Barbecue Sweet Potato Chips Recipe

For me, there is perhaps no more compelling snack than barbecue flavored potato chips. After polishing off a bag by myself, I never hesitate to rip the bag open by its seam, and, well, lick the insides clean of whatever chip bits or faux barbecue powder remains.

"It makes my beer taste better," I'll say to my wife, who watches in horror as I pull the mangled bag from my face.

After one too many of these scenarios, I decided to spare my wife from any more of my barbarics and ventured to make my own chips at home—that, and my wife stopped buying bags of chips for me.

For my homemade version, I opted to use sweet potatoes because when fried in hot oil, the sweetness in sweet potatoes concentrates and results in a tastier chip than regular russets, in my opinion. As for the barbecue flavor, I wanted to coat the chips in a zesty spice mix, but I also wanted to keep things simple. A sprinkling of salt, cayenne, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and sweet paprika made for a great barbecue combination that didn't overpower or mask the sweetness of the fried sweet potatoes. Although I still find myself licking the spice from my fingers after enjoying these sweet, zesty, and crispy chips, my wife seems to be okay with that.

Slice the sweet potatoes as thinly as possible to decrease fry time and increase crispness. Slicing the sweet potatoes with a mandoline makes for wafer-thin and uniform rounds. But you can also use a chef's knife to slice the potatoes.