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Dehydrated apple chips in the air fryer are so easy and fast. What used to take hours in the oven or a dehydrator can now be done in under 20 minutes. You'll be making these healthy snacks all the time!
In this guide, you'll find step-by-step instructions, flavor variations, recipes to use with your apple chips, storage guidelines, and troubleshooting tips and more!
Jump to:
- Why You Should Try Dehydrating Apples in the Air Fryer
- Why Apple Chips Are Worth Making
- Equipment Needed For Air-Fried Apple Chips
- Which Apple Variety To Use
- How to Make Apple Chips in the Air Fryer
- Flavor Variations
- Storage & Shelf Life
- Ways to Use Apple Chips
- Nutrition
- Troubleshooting and FAQs
- Conclusion
- Recipe
- Reviews
Why You Should Try Dehydrating Apples in the Air Fryer
Using your air fryer to make apple chips makes the whole process faster and easier than using traditional methods, like the oven or a food dehydrator. Instead of waiting hours like you would with a dehydrator or oven, you can have crispy, crunchy apple chips ready in as little as 20 minutes.
The air fryer circulates hot air around the slices, pulling out moisture quickly and evenly. That means fewer soggy chips, more consistent results, and way less waiting. Plus, clean-up is a breeze compared to hauling out a dehydrator or heating up the whole kitchen with your oven.
Now that you know how much easier the air fryer makes the process, I hope you'll find yourself making apple chips more often! They're one of those snacks that check all the boxes - simple, healthy, and totally addictive.
Why Apple Chips Are Worth Making
- Healthier than store-bought snacks: no mystery oils or extra sugar - just apples and a sprinkle of spice if you like.
- Kid-approved: sweet, crunchy, and fun to munch on (without the candy-level sugar rush).
- Budget-friendly: turns a couple of apples into a big bowl of snacks.
- Versatile: enjoy them plain, toss them into trail mix, use as a yogurt topping, or even garnish desserts.
Equipment Needed For Air-Fried Apple Chips
Air Fryer with Low Temperature Capabilities
For best results, use an air fryer that can be set to a low temperature of at least 300°F. Based on my research into air fryers, the Gourmia combo and the Ninja Foodi 8-Qt with dehydrate mode are probably your best options. I use an Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer, which is no longer available for purchase.
Gourmia Air Fryer Toaster Oven Combo
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Buy Now → Mandoline
The thinner you can slice your apples, the crispier your apple chips will be. I highly recommend using a mandoline for this job. It can get the apples thinner than I ever could with a knife.
Plus, it uniformly cuts the apples so they all dehydrate evenly. Be careful, though! I've sliced the side of my thumb off before!
OXO Good Grips Handheld Mandoline Slicer for Kitchen, Adjustable Vegetable Slicer
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Vegetable Chopper Mandoline Slicer
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Buy Now → Which Apple Variety To Use
I've tried making apple chips with many different varieties of apples, and haven't found an apple that makes a bad chip. I have noticed that sweet apples become even sweeter and sour apples become even more sour when dehydrated.
If you want a very crispy chip, you'll want to use an apple that is Crisp and firm apples, such as Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Fuji.
My very favorite apple chips are made from Honeycrisp or Cosmic Crisp apples, but I also enjoy Granny Smith apple chips. Red Delicious (surprisingly!) makes a pretty decent apple chip as well.
How to Make Apple Chips in the Air Fryer
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 320 degrees.
- Thoroughly wash the apples. You do not need to peel the apples, but you can if you want to.
You can also core the apple, but again, it's not necessary. Just pop out and discard any seeds in the center of your slices.
- Thinly slice the apples, they should be about ⅛th of an inch thick.
- Optional step: Coat the apples in a little bit of lemon juice to prevent browning. You can also sprinkle the apples with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
- Lay out the apples on the air fryer trays or the bottom of the air fryer basket. Try not to overlap the apples too much.
When the air fryer is up to heat, add the apples in a cook for 5 minutes.
- Take the apples out and flip them over. This prevents sticking and promotes even dehydrating. If you have trays, rotate the trays from top and bottom.
- Cook for 5 minutes more.
- Check your apple chips. They are done when they are hardened and have just a little bit of flexibility. They will crisp up as they cool.
