Yuca chips made in an air fryer crisp up with no oil at all, starting from a bag of frozen yuca that is already peeled and cut. Thaw the yuca, toss it with garlic granules, onion granules, and smoked paprika, and air fry it at 425 F for 20 minutes.
Key Takeaways
- Yuca chips made in an air fryer crisp up with no oil, and a bag of frozen yuca takes out the peeling and cutting that stops most people from cooking it.
- Thaw the yuca for 2 to 3 hours or overnight, pour off any water, and toss it with garlic granules, onion granules, and smoked paprika.
- Air fry at 425 F for 10 minutes on one side, flip, and cook 10 more minutes until the pieces are evenly golden brown.
- Give the pieces room in a single layer, because piled pieces steam and steamed yuca is soft.
- Yuca is naturally grain-free and gluten-free, and it is the root that cassava flour is made from.
- Leftovers keep in a covered container in the fridge for two or three days and come back in the air fryer in three or four minutes, but cooked chips do not freeze well.
- Serve them with fat-free hummus, spicy tomato salsa, or creamy fat-free cheese dip.
Snacks I batch prep for my kids
My children eat everything I put in front of them and then ask what else there is. Snacks are the part of the week I have to plan for, so I batch prep them a few times a week. I blend dates, dried figs, and coconut into energy balls. I bake muffins and freeze them. I make trays of vegetable chips out of whatever is in the house, kale, zucchini, sweet potato.
Cassava flour has been in my kitchen for years. I combine it with steamed potatoes for my gluten-free flatbreads and wraps, and that dough gets made in my house most weeks.
Where to find frozen yuca
Yuca, also called cassava, is the root that cassava flour is made from. In the produce section it looks like a long brown log, usually waxed. Traditionally it is deep-fried. Most of us have only ever eaten it as yuca fries, on a plate where everything else was fried too.
I buy mine frozen. The bag comes already peeled, cut, and ready, which takes out what stops most people from cooking yuca at all.
Look in the freezer aisle, or in a Latin American, Caribbean, or West African market if your store does not carry it. It will say yuca or cassava on the bag, sometimes both, and what you want is yuca and nothing else, with no added salt. From the freezer to a bowl of hot chips is twenty minutes of cooking and a little patience while it thaws.
Why an air fryer works for yuca chips
An air fryer is what makes this work without oil. It is quicker than a regular oven, it will roast, bake, and dehydrate, and it gets you the crunch people think they need oil for. I always line mine with parchment so the food is not sitting against metal.
Why oil-free chips matter here
Starchy foods have taken the blame for a long time, and potatoes and yuca get pushed off the plate because of it. Anthony says it is the fat and the carbohydrate together, the oil sitting in the starch, that leads to insulin resistance. Take the oil away and what is left is the starch on its own.
This is one reason I like having oil-free versions of foods that would traditionally be deep-fried.
Healing ingredients
Yuca
Yuca is a starchy root, naturally grain-free and gluten-free, and it is where cassava flour comes from, so these yuca chips make a gluten-free snack. Cassava flour is the grain-free flour used throughout Medical Medium® recipes, so a lot of people are already eating yuca without realizing it.
Yuca root is never eaten raw. The bark and the pink layer under it have to come off, the woody core down the middle has to be removed, and the root has to be cooked all the way through. Frozen yuca arrives peeled and cut, so the only part left to you is the cooking.
Garlic
Garlic granules do most of the seasoning here, and garlic is a great deal more than a flavor.
Garlic has a reputation for wiping out the good bacteria in your gut as well as the bad, and it is not true. Garlic goes after the unproductive bacteria only. The beneficial bacteria in your intestinal tract are left exactly where they are. That is why it can be eaten often without ever turning against you.
There is something harsh about garlic, and the harshness is the whole point. It disturbs nothing that was not already doing harm. What it does disturb is strep, the bacteria behind pneumonia, candida, and the viruses that sit underneath so much chronic illness, and it draws toxic heavy metals out of the colon while it works.
It carries high levels of vitamin C and B-6, and also selenium, calcium, and iron. It is good for the digestive tract, and it has a strong ability to eliminate toxic matter from the lymphatic system.
Its anti-inflammatory properties are what make it matter in autoimmune conditions, from rheumatoid arthritis and lupus to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
“Garlic deserves to be heralded as medicine for our world today.” – Anthony William, Life-Changing Foods
“Garlic also contains very strong antibiotic, anti-fungal, anti-cancer, and anti-viral properties.” – Anthony William, Blog
Onion
Onion granules go in alongside the garlic, and between them they are what turns yuca into a snack rather than a side dish. Onions are also the richest food source of quercetin, a potent antioxidant.
