I’ve suffered through one too many batches of burned or soggy kale chips over the years. It took me a while to master my baked kale chip recipe, but I’ve learned some valuable lessons along the way and I’d like to pass my tips along to you! From the good ‘ol Culinary School of Hard Knocks (aka: my kitchen) to you. Gotta love it.
The first time I made kale chips I remember thinking, “Should they taste burnt like this??” The easy answer is no. I’ve come to find a nice balance between crispiness and chewiness without any burnt edges. Yes, this is very serious business, this kale chip business. When baked properly, they really do make the perfect base for a satisfying chip alternative.
I know some people are eager to claim that kale is “over” due to its popularity in recent years, but seeing as it’s still rated number #1 (along with Mustard/Turnip/Collard Greens) on the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI), I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon. At least not in my diet. Kale for life!
With these few simple techniques you’ll be well on your way to kale chip bliss. Or maybe you already are, in which case, feel free to skip ahead to my All-Dressed Baked Kale Chip recipe below and get crunching!
Ok, here are my top 6 tips for baking the perfect kale chips. No dehydrator required.
1. Remove the stems and tear leaves into large pieces
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of chewing through woody baked kale stems. I remove the stems very quickly by grabbing the base of the stem with one hand and pushing outwards along the stem to slide off the leaves. Works like a charm!
2. Wash and thoroughly dry the leaves before beginning
If the leaves aren’t properly dried, the water can “steam” the kale chips while baking and lead to the dreaded soggy kale chip! Be sure they are nice and dry before you massage in the oil. A salad spinner works great; just be sure not to overload it so the leaves can properly dry.
3. Don’t skip the oil, but don’t drench it in oil either
A little bit of extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil, if you prefer) goes a long way. I like to use ½ tablespoon of oil per baking sheet of kale chips. “Massage” the oil into the leaves to ensure all the nooks and crannies are coated. Oil also helps the spices stick to the leaves.
4. Spread kale into a single layer on the baking sheet
I used to dump all the kale into a very thick layer on the baking sheet and hope for the best, but doing this tends to lead to soggy, unevenly baked kale chips. I’ve learned to be a bit more patient and spread them out into a thinner layer on each baking sheet. Be sure to rotate the baking sheet half-way through baking. There’s no real need to flip the chips unless you have the patience for it.
5. It’s all about the low-heat for even baking
As I wrote in my cookbook, I tested all kinds of kale chip recipes at different temperatures from very low to high heats. Surprise, surprise the batches that worked the best were the ones I baked at a very low temperature of 300F. Sure, it takes a bit longer to bake, but I can assure you it’s worth it because you don’t get any burnt pieces. Remember, the goal is to crisp the kale, not scorch it into smithereens! In my oven, I bake at 300F for 10 minutes, then I rotate the pan, and bake for another 15 minutes. So 25 minutes total for kale chip perfection in my oven. This will vary based on your oven, but it’s a good starting off point!
6. Cool for just a few minutes on the baking sheet
I’ve found that waiting just 3 minutes allows the kale chips to crisp up even more once they are out of the oven. Just like baked cookies or roasted chickpeas, kale chips really firm up even more when cooled. Those 3 minutes will feel like hours though. I won’t lie.
Bonus tips: Avoid adding liquids (such as vinegars or hot sauces) pre-baking as liquids can result in soggy chips. It’s best to add a light spritz of liquid seasoning after they’ve been baked, if at all. Also, if your oven has one, feel free to try out the dehydrator or convection setting.
Now, read on for my All-Dressed Kale Chip recipe! I promise this batch will not last long…minutes while standing in front of the oven if you are like me.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
All-Dressed Kale Chips
Yield
1-2 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Crispy and chewy kale chips baked in the oven and seasoned to perfection. Enjoy these as a healthy alternative to potato chips.
Ingredients
per baking sheet:
- approx. 1/2 bunch kale leaves
- 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil
- 1.5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt or pink Himalayan sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 300F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove leaves from the stems of the kale and roughly tear it up into large pieces. Compost the stems (or freeze for smoothies). Wash and spin the leaves until thoroughly dry.
- Add kale leaves into a large bowl. Massage in the oil until all the nooks and crannies are coated in oil. Now sprinkle on the spices/seasonings and toss to combine.
- Spread out the kale onto the prepared baking sheet into a single layer, being sure not to overcrowd the kale.
- Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake for another 12-15 minutes more until the kale begins to firm up. The kale will look shrunken, but this is normal. I bake for 25 mins. total in my oven.
- Cool the kale on the sheet for 3 minutes before digging in! This really makes all the difference! Enjoy immediately as they lose their crispiness with time.
- Repeat this process for the other half of the bunch.
Tip:
Feel free to make these in a dehydrator if you have one. You can also experiment with the convection or dehydrator setting on your oven (if applicable).
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)I can’t end this post today without thanking you for your lovely comments in my recent post. I’m reading through all of them and greatly appreciate the support, advice, and love. Sketchie’s staple removal went fine (it took a few minutes and didn’t seem to even bother him) and he is healing well from surgery.
Great recipe. A tip for those who can’t eat all the kale chips they make: 15 seconds on a paper plate in a microwave crips them right back up. YUM!
Best kale chip recipe I’ve tried! The low heat seems to really work the best! Making this again for tonight’s snack! Thank you for helping a novice!
This is a fantastic recipe. I’m using the convection at 150C for a total of 20mins. I rotate my pan half way and I’m left with kale chip perfection! There is no need at all to flip or toss the chips around half way. Thank you so much for all you do! The detail of this post is really wonderful!
Thank you for your yummy recipe. My husband totally loved these.
Hi, the recipe sounds delicious, just wonder what if there is a brand name for the nutrional yeast. I live in Europe (the Netherlands), I’m not sure I can buy it over here.
Perfect kale chip recipe!!
Ok, I followed your directions to the “T”. But , I think that it didn’t come out like it should have because I didn’t use ENOUGH kale. I was worried i would put too much on the tray (as you said you have done in the past). So it was WAY to spicy. (And I LIKE spice) and the end product was almost dust like. Almost all of it disintegrated. What was left wasn’t really edible cause of the overload of seasoning per kale amount. I will try again and seek to perfect it. I don’t like kale, so I am looking for a way to add it in to my new diet. A suggestion? It would be helpful with this type of recipe to add the weight of the kale you used. That would make things easier when trying to figure out what a Half is! Thanks for sharing and I hope I have success with this soon!-MN Mama
First time I’ve ever bought Kale . . .
And made chips! WOW . . . Delicious and really spicy and crisp
First time ever had Kale, let alone made chips!
WOW . . . delicious
Hmmm… not sure what went wrong but mine ended up like paper thin, dried leaves…just super dry and crumbled apart in your mouth. Not chewy in the slightest. Oops.
Mine too!!! See comment above by me….You are not alone! ;)
Thank you so much for you Kale Chip recipe! Of all of the recipes found, this is the BEST!!!!!!
So I just cooked up a batch, I started off with 10 mins at 300 degrees but after the 10 minutes it smelled like they were burning. I pulled them out and they shrunk tremendously! is this just because of my oven or is something else wrong?
They will always shrink a lot. As long as they aren’t burnt they are turning out properly. I keep an eye on mine closely and if they seem to be getting too dark I will turn the oven down by 50 degrees.
This recipe tastes great raw as a salad too! I just had to sample it before baking. I think I’ll use this as a kale salad recipe too!
Keep an eye on cooking time. I have a KitchenAid gas oven. Followed every step, except cook time. At 300 degrees fahrenheit on convection bake, mine were almost done at 10 minutes. I kept in for 3 more, and they were perfect — 13 minutes total.
Made this All Dressed Up Kale Chips recipe today and it was really, really good! I followed the directions exactly, and used the convection bake feature on my oven. It was so easy and absolutely the best kale chips I’ve ever tasted.
Made these just now. Oven set to 130 degrees for half an hour and came home to wonderful crispy kale chips. Perfect, thank you for the recipe.
Yummy
that’s the end of it ;-)
Since I don’t have a salad spinner, after washing the kale I put it into a clean pillow case, tied the open end with string, and put it into my clothes dryer on “air dry”. For 5 minutes. Works like a charm!
What a great recipe. I even gave it to my vegetables-avoiding-boyfriend who absolutely loved it and stole a bit from my plate! I was just wondering, does it keep any nutritious value? I know it’s a great substitute for normal chips but I was just wondering :)
Just wanted to let you know that I use this recipe and method at least once a week and I’m completely obsessed. They very rarely make it from the pan on top of the oven to a bag for later. Thank you for posting this!
Has anyone tried the same recipe but in the the microwave takes seconds and never fails!
colleen