Crispy Green Bean Chips That Satisfy the Crave for Crunch
Are you looking for a fun way to get more veggies into your diet or a healthy snack to take with you on the go? I've got you covered either way with these Crispy Green Bean Chips. They're a healthy version of those so-called "veggie chips" you find in the store.
I love finding ways to get more veggies into my kids (and let's face it--into me too!) It's of course great to dip veggies into this dairy-free pizza dip, dairy-free ranch dip, or savory hummus, and they also love these kale chips and easy sun-dried tomatoes for snacking on. However, now we have a new favorite in our household, these Crispy Green Bean Crisps.
Veggie Chips are all the rage among "healthy snack seekers" but they are pretty pricey. We love them, but it's pretty easy to sit down and devour an entire bag of them- if I bought bags of these crispy veggie chips, we would devour them in no time flat, meaning that likely I would have to mortgage more than our home to afford having these snacks in our pantry regularly :).
I don't mean those "veggie sticks" that are really just potato starch with small amounts of vegetable powder. I mean those real veggies fried in oil that are crispy and a great alternative to potato chips if you are looking for something healthier.
However, besides them costing a small fortune, the "real veggie chips" have another problem as well--they are typically made with oils that I consider to be "less than optimal," to be generous--for example, canola oil (that's almost for sure GMO), and the like.
So I decided that I would have to figure out a way to make these on the cheap and with oils that I feel good serving to my family.
I loaded up my cart with several of the big 5-pound bags of organic green beans at Costco and went to work.
A Winning Recipe for Green Bean Chips
And ended up with a recipe that is a real winner.
I do think, however, that we need to consider buying stock in the organic green bean company because we've been eating so many of these.
Seriously, I can hardly keep my kids out of them (and to be honest, I have a hard time not eating them too!)
Whenever my kids are going a little "overboard" on these crisps and I tell them it's too much, they are quick to remind me that they are eating a super healthy snack that's all veggies. I guess I should be really thankful - could be worse, right?
We've tried these with both coconut and olive oil. The coconut oil needs to be heated to melting first and it solidifies on the green beans if they are still pretty cold. For that reason, the olive oil is easier, but we prefer the taste of the crisps made with the coconut oil somewhat.
Also, since we are dairy-free for the most part, due to my son's life-threatening food allergies and myself having a recent diet change, I chose to use nutritional yeast on these, but you could always use parmesan instead if you can have dairy.
Nutritional Yeast and Folic Acid
Note that most nutritional yeast on the market is fortified with folic acid. I don't have a firm opinion on this, but some experts say that if you have MTHFR mutation, that you can't process folic acid sufficiently and the remaining free folic acid will cause problems. This is apparently especially true for those with high homocysteine. There are other apparent concerns as well.
I am doing more research into it, and am not sure that it's crucial to avoid all synthetic folic acid, but I do think it's possible many people have too much of it. Finally, I found a brand of nutritional yeast without synthetic folic acid and will be looking for more!
How to Season These Green Bean Chips
So many seasonings would taste great on these veggie chips.
The above-mentioned options are wonderful but you could also use:
- All-Purpose Seasoning
- Chat Masala (a superb Indian seasoning)
- Taco Seasoning
- Chili Powder
Really, the possibilities are endless.
These Green Bean Chips Are UGLY
I have received many comments from readers stating that their chips are "ugly" or not crispy.
I would like to address both of those concerns:
- These veggie chips are NOT pretty. I promise you that I barely altered the photo of my green bean chips. I made them a tad lighter and that's it. I don't own photoshop and am not great at photo editing in the first place, but I also want you to see what you are going to get.I think that the parchment paper and the little glass jar and the background of our antique table make them look nicer than they do in a plastic tub.
- Sometimes my chips aren't that crisp either. Typically that is because I haven't dried them enough.
- Here's my BEST crispy chip tip. SQUEEEEEEEZE out your frozen green beans before coating them. We do this almost every time, but once my husband did it (he's got a better grip than I d0) and the chips dried MUCH faster and the resulting crispy chips were super crispy. 🙂
In response to comments from readers about "ugly chips", in addition to accusations that I doctored my photo a ton, here is the original untouched photo.
And here is the slightly brightened photo.
