Amazing Zucchini Chips Dehydrator Recipe with Balsamic Vinegar
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If you have never tried making a zucchini chips dehydrator recipe, welllll you’re in for a TREAT! If you’re like me, I always plant 6+ zucchini plants because I delight in having so much zucchini I am nearly drowning in it. I love it that much.
This recipe is also interchangeable between zucchini and cucumbers, so use what you have, because I use both. But the keyword research was way better using the word zucchini instead of cucumber, so you gotta deal with my title.
The most recent recipe I made was salt & balsamic vinegar cucumber chips in my dehydrator! They always hit the spot. Salt and vinegar chips are my favorite and I could eat the poison ones til they eat a hole right through my tongue (IYKYK), but these don’t do that. Plus, they’re made with zucchini and cucumbers I grew and I control the ingredients. And LOW CARB for those of you counting carbs.
The crisp crunch of a chip without the heavy starch from potatoes. I do love me a good tater, though. But I’m currently doing a candida cleanse, and it’s been making me feel wonderful, which requires me to eat more low carb, avoid high starch foods, dairy (unless fermented), gluten, and sugar. It’s been real eye opening how lax I’ve gotten with some of the things I eat!
I’ve been dyinggggggg for something crunchy and salty and remembered I haven’t made this chips for about 2 years. And I really don’t know why! So, it was time to change that and also time to get this recipe typed up and shared with you guys!
Can this zucchini chips dehydrator recipe be made in an oven or air fryer?
YESSSSSSS!!!!!
You just have to adjust the time and temperature.
I will say, the dehydrator makes the BEST texture, but if you don’t have you, you don’t have one. I’ve also been made aware that some air fryers and ovens to have a dehydrator setting. I would set my oven as low as it goes, somewhere around 200F and bake them for a couple hours before flipping on a baking rack to allow air circulation. When I’ve used my oven in the past, chips take about 3 hours give or take.
Same goes for an air fryer. Set it low. My air fryer’s lowest setting is 250F I do believe, but it also has a dehydrator setting that I forgot I had that I should see what the temp sits at. It may be lower. But *most* air fryers from my research go lowest 250, so that’s what we’ll consider here. I would recommend adding a tiny dot of oil to the chips and toss them in that along with he vinegar just the help them crisp up. Toss those chips in the basket or tray, they can overlap since there’s plenty of air movement, and fry for about 20-30 minutes total, tossing them a few times during the process.
Why Use a Dehydrator?
I have found when drying food to preserve it, or to make a crispy snack like these chips, the dehydrator gives the best end product hands down.
When you make these chips in your dehydrator, you get the most delicate, crisp product that you can guarantee has all the liquid out and can be stored, vacuum sealed, on the shelf for 1 year or more. They won’t last that long, but you can store them.
A dehydrator uses lower heat and air movement to slowly dry the food. Your oven is going to essentially bake them at a higher temperature, giving you a touch chewier end product. Which doesn’t bother me even slightly.
I really don’t prefer chips made in an air fryer because of the chewy aspect. They’re even more so and I’m just not a fan. If I’m going to take the time to cut all these chips, marinate them, and such, I’m going to use the dehydrator to get the best snack I can. BUT, if you don’t own a dehydrator, use what you got, because they’re still delicious.
ALSO, if you have a freeze dryer, USE THAT!
Other Ways to Use Zucchini
Here are some other ways to use excess zucchini other than making this zucchini chips dehydrator recipe! Sometimes folks get overwhelmed by the sheer amount their plants produce (cries in squash bugs and vine borers), and I always shock them with the random things I do with zucchini :D
- Dehydrated Zucchini Chips (duh!): I’m obnoxious and had to remind you to make these…. you can never have enough
- Dehydrated shredded zucchini: great to add to soups, casseroles, and recipes where you would use fresh zucchini but its out of season. It rehydrates readily! Great for thickening soups or sauces quickly or even rehydrate in pineapple or orange juice to use in zucchini bread or buzz it into a powder and use it as flour. Hands down my favorite way to store zucchini!
