Eric has this new thing for kale chips.
Specifically, “cheezy” kale chips. The guy is practically obsessed. Every time we find ourselves in Organic Garage, he sneaks a bag of kale chips into the cart and then gets annoyed with me if I eat too many of “his” chips. I never thought I’d have to fight him for a dried up green leaf! When we first met, his vegetable consumption consisted of potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, and corn. Eleven years later, I don’t think there’s a vegetable he won’t eat. Give me time and I can wear down even the toughest critic.
Well, this kale chip obsession motivated me to dig out my rarely used dehydrator and start making kale chips again. Have you ever had cheezy kale chips? They are basically “chips” made from torn kale leaves which are coated in a “cheezy” cashew sauce and then dehydrated until crisp. They are ridiculously addictive. I personally cannot figure out how to make a batch last more than 1 day.
I’ve made Doug McNish’s sour cream and onion kale chips many times in the past and they are always incredible. For this batch, I decided to make a new flavour with sundried tomatoes, basil, and other seasonings for a fun twist. Very tasty idea. I found myself just eating the sauce-covered pieces of raw kale before they even were put into the dehydrator. Always a good sign the recipe will be a success!
I spread out the batch on 3 trays and set the temperature to 105-110F. Then I left it overnight for about 12 hours until they were nice and crispy. I awoke to this.
Breakfast?
Sun-dried Tomato Cheezy Kale Chips
Yield
1 large bunch of kale
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
Like nachos only better tasting and better for you. Satisfy your every chip craving with these cheezy, salty, green, and crispy kale chips!
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch of kale, stems discarded and leaves ripped up
- 30 grams organic sundried tomatoes, soaked in water to soften for at least 1 hour (see note)
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 1 hour
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp soaking water from tomatoes
- 2-4 tbsp fresh basil
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3/4 tsp fine grain sea salt, or to taste
Directions
- In two separate bowls, soak the sundried tomatoes and cashews in water for at least 1 hour, but preferably 1.5-2 hours if possible. After soaking, reserve the tomato soaking water and set aside. Drain and rinse the cashews.
- In a food processor, with the machine running, drop in the garlic and process until minced.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients except the salt. Process until smooth, scraping sides as necessary, and add salt slowly to taste.
- Wash the kale leaves and tear the kale into pieces, discarding the stems. Dry the leaves in a salad spinner (this helps the sauce stick). Place greens into a large bowl. Pour the cheeze sauce on top of the kale and stir with a spoon. Then toss the spoon and get in there with your hands to massage the sauce into the kale until well coated. Season with salt to taste. I used a few shakes of Herbamare.
- Dehydrate for about 12 hours at 105-110F. Kale chips are ready when they are super crispy and taste magnificent. I dare you not to eat a full batch in 1 day.
Tip:
My sun-dried tomatoes were very hard and dry so I had to soak them first for about 1-2 hours. If you are using oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, you obviously won’t have to soak them first. I would add them to taste and then use filtered water as needed, rather than the soaking water.
I bought my Excalibur dehydrator a few years ago when I was running the bakery. I have one of their largest models because I was making over 200 raw bars at a time in it. It was a bit insane. If I could do it again I would have a smaller model for personal use (they do have many sizes too). The Excalibur works well and I haven’t had any issues with it. I do find the “humming” noise to be a bit annoying, so I like to dehydrate overnight whenever possible.
If any of you have a dehydrator, feel free to leave a comment with the brand and model as a few readers have asked me for recommendations. Bonus points if you have a recommendation for a reliable dehydrator at a low price!!
Now, I know you are wondering…well, can I use my oven if I don’t have a dehydrator? I’ve been told that it’s possible. If some of you have made cheezy kale chips in the oven, please leave a comment below and let us know what temp, method, and duration you used. Merci!
Love it Ang. Thank you! You are the best.
I need a dyhydrator pronto. Good thing Averie has some great tips above. :)
You just might be a culinary genius Angela. Are you going to try them out in the oven for those of us who don’t have dehydrators?
I’ve got these in my Excalibur as I type…. hubby and I make up a huge batch almost every weekend. They are a staple in our house. I’ll have to try them with the sun dried tomatoes…sounds yummy!
Kale chips scare me, but I think this recipe should be the first ones I try. They look amazing. Now I just need to get my hands on a dehydrator!
Hi, I occasionally make potato chips in my microwave. I have a 1000 watt Kenmore microwave. Because of the nature of potatoes you have to spray the plate with spray oil or take napkin and put a dot of oil on it and rub the plate. Cut the potatoes very thin and place in a single layer on the plate. I thin run it for one minute at a time until I see it starting to brown just slightly. The variable it how thin or thick I slice the potato. Usually takes 2 minutes but that will be decided by the visual appearance of the potatoes. I told you this because I figured if I could do potatoes then I should be able to do Kalk. I tried it with the leaves plain and it worked with heating it for 2 min but because of the nature of Kale I don’t think you will have to spray the plate. I also have a counter-top convection oven. I put a tray of plain kale in at a temperature of 150 degrees for 30 minutes. When I have what I need to coat the leaves I will try the actual recipe. I just figured it might encourage others to test more from what I’ve done. Happy testing! Jan
I’ve used my warming drawer of my oven to make cheesy kale chips before. My warming drawer gets to about 170 on high. And I leave them for a few hours, checking every hour or so. many times the outer chips will be done earlier than the ones on the inside. I don’t let my warming drawer go during the night or when I’m gone since I have a gas stove. My next adventure will be to make fruit leather with applesauce and the fresh strawberries we have.
are you no longer making glo bars? or is it full time blogging?
