Carrot chips are a new and improved version of potato chips. The concept is the same: the root vegetable is washed, sliced, and fried or baked until it is crisp. It can be salted or seasoned much like a potato chip can. Carrot chips, in fact, look much like deep orange potato chips.

Unlike potato chips, however, carrot chips are rich in Vitamin A, an essential part of a healthy diet. Fried carrot chips, like potato chips, can contain a large amount of fat. However, there are many health-food companies that offer baked carrot chips that contain all of the great vitamins, but a nominal amount of fat.

With health consciousness on the rise, people are always looking for better ways to eat. Snacking, it has been found, is a big reason why people gain weight; weight gain, of course, can lead to all kinds of circulatory and skeletal problems and can result in obesity and diabetes. Furthermore, many snack foods such as potato chips are full of fat and calories, but offer little nutrition. Therefore, choosing healthy snack foods like baked carrot chips can be very important to one’s health.

Interested in making your own baked carrot chips for a healthy snack? Here’s a great recipe:

1. Spray a baking sheet with a light coat of oil.
2. Slice your desired number of carrots into rounds that are 1/4 inch (.64 cm) thick.
3. Place the slices on the baking sheet without overlapping them.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Place the baking sheet in an oven, preheated in 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius).
6. Bake the carrot chips for approximately five minutes, or until the edges turn brown.
7. Turn the chips and back for another 5-10 minutes.
8. Enjoy!

Carrot chips may, in fact, become a very important food in some developing countries University of Nebraska Scientists Ahmad Sulaeman and Judy Driskell have been working with carrot chip recipes. They believe that carrot chips might help to combat vitamin deficiencies in children who are growing up in impoverished circumstances. These scientists are working with deep fried carrot chips. Because people in developing countries have a hard time getting enough calories as well as vitamins, the fat content in deep friend carrot chips is not a concern. In fact, the extra calories can be quite important to their diet. Unlike baked carrot chips, deep fried carrot chips can contain over 50% fat.