As you can see, there isn't a whole lot of difference. I think having the chips in a cute jar with parchment and doing a close up shot makes all the difference.
However, since this image was shot, I changed how I am making these Green Bean Chips. Now we SQUEEEEEZE them really well before drying them.
So be forewarned - they are smaller, thinner and really not attractive ugly, BUT they taste better and are more crispy.
I might try to update with a new photo, but I assure you, you want to ignore how these things look and SQUEEZE them out when you make them.
YUM
If you'd like to make your chips look cute too.....
Here is the parchment paper
and here are the jars :).
Ugly or not, we love these chips!
What Kind of Dehydrator Should You Buy?
We love our Excalibur Dehydrator. Works great and makes a ton of food. We bought the 9 tray so that we could easily do lots of dehydrating at one time. It's been one of the best purchases we've made for our whole food kitchen.
If you think that's too much drying green beans power for you, then something like this 5-tray Excalibur might be enough.
Recipe Notes
- Leave Chips in Dehydrator: The chips need to be really really really really really dry in order to be crispy. If you remove them from the dehydrator too soon, they will be really hard to chew. If you don't squeeze them first, this can take a long time. Don't give up!
- Frozen or Thawed Beans: I've used both frozen and thawed beans. The oils solidifies quickly on them, but it does work.
- Appearance: The beans are NOT pretty when done. I have gotten quite a few comments from readers who were surprised that their beans didn't look like mine. My dehydrated beans do not look nice.
The photo is a true one and I only lightened it a tiny bit. The original looks almost identical to it. I think that somehow the lighting or the color of the table or the presentation made them look nicer than they do but please don't expect your bean chips to look pretty. - Fresh Beans: Please note, if you'd would like to try this with fresh beans, that I have never tried this. One reader commented that she tried both fresh and frozen beans and that the fresh did not work. I have heard from others that fresh works, but the result isn't as good. One alternative is to flash blanch the fresh beans and then dehydrate them, but again, I have not attempted this.
- Nutritional Yeast: If you don't like or don't use nutritional yeast, use 1 teaspoon each garlic powder (buy it or make homemade garlic powder) and onion powder.
Special Diet Notes
- AIP: This recipe is an AIP reintro food since it is made from string beans.
Recipe
Crispy Green Bean Chips That Satisfy the Crave for Crunch
Ingredients
- 5 pounds green beans (organic preferred)
- 1/3 cup oil (melted coconut oil preferred)
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (see Recipe Notes for substitutions)
Instructions
- Place green beans in a large bowl. If using frozen green beans, simply allow them to thaw in a bowl (optional - see notes below). If using fresh beans, you will need to blanch them first.
- Pour oil on top of beans. If using coconut oil, melt the oil first and work fast as the oils solidifies quickly if your room or beans are cold.
- Sprinkle seasonings on top of coated beans and stir well.
- Dry in dehydrator until crisp dry. This takes approximately 10 - 12 hours at 125 degrees, or 8 hours at 135 degrees, but occasionally longer. You could also bake in a low temperature oven.
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
- Leave Chips in Dehydrator: The chips need to be really really dry in order to be crispy. If you remove them from the dehydrator too soon, they will be really hard to chew.
- Use Either Frozen or Thawed Beans: I have used both frozen and thawed beans. The oils solidifies quickly on them, but it does work.
- Appearance: The beans are NOT pretty when done. I have gotten quite a few comments from readers who were surprised that their beans didn't look like mine. My dehydrated beans do not look nice. The photo in the post is a true one and I only lightened it a tiny bit. The original looks almost identical to it. I think that somehow the lighting or the color of the table or the presentation made them look nicer than they do but please don't expect your bean chips to look pretty. This is NOT a cute snack :).
- Fresh Beans: One reader commented that she tried both fresh and frozen beans and that the fresh did not work. I have heard from others that fresh works, but the result isn't as good. One alternative is to flash blanch the fresh beans and then dehydrate them.
- Nutritional Yeast: If you don't like or don't use nutritional yeast, use 1 teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder -- See Easy Homemade Garlic Powder if you'd like to make your own
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Whatever way you choose to make these green bean chips, I guarantee you'll find it hard to keep them around very long :).
