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I am looking to find recipes to replace store-bought salty snack items. I have person close to me who is fine with eating almost everything I cook but their paleo percentage goes way down since they love to eat salty chips/pretzels.

What is your best tasting recipe for a chip substitute? It doesn't have to be 'healthy' per se, just has to taste awesome, be salty, and be crunchy. I want to provide something that at least isn't fried in crap oils, is made of wheat, or comes from a plastic bag. I would feel better if this person consumed a few sweet potatoes worth of baked chips than a box of crackers.

For example, I found a recipe for sweet potato chips. It says to slice, add salt+pepper+olive oil, and bake.

Thanks in advance!

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lol paleo "trickery" – Kasra Oct 27 2011 at 18:23
I think it's primal/paleo to eat a pile of nuts-in-shell a few times in the fall and winter, but I personally don't feel right about using a lot of nuts/seeds/nut flours to replicate neolithic crackers and I happen to love the crackers. When I just have to have crispy/salty I go to fresh celery and crisply fried poultry skin. – Nance Oct 27 2011 at 20:22
interesting sub nance! – JakeA Oct 28 2011 at 12:06
mmm Paleo Chippssss...aghhh (Homer Simpson voice) – DH Oct 29 2011 at 20:24

11 Answers

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Kale Chips are pretty awesome.

Also a huge fan of sweet potato chips either baked or fried in coconut oil.

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I will attempt this tomorrow and see how it goes. – JakeA Oct 27 2011 at 19:01
I've become a huge fan of kale chips myself. – PaleoDel Oct 27 2011 at 19:45
Just got back from the store, had to pick up a giant bag of kale after all this chip talk. – Nutritionator Oct 27 2011 at 21:55
I'll have to try the kale chips too; it seems counter-intuitive for me so I'll probably love them. When I think about it, crackers are just baked/fried grass parts. – Nance Oct 27 2011 at 23:02
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By the way, using bacon fat instead of olive oil earns you 100 paleo points ;) – Nutritionator Oct 28 2011 at 0:51
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I was given a dehydrator and I was pleasantly surprised that I loved zucchini - squash chips! First you blanch the sliced zucchini. Then pat dry. Then toss with oil and spices and dehydrate! They were pretty tasty. And I hate zucchini.

Also, if you do dairy, you can mound shredded parm. cheese onto a cookie sheet and bake until brown. They crisp up like tasty little cracker.

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cheese crackers are probably awesome! – JakeA Oct 27 2011 at 19:22
omg - that's how you make the zucchini chipe - i just put them in sliced and they were terrible - i might have to dust off the dehydrator and try them again – Thumper Oct 27 2011 at 22:32
Oh yeah - they need to go in cooked really. They're pretty slimy and floppy but I can't imagine how'd they be if they were not precooked! I may have made too many because we had mucho zucchs, but I just put the "chips" in some soup and they reconstituted nicely. – none Oct 27 2011 at 23:14
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If you're not eschewing dairy, try Parmesan crisps. Or any other cheese fried/baked until crisp. There's also some cheesy cracker recipes floating around the paleo blogosphere.

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Kale chips! I probably make them to salty, but they satisfy my junk food craving every time. There are many, many recipes online. Here's the method I like best:

Kale Chips

1 large bunch kale Maybe 1 tbsp olive oil or other fat (if it's solid, melt it) Salt to taste

If your kale is limp, give the stems a fresh cut and place them into a jar/vase of clean water for a few hours. Yeah, like they were cut flowers. It works wonders. Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Wash the kale and shake a bit to dry. Tear larger-than-bite-sized chunks away from the central rib on each leaf. (Discard the rib, or let your kids do swordplay with them.) Put the torn leaves in a colander as you go, allowing them to dry a bit.

When you have finished tearing up the kale, dump the torn leaves into a large bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the leaves and shake some salt on top. Then massage the whole mess together with your (clean) hands. The leaves should be lightly but completely coated with oil. If they aren't, add more oil and continue to get messy until the leaves are lightly coated with oil.

