Paprika-spiced vegetable peel crisps

I love a dish that uses up whatever there is to hand and this delicious no-waste dish is cooked in the oven with hardly any effort.

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Using veg peelings (potato, sweet potato, carrot, beetroot, aubergine…..basically whatever you’ve got!), this is not only a great snack, it is great scattered over salads or served with many other dishes.

Whenever I have vegetable peelings I vary between using them in the compost for my allotment and cooking with them. Now I don’t see using them in the compost as waste as they serve as an invaluable function in itself….

….but eating very crisp, lightly spiced and salty peelings is an immediate joy!

Paprika-spiced vegetable peel crisps

A delicious spice mix

For the simple spice blend in the recipe, it is worth making more than you need as it will keep in an airtight jar for many months. It is gorgeous sprinkled over vegetables as they cook or sprinkling over nuts for spices nuts, but the rough proportions are in the recipe below.

If you have other spices such as onion powder or garlic powder use those as well – about 1 teaspoon of each. A teaspoon or so of chilli powder is great if you want an added kick.

You can just scatter over salt and pepper but this spice mix really enhances things somewhat. I sometimes instead use garam masala or harissa powder, with an added touch of sugar and salt.

Homemade harissa powder

If you want to make some, my recipe for harissa powder is in my tagine recipe here

Recipe: paprika-spiced vegetable peel crisps

Paprika-spiced vegetable peel crisps

• vegetable peelings
• vegetable oil (1-2 tablespoons or just enough to lightly coat the peelings)
• a little sea salt

Quick spice blend:

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

(1) Preheat the oven to 180C (fan).

(2) Mix the vegetable peelings with salt and the oil on a baking sheet to coat the peelings. Spread them out and bake for about 15-20 minutes, giving them a loose turn after about 10 minutes.

NB: keep an eye on them after 15 minutes to check they do not burn.

(3) Mix the spice blend ingredients together.

(4) Scoop the baked peelings into a large bowl while still hot and toss with a teaspoon or so of the spice blend: enough to lightly coat. Leave to cool and serve.

Paprika-spiced vegetable peel crisps

Author: Philip

Finalist on Britain’s Best Home Cook (BBC Television 2018). Published recipe writer with a love of growing fruit & veg, cooking, teaching and eating good food. View all posts by Philip