What's your favorite healthy snack?
Do you love veggie chips as much as we do?
I found an Asian spice mix for stir frying. It is sesame oil based with the spices mixed in the oil. I leave the coconut oil out and just use a few tsp of the mix yummy. My next batch will be wasabi, salt and vinegar, taco, and bbq. I found wasabi powder, and vinegar powder. I have not had them around long enough to store them but it is my goal to produce more than I can eat.
I threw a tray of frozen cauliflower in a tray just to see what would happen. I used Franks Red Hot powder. They were a real kick of heat but good.
Ooh sounds great! Do you mind sharing the brand? I guess I could just look for something as well. Did you use frozen cauliflower florets?
I'd love to try these, but I don't own a dehydrator. I dry my soaked nuts in the oven at 150 degrees for several hours. Any else tried drying the frozen beans in the oven?
Hi there. There is a bit of information in the recipe card about using an oven. I think it will work great - hope you like them!
I made these using blanched fresh green beans and no matter how long I dehydrated them they did not really get chippy more like green bean jerky. I ate them anyway and they were the best green bean jerky I have ever eaten. I am going to make more with frozen beans but if I have another pile of fresh beans I would make the jerky again. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Vicki! I'm so glad you came back to comment about your experience. I don't know if you saw but I mentioned this recipe in my newsletter today - and was wondering about trying this with fresh green beans. I am guessing now that it's just going to give a different flavor...but there might be another way that would yield crispy chips but I'm guessing not as much as what we get from squeezing the frozen beans. The "best green bean jerky" is a funny statement. I'm guessing you've never had it before? :)?
Hi Adrienne,
I made this recipe by squeezing the frozen green beans and they are the crispy crunchy treat I was missing. I like mine very spicy. I have used various spices and will keep trying various combinations but so far garlic, cayenne, a mix of Asian spices are my favorites. Thanks so much I would have never thought these little ugly things would have been so addictive.
Oh wow, Vicki - that sounds amazing! Hahahaha I LOVE your comments about ugly little things. They are ugly!! I take them with me sometimes in my purse and if my bag gets checked the security people thing it's something illegal typically, LOL!
What Asian spices are you using--I'm so intrigued. We'd love to try what you are loving!
Hello! Your notes say to "Leave Chips in Dehydrator". Do you mean leave them in the dehydrator after the 12 hours is up? How long should I leave them in there once the machine has turned off?
Hi Crystal! I hope that the notes combined with the recipe were helpful.....but to clarify, the "leave in the dehydrator" part meant to not take them out until they are really really dry. If you dry them 12 hours and they don't seem dry yet, leave them in longer. You can take them out immediately after that - in fact I recommend it, especially if your home is humid. Otherwise, they'll rehydrate. Hope that helps!
Have you ever tried making these without the oil? I have some green beans from the garden that I need to use, so I may give it a try. I think this will be a really good use for my heirloom burgundy green beans, since those lose their pretty color when cooked, but hopefully will keep it in the dehydrator!
Hi Ella - I don't believe we ever had. They will dehydrate but they won't likely be as tasty. I know what beans you mean -- they are lovely! I've planted them before. Please do let me know if you try it! I think they will stay that color but darker since my green bean chips get pretty dark. I don't know why that photo in the post turned out that nice. It's a true honest untouched photo (one of them is a little touched up but the untouched one is in the post). Crazy!
Can we use canned green beans? ?
Hi there! Yes, you certainly can, however they are already so mushy I'm not sure what it would be like. You definitely couldn't squeeze them since they would just fall apart. So---yes but it will take longer to dry and not sure if they will turn out as something that you will want to eat or not but why not try--it's not that much money if they don't work out. I would eat them no matter how they turn out.
I will say that I avoid most canned foods because of the metals, etc. that leach onto the foods. Not that we need another thing to be concerned about, but I have even tasted it at times! Ick. :(.
Made these beans today with fresh beans. ❤️❤️ I'm all about the crunch and these hit the mark. Can't wait to make them, again!
