baking, but flaky sea salt like Maldon sprinkled right after they come out of the oven is great too. Start with less and add more after tasting since the chips shrink as they bake and the salt concentrates.
Mandoline Slicing Tips
A mandoline is the easiest way to get thin, even slices, which is the key to chips that crisp up at the same rate. Aim for about 1/16 inch thick. If some slices are thicker than others, the thin ones will burn before the thick ones finish. Always use the hand guard and a cut-resistant glove.
Recipe FAQs
You can, but the result will be different. Orange sweet potatoes have more moisture and sugar, so they take longer to crisp and are more prone to burning at the edges. They also won’t have the same color.
It makes a big difference. Hand-slicing with a knife almost always gives you uneven thickness, which means some chips burn while others stay soft. A basic mandoline costs about $15 and gives you consistent slices every time. If you don’t have one, use the slicing blade on a food processor.
The most common reasons are slicing too thick or overcrowding the baking sheet. The slices need to be about 1/16 inch thick, in a single layer with no overlapping, and only lightly coated in oil. If they’re still soft after 45 minutes, leave them in the oven a few more minutes and keep checking. They also crisp up more as they cool.
Expert Tips
Storage Instructions
These chips are best eaten the same day they’re made. They lose their crispness as they sit, especially in humid conditions.
Room temperature: Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 1 day. Some chips may soften overnight but are still good for snacking.
Re-crisping: Spread softened chips in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 250°F for 5 to 10 minutes until crispy again. Watch them closely since they can go from soft to burnt quickly the second time around.
Serving Suggestions
These chips are great on their own, but they’re even better with something to dip them in. My green onion dip is my favorite pairing here. It comes together in about 5 minutes and the cool, creamy flavor is a good contrast to the crispy chips. For something warm, try them alongside my gluten-free spinach artichoke dip without mayo. They also work well on a snack board next to my homemade baked tortilla chips and a bowl of 4-ingredient guacamole for a spread that covers all the bases.
Baked Purple Sweet Potato Chips
Ingredients
- 1 lb purple sweet potato - about 2 medium
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil - melted
- ¼ teaspoon salt - or more to taste
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Peel the purple sweet potatoes and slice them as thin and evenly as possible using a mandoline, about 1/16 inch thick. Consistent thickness is key here. Thick slices won't crisp up and thin ones will burn.
- In a large bowl, toss the slices with 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil until every slice is lightly coated. Arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets with space between each slice. Don't overlap them. Sprinkle with salt.
- Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, flipping the slices once halfway through. Start checking around the 25-minute mark. The chips won't all finish at the same time, so remove any that are crispy at the edges and curling up while the rest continue baking.
- Let the chips cool on the baking sheets for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. They'll feel slightly soft when they first come out of the oven but will crisp up as they cool.
Notes
- Oil: Coconut oil, avocado oil, or olive oil all work here. Use just enough to lightly coat the slices. Too much oil and the chips won’t crisp up properly.
- Mandoline: A mandoline gives you thin, even slices, which is the difference between a batch of crispy chips and a batch where half are burnt and half are soft. Always use the hand guard or a cut-resistant glove. Purple sweet potatoes are dense and require more pressure on the blade.
- Storage: These chips are best eaten the same day. They lose their crispness as they sit. If they soften overnight, spread them on a baking sheet and bake at 300°F for 5 to 10 minutes to re-crisp.
Nutrition
You forget to say how nutritional and low calorie they are
I just made my first batch of these. They took quite a long time for them to get crispy (50 minutes) in a true-to-temp oven. I think I’m going to reduce the coconut oil for the next batch.
Thank you so much for sharing these!
Thanks so much for sharing your feedback Sarah! There can be so many factors that affect how long the chips need to cook for so I appreciate you sharing! Thanks for stopping by ?