How To Make Fruit Chips At Home

Need more crunch in your life? Look no further than your fruit bowl! 

At FruitStand, we don’t just eat fruit, we live and breathe it. That’s why we love to bring you new ideas for how to eat more fruit every day - especially the special, hard to find fruits! Whether you love fresh fruit crisped up into a crunchy snack, or are looking for ways to use up the last of your u-pick bounty, making chips is a fun way to enjoy all kinds of fruits.

What are fruit chips, you ask? Well, to make these moreish snacks, you’ll carefully and thinly slice up your favorite fruits, then bake, fry or dry them until most of the water goes away and you’re left with delicate, flavorful chips. 

Here’s our favorite way to turn fruits into chips at home without any special gadgets or equipment.

BASIC FRUIT CHIPS RECIPE

• Prep time: 30 minutes
• Cooking time: 120 mins
• Good for: kid friendly, make ahead, gluten-free, vegan 
• Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Home chefs can experiment with this method on just about any fruit. Firmer fruits may perform better, but with a little practice, you’ll be a fruit chip expert. Fruit chips can be enjoyed plain to let their natural flavor shine, or you can season them to sweet or savory perfection. Try a little cinnamon and sugar, nutritional yeast, or even a touch of cayenne pepper and salt to zhuzh them up, depending on your mood. Our favorite fruits to use for chips are any kind of apple, blue java bananas, strawberries, pineapple and jackfruit. 

But don’t let your journey to chip-ifying weird produce stop with fruit! You can use this to make crispy, craveable chips from vegetables like sweet potatoes, kale, cucumbers, and just about any root veggie you can imagine. 

EQUIPMENT

• Oven
• Quarter sheet pan or cookie sheet
• Stainless steel cooling grid, fitted to your baking pan (optional, but recommended)
• Parchment paper
• Chef’s knife
• Cutting board
• Large mixing bowl
• Measuring spoons
• Silicone tongs

INGREDIENTS

• 1lb of fruit, sliced ⅛ - ¼  inch thick
• Salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Other seasonings to taste

RECIPE

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit, then prepare the fruit by slicing it as described.
• Prepare your baking sheet by fitting it with parchment paper. If you have a stainless steel cooling grid, place it first inside the pan, then add the parchment paper.
• Using a large, lightweight mixing bowl, place the fruit inside and season, tossing the fruit so that everything gets coated. Don’t worry if not much of the salt and pepper sticks. You’ll have another opportunity to season at the end.
• Evenly distribute the seasoned fruit onto the baking sheet, ensuring there’s enough space between each slice to avoid touching.
• Bake the fruit for about 30 minutes, checking every 10 minutes or so since fruit time can vary by the fruit. Once dried on the bottom, gently flip each fruit slice once, and continue baking for another 20-30 minutes. 
• One fruit is completely dry, remove them from the oven. Let the baked fruit chips cool for five minutes. Season again to taste, and serve when cool.

If you prefer a less toasty flavor, try making chips with the low and slow method. Follow this recipe and let fruit bake at 225 degrees for two to three hours, depending on the fruit you use, checking on them occasionally. When the first side appears dry around the edges, flip the fruits to continue cooking on the second side, another hour or so.

Either way you try, have fun! Snap a pic of how your chips turned out and tag us @Fruitstandcom on Instagram for a chance to be featured!