- Mock zucchini pineapple
- Zucchini Apple Pie filling
- Gluten free pasta: when zucchini is on, its my pasta! We love zucchini lasagna, which is just sliced zucchini layered between sauce and cheese. Low carb and delcious!
- Gluten free pizza crust
- Gluten free zucchini “tortillas”
- Fermented zucchini salsa
I’m sure there’s more, I just can’t think of it, but those are my top!
Let’s get started on this zucchini chips dehydrator recipe! You’re gonna love it!
Equipment You Might Want
- Mandolin or rotary cutter
- Large mixing bowl
- Food Dehydrator
- Silicone dehydrator tray liners
- Mason Jars
- Mason jar vacuum sealer
Ingredients
- 8 cups sliced zucchini or cucumbers
- 3 Tbs salt
- 3-4 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Step 1: Prep
Start by washing your zucchini and cucumbers.
Slice thinly using a mandolin or rotary cutter. The thicker you cut, the longer they take to dry and they may be slightly chewy instead of thin and crisp. I use my rotary cutter with a slicing blade that makes them nearly perfectly thin, but not toooo thin.
In a large mixing bowl, add sliced zucchini and/or cucumbers, sprinkle the salt over top, and toss to coat well. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes so the slices release their water. I have found this step leads to crisper chips and shorter drying times.
After resting, drain the zucchini slices in a colander, tossing so they drain, but not worrying about getting them completely dry.
Add slices back to the bowl, add the balsamic vinegar, and toss to coat. Let slices sit for 15 minutes.
Step 2: Dehydrate
Layer zucchini or cucumber slices in a single layer on a dehydrator tray lined with a mesh liner if desired.
Place trays in your dehydrator and set at 135F for 10-18 hours, or til the slices are crisp and appear dry with no signs of moisture. They should snap easily in half with your fingers and not be too bendy.
If using a bottom fan dehydrator, rotate trays during the cycle. If using a back fan dehydrator, like my Magic Mill, you don’t need to do that.
Step 3: Storage
Allow chips to cool for about 15-20 minutes after drying and then fill glass mason jars and vacuum seal. They will store on the shelf about 1-2 years, especially if you add oxygen absorbers, but I can barely make them last a week in this house!
Notes
If it is very humid when you’re pulling them out of the dehydrator, work quickly because the chips will take on moisture readily and this will dramatically affect their shelf stability. Moisture = mold
Equipment
- Mandolin or rotary cutter
- Mason Jars
Ingredients
- 8 cups sliced zucchini and/or cucumbers
- 3 Tbs salt
- 3-4 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Instructions
Step 1: Prep
- Start by washing your zucchini and cucumbers.
- Slice thinly using a mandolin or rotary cutter. The thicker you cut, the longer they take to dry and they may be slightly chewy instead of thin and crisp. I use my rotary cutter with a slicing blade that makes them nearly perfectly thin, but not toooo thin.
- In a large mixing bowl, add sliced zucchini and/or cucumbers, sprinkle the salt over top, and toss to coat well. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes so the slices release their water. I have found this step leads to crisper chips and shorter drying times.
- After resting, drain the zucchini slices in a colander, tossing so they drain, but not worrying about getting them completely dry.
- Add slices back to the bowl, add the balsamic vinegar, and toss to coat. Let slices sit for 15 minutes.
Step 2: Dehydrate
- Layer zucchini or cucumber slices in a single layer on a dehydrator tray lined with a mesh liner if desired.
- Place trays in your dehydrator and set at 135F for 10-18 hours, or til the slices are crisp and appear dry with no signs of moisture. They should snap easily in half with your fingers and not be too bendy.
- If using a bottom fan dehydrator, rotate trays during the cycle. If using a back fan dehydrator, like my Magic Mill, you don’t need to do that.
Step 3: Storage
- Allow chips to cool for about 15-20 minutes after drying and then fill glass mason jars and vacuum seal. They will store on the shelf about 1-2 years, especially if you add oxygen absorbers, but I can barely make them last a week in this house!