The only success I had in the oven is at about 300 and for around 45 mins with lots of checking and a little flipping them over. Less of them on the tray, the better they turn out.
In the oven, I like to use between 300-325F (depending on how wet or dry the mixture is) for about 45 minutes then flip and bake for another 25 – when I flip sometimes I either raise or lower the heat to the other number. After flipping watch carefully so they don’t burn.
also lining your sheets with parchment is a brilliant idea.
Here is a dehydration method that is cheap and RAW. I cannot take credit for it, but it was used on an episode of Good Eats by Alton Brown. It involves getting a box fan, a couple of bungee cords, 4 cellulose furnace filters (very important-MUST be the cellulose kind!), and some food grade dehydrator liners (very cheaply bought online-just put the description in your search engine). Put the liner on the filter, add your goodies, then another liner, then another filter, until you have 4-5 layers of filters/liners with your goodies encaplsulated inside. Then use the bungee cords to attach the stacked filters to your box fan, turn it on, and leave for 8-12 hours. The beauty of this method is that it uses NO HEAT AT ALL. For you raw foodists, this is awesome, am I am amazed how many raw foodies do not know about this method. Ironically, he was making beef jerky on the episode he used this technique on, but considering meat takes a lot more power to dry, drying veggies should be a snap, not to mention, MUCH cheaper then buying a dehydrator, which is going to use heat and “cook” the food more then dry it.
YOUR NEW HEADER IS AMAZING!!
love it!
much love from a fellow ontarian : )
Thanks Emily!
I love kale chips, this flavor sounds so good!!
I made these last night, using my Nesco dehydrator. I need more trays, though! I had more kale than would fit on the 5 trays I have. They took about 10 hours, and now I have a second batch going (I saved the kale that wouldn’t fit in the first batch in the fridge).
I’ve experimented with kale chip recipes before, and I think these are my favorite! I ate an entire tray this morning “to determine if they were done.” LOL.
hehe so happy to hear that Bridget!
Hello Bridget,
I have a new Nesco dehydrator as well. I tried to make the cheezy kale chips and set it at 105 and used the easy clean screens. After 12 hours they still weren’t crispy. I was wondering what temperature you set yours at and do you use the screens?
Thanks!
I set it at 115. I used the screens for some of the trays (the bottom ones) but not for all the trays because I don’t have enough screens. The chips seemed the same whether I used the screens or not.
Delish! I made kale chips all the time! Never thought we would eat these more than normal chips but I think it’s safe to say my husband is addicted. He asked me to make them for our annual christmas wine party even… let’s just say our friends found us a bit strange.
hahahah Eric said we should make them for my birthday party coming up! I just about fell off my chair.
Hi Angela,
I’m wondering if you still have the bakery? I haven’t seen much about Glo Bars lately and I remember you selling them online and in local stores. Just curious. The kale chips look insane btw :)
Hey Laura, I closed it last year, but thank you for your interest. Who knows maybe someday I will open it up again!
I make kale chips in the oven all the time, but I use a different method than anyone mentioned, unless I missed it. I coat mine in a mixture of nooch and salt – no oil – with wet kale leaves. I use the dino kale. I spread the pieces on a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake at the lowest temp my oven will go – I think it goes down to 120 – for about 4 hours. I don’t crack the door, and they still get crisp. Sometimes it takes longer than 4 hours. You have to keep an eye on them after about 3 hours so they don’t burn. They turn out crazy crisp and delicious! I store them in a long, plastic container, and they stay crisp for days. I’ve also read you can store them in a paper bag, and they’ll stay crisp for a few days.
Love kale chips!
PS love the new banner!
Thanks so much and thank you for your tips!
Hey Angela,
I am writing from India and have been a fan of your work for the past 3 years and love your posts.I was wondering if some other leaf can substitute for Kale, as we don’t get them in India. I have had Bok Choy crisps (fried) but then again as they would be imported in India, I would like to avoid them (carbon footprint et al). Do you think Spinach would do? (Haven’t tasted Kale so don’t know how close or distant in taste it would be) :)
I think spinach would just wilt? I would try collard greens maybe? Im really not sure though, I would probably google it before testing it out!
Thanks for reading all the way from India!!!
Don’t you love watching your hubby make these healthy decisions all on his own?!!?? My guy is over the moon for kale chips too. He’s even learnig how to make them himself because I can’t keep up with him. I have to hide a little bag of chips for myself otherwise he eats them in a day!
I’m trying to figure out what would need to go into a NACHO variety!
Tried raw kale chips for the first time this weekend. They did not last more than two days!!! Hahaha :)