Baked kale chips might become your new favorite snack! Not on the kale bandwagon yet? This incredibly simple, surprisingly delicious no-fail baked kale chips recipe might have you jumping on board, stat.
Kale has been a hot superfood for some time now, and if you haven’t found a way to incorporate it into your diet yet, you need to try baked kale chips.
They’re easy to make and very addictive, helping with salty-crunchy cravings while allowing you to get a green veggie rather than demolishing a bag of much more caloric chips.
Why Make Baked Kale Chips?
Baked kale chips are a great choice for gut health and your immune system, and kale is also a member of the crucifer family, which can play a role in cancer prevention.
Kids like baked kale chips, too. Well, some kids. Mine have yet to see the light. (More for me — hooray!)
Since I’m all about shortcuts to a healthy lifestyle, this baked kale chips recipe will probably be the simplest you’ll find, no fussing over blotting the kale or any unnecessary steps.
Bonus: The oven stayson a very short time, using less energy than many other recipes and keeping the heat out of your kitchen in summer. This also preventsyou from burning your baked kale chips, which is really easy to do when you leave the oven on and don’t keep a close eye on them.
Save money and time making healthy food while shrinking the footprint of your cooking? No fail baked kale chips are a win-win-win!
If you love to save money on healthy food, check out one of my absolute favorite places to get real food pantry staples for less, Vitacost. They often have sales that knock an additional 15-20% off their already terrific prices.
Organic seeds (like chia, sunflower seeds, and pepitas)
Roasted nori (when we don’t have kale chips on hand, seaweed makes a tasty stand-in!)
and much more! Check them out and you might become a devoted customer as well.
If you have broccoli or cauliflower leaves, you can add them to your kale and make mixed chips.
Find more than 40 additional ways to make the most of your food with root-to-stem recipes here.
Get more savvy tips to help you live greener and healthier every day by following HealthyGreenSavvy on Facebook and Pinterest, where you’ll find easy health hacks, eco-living essentials, and simple healthy recipes shared daily.
This no fail method for perfectly crispy kale chips will be your go-to for this crunch, delicious, and super-healthy snack.
Ingredients
Large bunch kale
About 2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Instructions
Wash your kale and give it a good shake to remove excess water. No need to bother patting dry, but feel free to spin in a salad spinner to get more water off if you're so inclined. I never seem to be.
Tear up kale into 2-inch pieces and spread in a single layer on cookie sheets. Discard stems, unless you'd like to try stirfrying them.
Drizzle or spray with olive oil, shake a little salt on and mix the whole lot up well with your hands. Massaging kale is actually kind of enjoyable.
Put your oiled kale in the oven and set to 300 degrees (no need to preheat).
Turn it off about 5 minutes after it hits that temperature.
Check after 10 minutes. Your kalelikely will need a little mixing up.
Leave kaletill the heat dissipates; I often leave it in the cooling oven overnight and check in the morning. You can turn the heat back on again briefly if need be
Kale chips are done when they're crispy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
Allow to cool, then put in an airtight container right away to keep your baked kale chips fresh. (If there’s any left, as it's really easy to chow an entire tray of these things, which is totally ok.)
Notes
If your baked kale chips get soggy before you finish them, you can returnthem tothe oven, turn it on briefly, cut the power, and let them recrisp. The oven doesn't need to get very hot for thisto work.
When kale is coming in great quantities at the farm, I make batch after batch of baked kale chips and generally eat through most of each week’s allotment before the next one comes in. I started growing some of my own so I can put up extra for winter.
All my kale gets turned into baked kale chips, but this collection of healthy kale recipes can give you great ideas for using any you have left.
If you have other green leafy veggies around, you can try making them into chips as well. Edible broccoli leaves and leaves from cauliflower work also, and apparently even dandelion greens make a tasty chip also!
Do you love crunchy, salty snacks, too? Make sure to try these incredibly easy & super-healthy zucchini chips and spiced roasted chickpeas.
Kale chips are an affordable way to get some extra healthy into your diet. Want more tips for making the healthiest food fit your budget? Grab The Savvy Guide to Eating Healthy on a Budget here.
Pin to save this baked kale chips recipe for later!