The sulfur in them does most of the work. It breaks down the effects of radiation, flushes viruses out, and fights DDT and other pesticides, herbicides, and toxic heavy metals. It eases joint pain and joint degeneration, and it helps tendons and connective tissue repair themselves. If you are low in iron, sulfur slows the rate at which iron leaves the body.
Zinc, manganese, iodine, and selenium are in there too, and that combination is what renews skin and protects the lungs. If you used to smoke and want to undo some of that damage, this is a food to eat daily.
They are high in vitamin C, folate, biotin, chromium, and calcium. The quercetin in them has been shown to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglycerides, and to help prevent blood clots, asthma, sinus infections, bronchitis, and atherosclerosis.
Onions also help stabilize blood sugar levels, purify the digestive tract, and bring down bloating and water retention.
Next time you go out for cough syrup or something to clear a blocked nose, buy a few kinds of onion while you are there. They sit in a different aisle, but they are medicine too.
“They contain valuable sulfur compounds that are known to significantly strengthen the immune system, brain, and nervous system.” – Anthony William, Blog
“These sulfur compounds also act as a heavy metal detoxifier and can help to safely remove mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and lead from the body.” – Anthony William, Blog
Air Fried Yuca Chips
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 to 4 cups organic frozen yuca
- 2 tsp organic garlic granules not powder
- 1 tsp organic onion granules
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Sea salt optional
Instructions
- Let the yuca thaw for 2 to 3 hours, or overnight.
- Once thawed, place the yuca in a bowl, add the seasonings, and mix everything well so that every piece is coated.
- Line the air fryer with parchment. Air fry at 425 F for 10 minutes on one side, then flip the pieces and air fry for 10 more minutes on the other side so they cook evenly.
- They are ready once they are evenly cooked and golden brown.
Notes
The salt is optional. The garlic and onion carry the seasoning on their own if you are keeping salt out.
How to get air fryer yuca chips crisp
Thawed yuca lets go of water. If there is a puddle in the bottom of the bowl when it has thawed, pour it off before the seasonings go on, or they will slide off the pieces instead of sticking to them.
Then give the pieces room. They need to sit in a single layer with air moving around them, because that moving air is the whole point of an air fryer. Piled on top of each other they steam, and steamed yuca is soft. If a single layer means running two batches, run two batches. The second one takes twenty minutes you do not have to stand over.
Thicker pieces need a few minutes longer than thin ones, so if your bag came cut unevenly, pull the small pieces out when they are golden and leave the rest in.
Storing and reheating
These are best straight out of the basket, the way anything crisp is.
What is left over keeps in a covered container in the fridge for two or three days. Bring them back in the air fryer for three or four minutes. They do not freeze well once they are cooked.
How to serve and customize
Yuca chips are good on their own and better with something to dip them in. My fat-free hummus, a spicy tomato salsa, or a creamy fat-free cheese dip all work, and I have a recipe for each one. There are several chutneys in my Chutneys and Sauces eBook that go well with them too.
My Potato Air Fries use a completely different seasoning, so if you make both, nobody at the table gets bored.
More air fryer recipes you might enjoy:
Chips are one of those things people give up when they change how they eat, and then miss. A bag of frozen yuca and an air fryer give them back, and there is not a drop of oil anywhere in it.
Please leave me a comment if you make these yuca chips and tell me what you dipped them in. Or tag me on Facebook or Instagram. I love seeing your healing meals.
To your health & happiness,
Muneeza
3 Day Clean Eating Reboot
It’s the tastiest cleanse you’ll enjoy all year!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I air fry yuca straight from frozen?
This recipe thaws the yuca first, for 2 to 3 hours or overnight. Thawing lets you pour off the water the yuca releases, so the garlic and onion granules stick to the pieces and the chips crisp instead of steaming.
Are yuca chips the same as cassava chips?
Yuca and cassava are two names for the same root, so chips made from either one start from the same ingredient. The bag of frozen yuca for this recipe may say yuca, cassava, or both, and plain yuca with no added salt is what you want.
Are yuca chips gluten-free?
Yuca is naturally grain-free and gluten-free, and this recipe adds only garlic granules, onion granules, smoked paprika, and optional sea salt. That makes it a gluten-free snack as long as the bag of frozen yuca lists nothing but yuca and you have checked the labels on your seasonings.
Why are my air fryer yuca chips soft instead of crisp?
Soft chips usually come from leftover water or crowding. Pour off any water left after thawing, cook the pieces in a single layer so air can move around them, and run two batches if the basket is full. Thicker pieces also need a few extra minutes.
Do I need oil to make yuca chips crisp?
No. The moving air in the air fryer gives the crunch, and this recipe uses no oil at all. Lining the basket with parchment keeps the pieces off the metal, and the seasonings stay on once the thawing water is poured off.