Every air fryer cooks a little differently, so at this point they may be done. If not, continue to cook apples until they reach your desired crispiness. In test groups, some found they were done after the 10 minutes, others cooked theirs for 12 minutes, some needed 16 mins, and another cooked it a full 20 minutes.
Flavor Variations
Apple chips are naturally sweet and satisfying on their own, but playing around with flavors makes them even more irresistible. Try one of these tasty variations:
- Sweet: sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pumpkin pie spice, or vanilla sugar for cozy fall vibes. Try out this Homemade Pumpkin Pie Blend.
- Spicy: add a pinch of ground ginger, chai spice, or a little cayenne with cinnamon for a warm kick.
- Savory: try rosemary and sea salt for a snack that's surprisingly addictive and pairs great with cheese boards.
To season, simply sprinkle your chosen spice blend over the apple slices before they go into the air fryer. Want bold flavor? Go generous with the spice. Prefer something subtle? Just a light dusting will do the trick.
Storage & Shelf Life
Apple chips need to be stored in an air-tight container, like a tupperware or mason jar. They do not need to be refridgerated.
Depending on how warm and humid your climate is, apple chips will stay crisp for 2-3 days.
If your chips start to soften, re-crisp them in the air fryer for 2-3 minutes.
Ways to Use Apple Chips
There are so many delicious ways to enjoy your homemade apple chips. Here's a few:
- Healthy snack, school lunches.
- On yogurt, oatmeal, and cereal.
- Trail mix or granola.
- Cheese boards or party platters.
- Dessert garnish (cakes, pies).
Here are some of my favorite recipes from around the web that use Dehydrated Apples:
Fuji Apple Chicken Salad from Gimmie Some Oven
Caramel Apple Cookies from Crayons and Cravings
Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal with Dried Apples and Cranberries from Barefeet in the Kitchen
Nutrition
Air fryer apple chips aren't just crunchy and delicious - they're also a super wholesome snack. Since they're made from 100% apples (and maybe a sprinkle of spice), you get all the natural goodness of fresh fruit, just in a crispy form.
Each apple provides:
- Fiber to help you feel full and support digestion.
- Vitamin C for immune health and glowing skin.
- Natural sweetness without added sugar or oil.
Because air fryer apple chips don't require extra fat or frying oil, they're low in calories and fat compared to store-bought snacks. One medium apple makes a generous handful of chips for about 80-100 calories.
Want extra flavor but still keep it healthy? Try dusting your slices with cinnamon or pumpkin spice instead of sugar - both add flavor and antioxidants without extra calories.
Troubleshooting and FAQs
There are several reasons why your apple chips might not be as crispy as you'd like.
Sliced Too Thick: You'll want your apples to be sliced as thinly as possible to get that crispy crunch. It can be really tough to cut them thin enough with just a knife. I highly recommend using a mandoline slicer to get them the right thickness.
Not Cooled: Apple chips actually get crispier as they cool. If you seal them up while they're still warm, the trapped steam adds moisture back into the slices, turning that perfect crunch into a disappointing chew. Always spread your chips out in a single layer and let them cool completely - about 10-15 minutes - before storing.
Humid storage: Humidity is the enemy of crispiness! Even perfectly dried apple chips can go soft if they're stored somewhere damp - like a humid kitchen, near the dishwasher, or in a container that isn't fully sealed. Moisture in the air sneaks back into the chips and rehydrates them just enough to make them chewy.
To fix or prevent this, let your apple chips cool completely before storing, then keep them in an airtight container with as little air as possible. If they do soften, you can re-crisp them in the air fryer for 2-3 minutes to bring back the crunch.
Apple chips can go from golden to burnt in just a minute or two - especially if your slices are very thin or your air fryer runs hot. Try lowering the temperature by 10-15°F and check the chips a few minutes earlier next time.
You can also pause halfway through to flip them or rearrange any slices that are browning faster than others. Keep in mind that every air fryer model circulates air a little differently, so your perfect crisp time might be a few minutes shorter or longer than a recipe suggests.
Nope - peeling and coring are totally optional! They don't change the taste, just the look. Leaving the skin on gives your apple chips a pretty, natural border, and skipping the corer keeps them in full circles with cute star shapes in the center from the seeds.
Personally, I think they look beautiful that way - rustic and perfectly snackable.
