These crispy baked carrot chips are done two ways. One version is spicy, one is sweet. Both are a delicious and different way to eat your vegetables!

If you follow me on Facebook you might’ve already heard about this, but Saturday afternoon I found myself knee deep in my pantry scrubbing 4 day old sticky “light syrup” from an exploded can of mandarin oranges off the walls, shelves, door and other food items it attacked.

Now, I don’t actually eat canned fruit (especially the kind with “light syrup”) so that gives you an idea of how old this thing was.

And yes, it was expired, but only by 2 months.

Last Wednesday we were getting slammed with rain & wind overnight. The kind that wakes you up and keeps you up.

There were flood warnings posted and when I was awoken at 4:33am by it all, I sat there in bed freaking out about our basement which has the tendency to flood and thinking about how I have no idea how Ulysses rigged the last sump pump we installed after the first one burnt out and what the hell I was going to do if that all happened again while he was gone.

So, I finally got the courage to go check on it around 4:45am and trekked down to the basement to luckily find it dry as a bone.

On the way back up the stairs though I heard this ridiculously loud “POP”.

I had no idea where it came from, I was half asleep and the winds were so strong I just assumed it had to be something outside and went back to bed.

Fast forward 4 days later, I’m opening my pantry to eat ALL THE CHOCOLATE since it’s the day after the paleo challenge ended and I come face to face with a shriveled up mandarin orange sitting on top of a package of dates.

That’s weird, I think.

Then I look at the walls and notice weird orangey drips everywhere.

And then, about 3 seconds later it all comes together in my head.

Mandarin orange can = loud pop at 4:45am.

1. gross

2. how did I not notice this for 4 days when I open my pantry approximately 27 times a day?

3. clearing out your entire pantry to clean mandarin orange syrupy walls has exactly 1 benefit…finding a stale bag of veggie chips and getting inspired.

Meet the result of that inspiration: Carrot chips.

Homemade and baked.

One batch sweet.

One batch spicy.

And no worries of expiring in the pantry.

The trick to these carrot chips is slicing them super thin.

I don’t own a mandoline so while it’s not necessary, a very sharp knife is if you cut them into rounds.

If you’re doing the peels approach you just need a good vegetable peeler.

And then you need to watch them like a hawk as they bake.

Seriously, the difference between crispy and burnt when it comes to these carrot chips can happen in a matter of 30 seconds.

Stay vigilant and you’ll have crispy, crunchy perfectly baked carrot chips!

You could also try them in an air fryer if you have one.

Or, just make my air fryer carrots which are perfectly tender with crispy golden edges and an equally delicious way to enjoy this vegetable.

They’re a fun snack alternative to potato chips when you’re craving a savory crunch and just a tad healthier.

For a sweet alternative, apple chips in the air fryer are the ticket!

Enjoy!

Looking for more ways to enjoy carrots? Try this creamy carrot soup, Mediterranean carrot salad or, carrot citrus salad.