Pile the leaves onto the two cookie sheets. Ideally it should be a single layer, but you can pile them up a bit. They will shrink down some later. If you really like salt (like me), shake some more salt onto the kale now. Now move the racks in your oven so that you have room for two cookie sheets (on different racks) near the center of the oven.

Place the cookie sheets in the oven. Rotate the cookie sheets every 20 minutes (usually twice). When the chips are nearly crisp (and some of them are starting to be done) start checking every 5-10 minutes. Move the kale around if some of the chips are piled up and not drying properly. The cooking process takes under an hour, generally. You can start to remove (eat) the chips that are done early if you like, but at 220 degrees they don't burn. You can speed up the process by baking at a higher temp, but you have to watch carefully for burning. You don't want your chips to be brown, you want them to be crispy.

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Kale Krackers and Herb Veggie Krackers from Kookie Karma are amazing. You can buy them at stores in SoCal or online.

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You can try frying plantains to make chips.

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gonna have to try this. I tried fried bananas but they weren't really chip-like – JakeA Oct 28 2011 at 12:05
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I made baked plantain chips by slicing the plantains thin, tossing in coconut oil, salt and pepper and baking until crispy. Dipped in guac..awesome! – twochickadeez Apr 11 2012 at 23:18
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I've made these. I'll also admit that, when I've been less strict about non-gluten grains, I've subbed in some quinoa flour for the almond meal. The full almond meal crackers have a less enjoyable mouth feel. I've also made them without egg, if memory serves, and I've also rolled them out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment, and cut them with a knife before baking. Once again working from memory (it's been a while since I made them), I think I added a little extra liquid.

http://www.nourishingdays.com/2009/11/grain-free-almond-crackers-with-garlic-rosemary/

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These take a bit of doing but are delicious!

Elly's Linseed and Cheese Crackers

100 gm ground linseed 25 gm ground almonds 50 gm walnuts, broken roughly 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds 1 tablespoon sesame seeds 2 tablespoons wheat bran 2 tablespoons flaked almonds (if you don't want to use seeds just add more almonds and walnuts) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon onion granules [or ~ 1/3 tsp. onion powder] 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 100 gm cheese (e.g. strong cheddar, stilton, parmesan) 2 tablespoons plain protein powder (only if you have it) 2 eggs, large 3 tablespoons peanut or light olive oil about 4 tablespoons water (you may need to add more when you have added the dry ingredients if it is too stiff)

Mix all the dry ingredients together; whisk egg, water and oil in a bowl, then add dry ingredients and mix well. Place in a plastic food box, I use one that is 19 x 12 cm. (7 1/2 X 4 3/4 inches) Microwave for 3.5 to 4 minutes. Turn out onto rack and leave to cool. Slice when cold - I get 20 slices from mine - and spread out on baking tins. [Judy's note: I only got 18 slices; will slice thinner next time.] Dry out in a cool oven (about 200 F) (93 C) until crispy. A long time at a low temperature is better than a short time at a high temperature for taste.

These keep for ages in a clip and lock box so are handy standbys. Don't be put off by the smell when they come out of the microwave, once they are oven baked they are delicious. The quantities are to taste, so experiment to find out your favourite. Enjoy, Elly

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These crackers are the most popular post on my old recipe blog: http://cavemanfood.blogspot.com/2009/04/grain-free-almond-crackers.html

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cool thanks a lot – JakeA Oct 28 2011 at 15:13
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I have made beet chips and LOVE THEM! Slice the beets super thin, toss in olive oil, and then place on a baking sheet. Then add a little sea salt and bake for about 40 minutes, or until crisp. I keep a good eye on them because they are delicate and burn easily. They are different, but DELICIOUS!

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Add another vote for sweet potato chips...mmmm. Though I tried chips made from taro root while I was in Hawaii and those were pretty tasty, too.

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