What Are Eggplant Chips?

Potato chips are a popular food that many people reach for when they want to snack. Unfortunately, these chips are often high in fat, salt and calories, and have few nutritional benefits. People who want to enjoy a slight crunch when snacking can substitute chips made from other fruits and vegetables as a lower calorie, healthier snack. Eggplant chips are one of the many varieties of fruit chips that can be purchased ready-made or made at home. Eggplant chips are usually made by slicing eggplants into thin circles, lightly coating them in oil, seasoning the slices and baking or frying them until firm or crisp.

The eggplant, also known as an aubergine or a brinjal, is a fruit that originated in India but is now grown in many parts of the world. Most eggplants are shaped like large eggs, with one end slightly bigger than the other. Eggplants come in many different varieties, but one of the most common is dark purple in color with an off-white or greenish-white flesh. Though eggplant is actually a fruit, it is typically cooked and prepared like a vegetable, with savory rather than sweet ingredients and seasonings.

Pre-packaged eggplant chips and other fruit or vegetable chips, while made by several manufacturers, may be hard to find outside specialty or health-food stores. As such, many people opt to make them at home. Making chips from an eggplant is not usually difficult or time consuming, especially since the eggplant does not even need to be peeled for most chip recipes. If the idea is to mimic fried potato chips as closely as possible, then purchasing an eggplant that is fairly uniform in size can help. Using a mandolin or similar slicer can help ensure uniform slices, and ridged blades can be used to mimic the texture of wavy potato chips.

Most recipes for eggplant chips call for brushing or rubbing olive oil onto the slices, or putting them in a baggie with a little oil and shaking them. Many recipes offer suggestions about the types and amounts of seasonings to use, but many types and combinations of seasonings and spices are possible. People who are using them as a healthier substitute for potato chips should probably use their favorite spices to make the snack as appealing as possible.

Frying is an option for any type of vegetable or fruit chips, and is generally the best way to produce crispy, crunchy snacks. Those looking for the health benefits of switching to eggplant chips over fried, pre-packaged potato chips, however, may want to avoid deep-frying. Health-conscious cooks can consider using a recipe that calls for baking the chips until very firm or crispy.