Oh that makes my day! I've been missing these lately. Did you blanch them first or no and did you squeeze them? Speaking of beans, I am finally getting a good harvest from my bean plants but a lousy piggish animal has been eating some of my plants. Arghhhh! Anyhow - thanks for taking the time to let me know! ♥️
I will be trying this recipe after I could finally get to it. Too many pop ups and one wrong move and I was taken away to an ad site. Grrr. Maybe not so many pop ups so soon. Let us read first. Thanks.
Hi Vicki - I'm so sorry to hear this. I have been tied up with some really big projects but have been wondering about the situation of ads - could you help me out with this?
Are you on mobile and what kind of things did you see? If you are willing to help more, email would be easier. I will reach out....thanks for mentioning this.
These work great -- taste great. They take a loooong time in the dehydrator (135 degrees for around 18 hours. Of course, I load up my dehydrator so maybe if fewer trays are used, it would take less time (I have Excalibur, 9 trays). I only use fresh from the garden green beans (just wash them and get them really dry before adding ingredients). I've also used this same recipe for tomato slices and those are great. I also tried with green and yellow pepper strips but could never get them crispy enough and the dried, chewy strips weren't loved. I stored my tomato slices in the frig but the green beans are on my counter -- they don't last long.
I'm so glad you like them! We do 115 and overnight is fine - are you really squeezing them out? Yes tomatoes are fantastic :). https://wholenewmom.com/easiest-homemade-sun-dried-tomatoes-italian-food/
These are phenomenal. Wow. Healthy, low carb, and sooo crunchy. I just might hide them from the rest of the fam so I can have them all to myself. (JK! Something this good has to be shared.)
Awww thank you! I'm so glad to hear. I sometimes get a negative reaction, but other times it's like yours. I personally love them and just had some myself (albeit mine got a bit stale sadly). Thanks again!
I just made these dried green beans. I used fresh picked beans that were blanched for 5 minutes and then put in a bowl of ice. I allowed the ice to melt then squeezed the beans to remove the excess water. I coated the beans with olive oil and seasoned them with Kinder’s seasoning ‘The Blend’. I dehydrated the beans for 6 hrs. I love them! They are delicious. Will have to go back out to the garden and pick some more.
Thank you for the recipe.
You are so welcome! I am snacking on some myself right now :).
What about putting them in rice to absorb the moisture?
Do you mean to keep them crispy after drying?
Raw green beans are poisonous.
I would highly advise against eating raw(only frozen) green beans. Green Beans contain phasin (lectin) which is poisonous. Green beans have to be cooked, the heating process denaturates the poison and makes them safe to eat.
So if you want to dehydrate them, please cook them first, don’t use raw ones.
Hi there. Sorry for the late reply. I needed to research this before addressing it and it took awhile and then fell off my radar. I just came back to it.
Actually your comment appears to be incorrect. First of all, phasin is not lectin--they are 2 different things. Also there is little to no evidence out there about phasin being in green beans. Sandor Katz addressed this in his book, The Art of Fermentation,. In there, he mentions that he researched this quite a bit and couldn't find anything definitive about phasin being in green beans and that its seems that people were confusing dried beans with green beans.
So I don't think it's an issue, but if you are concerned about it, by all means dehydrate the beans at a temperature above 115, or you can make these in the oven instead, at the lowest temperature.
Hope that helps and thanks for commenting and for sending me on an interesting information hunt :).
I agree with you. We eat them right from the garden raw in salads. Our dogs love them right off the vine.
Thank you for taking the fear out of peoples minds.
You're welcome, Belinda! I am open to hearing otherwise but I'm not that worried right now.
Thankfully that can't be completely true or I would be long gone, I've been munching on them raw when harvesting for years.
I have diabetes and I am on a low carb diet and looking for alternatives to crisps.
I love these crisps and grateful for the recipe.
BTW chard crisps are lovely too for anyone else also on a low carb diet.
Thank you so much, Alison--sooo glad you like these. We have to keep them around for a healthy snack--great to have crispy and veggies at one time. Ooohh chard crisps - I have some chard growing. I will have to check that out - thanks for the recommendation! Do you make them in a dehydrator or the oven?
Dumb question - and I haven't made it thru all comments - but don't the beans all separate into halves along the seams when thoroughly squeezed?
The beans are definitely squooshed. I haven't done the squeezing method with fresh beans--just frozen. Were you planning on fresh or frozen?