Healthy snacking options can be expensive. With the rising cost of goods and the general inaccessibility of “healthier” options, it can be better to just make your own snacks yourself. Also, making your own snacks gives you more control over the cost, taste, and ingredients. Not to mention the amount of packaging you skip out on when you don’t buy from the store.
Here are a few accessible vegetable snack recipes you can make at home with an air fryer or your trusty oven.
Ampalaya chips
Ampalaya is one of the most common vegetables we can find in grocery stores and markets. It can also be the star of your next favorite snack. Karela chips are a South Asian snack that uses ampalaya as the main ingredient.
For this recipe, you’ll need a special flour made from chickpeas called besan. Odds are, you might not have this at home, but you can substitute it with cornflour or plain old all-purpose flour.
Chickpea pops
If you’re a cornick fan, roasted chickpeas are the closest substitute you can make at home. It’s a fairly straightforward process that includes drying the canned chickpeas, placing them in a baking tray with your spices, and baking them for about 30 to 35 minutes.
Chickpeas can burn fast, so it’s best that you check on them every ten minutes or so. You can also play with the seasoning you use for these chips and come up with new combinations based on your preferences.
Singkamas fries
Singkamas is the first vegetable mentioned in everyone’s favorite childhood song, “Bahay Kubo.” It can also make a great substitute for standard french fries. The main difference when making singkamas fries is that you need to boil them before baking or air frying to make sure they get cooked through.
Eggplant “bacon” chips
We’ve all seen that viral TikTok of Gordon Ramsay making “vegan bacon,” but you can actually make a less tedious version with just eggplant. Aside from the eggplant and the spices, the most important thing you’ll need for this recipe is a mandolin. The thinner the eggplant, the better—and crispier!
Okra chips
Okra is one of those vegetables that you either hate or love, but the chip version might convert even the biggest critics. While it’s not the typical boiled version we can find in sinigang (a.k.a. the best soup ever), it still contains a lot of the fiber and other health benefits we’re after.
Making a batch of this is as easy as cutting up the okra, mixing it with the spices you want, and sticking it in an oven for 15 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit or around 232 degrees Celsius.