Mushroom lovers, vegans, and crunchy-savory snackers: Boy, do I have news for you. I had my doubts, but I’ve stumbled upon the cheapest, crispiest snack of a lifetime: mushroom chips. Not freeze-dried mushrooms (although I’m also obsessed with those)—crispy, airy, salt-tinged, eat-them-by-the-handful mushroom chips. And all you have to do is dump a can of sliced mushrooms into your air fryer.
I was actually trying to make air-fried carrot chips when I made my first batch of mushroom chips. Despite my knowledge of the carrot’s high sugar content and relatively low starch content, I thought I’d give it a try because you never know. But the carrot performed as expected—the sugars caramelized and the lack of starch led to a bitter, chewy, vegetable imitation of beef jerky.
I was downtrodden but decided to follow through with my second idea: mushroom chips. As you may know, I always keep canned mushrooms in my cabinets (and you should too), but after the carrot debacle, I was more sure than ever that the sliced mushrooms would be shriveled, chewy, unattractive bundles by the end of their stint in the air fryer. I opened the basket halfway through the cooking time to check on them. Unimpressed by their diminished stature, I went to push the basket back into my Ninja DoubleStack, and I couldn’t believe my ears. It was the sound of crisp edges brushing against metal. I took one small mushroom chip out to cool on the counter and ate it. The damn thing was crunchy as all hell.
Mushroom chips exhibit such a distinctive bubbly, shattering crunch, the only thing I can compare them to are pork rinds. The cell walls of mushrooms have a special component: chitin. Chitin is one of the building blocks of insect exoskeletons, and you can’t get crunchier than that. Once the water is removed by the hot forceful winds of the air fryer, you’re left with all the fabulous crunchy parts of the mushroom and its concentrated savory flavor.
You can buy sliced mushrooms that don’t have salt in their canning liquid, but unless you have dietary restrictions, I recommend getting the sort that do. This means the mushroom slices are already imbued with a subtle saltiness, and removes the need to salt them on your end. I found that using a light layer of cooking oil (I used canola) ensures that bubbly, crisp, pork rind-esque texture. I also did a batch of mushrooms plain, with no oil, and those were crispy and lovely too. Personally, though, I prefer the former. My only note when you make this recipe is to buy a large can of mushrooms. They shrink to less than half their starting size and they’re so good that you’ll be glad you got a bigger can.
Ingredients:
1 can (6- to 8-ounce) plain sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon neutral oil
1. Drain the can of mushrooms completely. (No need to dry them on a paper towel.)
2. Dump the mushroom slices into a bowl. Drizzle or spray the mushrooms with the oil. Use your hands and toss the pieces to coat them in oil. (You don’t need much oil at all; they shouldn’t be oily.)
3. Spread out the mushroom pieces in the air fryer basket. They can be touching each other edge to edge but try to avoid overlapping. At the end they’ll move around anyway, but it helps them cook at the same rate. Set the machine to the “air fry” setting at 390°F and let ‘er rip for 12 to 15 minutes. There’s no need to flip them, but check on them to see if they’re done on the early side.
The chips will be much smaller and browned. Test one by putting it on a plate to cool for a few seconds (they hardly need a moment to cool). Eat it. If the center is still bendy, then air fry for another minute or two.