Yes, you can freeze apple chips! For best results you'll want to let the chips cool completely and then store them in air-tight containers. Try to get as much air out before sealing as possible to prevent freezer burn.
To thaw, simply let them warm on the counter or eat them frozen! If they've lost some crisp after thawing, pop them back in the airfryer for 2-3 mins.
Yes, these air fryer apple chips are made without any oil or sugar. They are a healthy, natural snack!
It's totally optional! Soaking apple slices in lemon water helps prevent browning, but it doesn't change the flavor or texture much.
If you're using apples that brown easily - like McIntosh, Red Delicious, or Golden Delicious - a quick 2-3 minute soak can keep your chips looking bright and pretty.
But if you're using naturally low-browning varieties like Honeycrisp, Gala, or Fuji, you can usually skip this step. Once they've been air-fried and crisped, any slight discoloration isn't noticeable anyway.
Personally, I skip the soak most of the time - the chips still turn out gorgeous (and taste amazing).
Yes! A food dehydrator is another great way to make apple chips - especially if you want to do a big batch all at once. Dehydrators use low, gentle heat (around 135°F) and steady airflow to slowly dry the apples over about 6-8 hours. It takes longer than the air fryer, but you can fit several apples at a time and get perfectly even, chewy results.
For a full tutorial, check out: "How to Make Perfect Apple Chips in the Dehydrator."
The air fryer, on the other hand, works much faster - usually 12-20 minutes - but has a smaller basket, so you'll need to work in batches. Both methods make delicious apple chips; it just depends whether you want fast results or a bigger yield.
Conclusion
I hope this guide inspires you to make apple chips more often - they're the perfect way to use up extra apples, add a healthy crunch to lunchboxes, or satisfy those late-night snack cravings without any guilt. Once you try them, you might just find yourself keeping a bowl on the counter year-round.
If you give these air fryer apple chips a try, let me know in the comments how you flavored yours - I love hearing your creative combos!
I hope you enjoy these apple chips!
✌️Ems
Recipe
Perfect Air Fryer Apple Chips
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 apple
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice *optional
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice *optional, more or less to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the airfryer to 320 degrees.
- Thoroughly wash the apples. You do not need to peel the apples, but you can if you want to. You can also core the apple, but again, it's not necessary. Thinly slice the apples, they should be about ⅛th of an inch thick.
- Optional step: Coat the apples in a little bit of lemon juice to prevent browning. You can also sprinkle the apples with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
- Lay out the apples on the air fryer trays or the bottom of the air fryer basket. Try to not overlap the apples too much. When the air fryer is up to heat, add the apples in a cook for 5 minutes.
- Take the apples out and flip them over. This prevents sticking and promotes even dehydrating. If you have trays, rotate the trays from top and bottom.Cook for 5 minutes more.
- Check your apple chips and bake 2-10 minutes* longer. They are done when they are hardened and have just a little bit of flexibility. They will crisp up as they cool.
- Store in an airtight container to prevent softening.
Sue L
I think you just convinced me to get an air fryer! I love apple chips!
Andréa janssen
What a delicious new way to use my air fryer. I'm going to make these healthy snacks this weekend for sure!
Angela
Great and healthy snacks! I love to them during a good movie 🙂 Best recipe ever
Heather Kroska
Another great use for my air fryer! Thsnks!
Chef Dennis
You make me wish I had an airfryer to make my own apple chips!
Amy
So good! I could snack on these all day!
Katherine
Oh good! I needed a new recipe for my air fryer. Can’t wait to try it.
Natalie
Oh wow, what a lovely trick. I didn't know apple chips can be made in air fryer. I usually buy them in the store but now I'll just stop. I can't wait to give this a try.
Angela
Great healthy snack idea! Love it!
Emily Flint
Best snack ever!
Sabrina
So simple and yummy. My daughter loves these in her lunch kit.
Swathi
Perfect apple chips looks delicious I would love to check it out.
Lindsay Howerton-Hastings
YUM! This reminds me of the fuji apple chicken salad at Panera, which I'm dying to replicate with these apples now!
Jeri
I love apple chips! I can't wait to make my own now! Thanks!
Jamie
These make such a delicious, healthy snack!
Lily
I can't believe how fast it was to make apple chips in the air fryer.