Baked Kale Chips Recipe Photo credit: PingPongCat
Susannah
Susannah is a proud garden geek and energy nerd who loves healthy food and natural remedies. Her work has appeared in Mother Earth Living, Ensia, Northern Gardener, Sierra, and on numerous websites. Her first book, Everything Elderberry, released in September 2020 and has been a #1 new release in holistic medicine, naturopathy, herb gardening, and other categories. Find out more and grab your copy here.
Lucky for us, baked kale chips also happen to be Whole30, low carb, and keto-friendly! To make kale chips, however, there are a few key points to keep in mind: The kale leaves must be SUPER DRY. Bake the kale at 350°F.
We love leafy greens in general, but it is amazing what a transformation kale undergoes when heated at low temperature in the oven. My kids can devour an entire head of kale prepared this way in five minutes flat. And unlike potato chips, kale retains its nutritional value when made into chips.
With this in mind, nutrition experts say that most people should focus on adding more vegetables, like kale, to their diet instead of worrying if raw or cooked kale is better. “Though most cooking methods result in loss of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, kale is still worth eating in whichever form you prefer.
In the long run, replacing high-calorie snacks (looking at you potato chips) with kale chips can be a helpful component to losing weight. That's because kale chips are more nutrient-dense and less calorie-dense. That's a fancy way of saying they help you feel full with less calories.
For most of us, salty, crunchy chips are a bonafide food-with-no-brakes, because these foods were designed to promote overconsumption. For that reason, do not consume any starchy chips during your Whole30 elimination, including potato, sweet potato, tortilla, plantain, cassava, or taro chips.
It also has lutein and zeaxanthin, which may help lower your risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. Also, lutein may help prevent atherosclerosis , a buildup of hard plaque in your blood vessels. Add kale to a salad or eat kale chips as a snack for an anti-inflammatory benefit.
It is not likely that you would experience adverse effects from consuming kale chips. If the chips are very salty and you over-consume them, you might feel bloated from the excess salt intake. You may also feel some stomach discomfort from the fiber if you eat a lot of them and are not used to eating high-fiber foods.
To keep them crispy, it is important to let them cool completely. Once cooled, they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. You could also try adding a few grains of raw rice or silica packs (like those found in store-bought kale chips) to the airtight container. & Perfect for snacking!
Raw kale has a bitterness that can be reduced by cooking it. Still, studies have shown that cooking it may reduce its content of nutrients, including antioxidants, vitamin C, and several minerals ( 2 , 7 ).
The ingredients for most kale chips are a base of raw cashews and nutritional yeast, both of which are pretty pricey. To top it off, kale chips are usually labeled as raw, which means in order to get them crispy they are dehydrated and that takes a looooong time.
If the kidneys cannot remove excess potassium from the blood, consuming additional potassium can be dangerous. Blood thinners: Kale is a rich source of vitamin K, which contributes to blood clotting. This could interfere with the activity of blood thinners, such as warfarin (Coumadin).
Spinach and other leafy green vegetables like kale, lettuce, etc. are great for burning belly fat and are very nutritious as well. There have been some studies done on the subject of the fat burning capabilities of spinach and the very healthy veggie has come out a winner in this category.
For starters, it is very low in calories but still provides significant bulk that should help you feel full ( 1 ). Because of the low calorie and high water content, kale has a low energy density. Eating plenty of foods with a low energy density has been shown to aid weight loss in numerous studies ( 30 , 31 ).
While homemade versions of chips made with whole foods are considered Whole30, no store-bought chips of any kind are considered Whole30 compatible — that goes for potato chips, sweet potato chips, Siete chips, plantain chips, terra chips, veggie chips, and any other store-bought chip you can think of.
Fill a cutting board with sliced apples, grapes, berries, sliced bell peppers, carrots and other seasonal fruits and vegetables. Dips you can use include Whole30-compliant hummus (made with something other than chickpeas — try making your own with cauliflower instead), ranch or green goddess dressing.
Are You Sure These Are Whole30? On Whole30 you are not allowed to have any store-bought commercially-made chips. Read this link to find out more on that. So, no store-bought plantain chips allowed on Whole30, even with compatible ingredients.
All leafy green vegetables are good ways to get B vitamins, and kale is no exception. Kale is particularly high in vitamin B6, vitamin B1, and vitamin B2 (WHFoods, 2015).
Introduction: My name is Annamae Dooley, I am a witty, quaint, lovely, clever, rich, sparkling, powerful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
