Homemade Crispy Kale Chips

If you peruse any list of food trends from 2011, kale usually tops them all.  Once a cute plate garnish, now it’s a superfood and all the rage.

Why?

Well probably because it is one of the healthiest vegetables around, containing more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food.  It’s also been linked to have anti-inflammatory health benefits, cancer prevention benefits and plays a lead role in detoxification, among others.

And, the best part?  It’s darn tasty whether steamed or baked.

Baked Crispy Kale Chips rival any other potato chip on the market.  Except, they’re much much healthier and they’re easy to make at home!  Why spend upwards of $7-$8 per bag of kale chips at a specialty store when you can pay half as much for a raw bunch at your local market and make the chips at home.

Obviously back in the 70’s and 80’s my mom had NO recipes using kale.  She had plenty using broccoli, cauliflower and string beans but kale is completely absent from her repertoire.

However, after shelling out ridiculous amounts of money for half full bags of kale chips, I realized I should take matters in my own hands and bake the chips at home.

Honestly, there’s very little work for huge reward.  I have been baking the chips at least two to three times per week and the kids love them.  They have the right ratio of crunch to flavor to salt.  They have almost completely replaced the potato chip in my house.

Just take one bunch of kale, wash it thoroughly and dry it in a salad spinner.

Toss the kale with olive oil and sea salt and place it on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes are until the edges of the leaves turn brown and they become crisp.

Repeat over and over again…

Kale cut, washed, coated with olive oil and sprinkled with salt – ready to bake

Comments

  1. I need to try this next summer when our CSA basket is overflowing with Kale. Thanks for sharing. Visiting via Not Just a Housewife.

  2. I am very excited to try these kale chips. Ellery has been asking for them for months. Apparently they made them in her K class and she LOVED them. Thanks for sharing.

    • Maria » please let me know how the Kale Chips turn out. Remember to thoroughly dry the kale before placing it in the oven to bake. You want crunch not wilty

  3. I debate whether or not to make some kale chips again…I liked them when I made them, but not loved them. I think I prefer my kale in smoothies, or raw in a salad. They definitely are much more economical to make at home as you point out!

    • EA-The Spicy RD » I knew this would get your attention more so than the slow cooked nutella swirled pound cake : ) An Organic Avenue just opened up near me and I was purchasing kale chips with soy cheese. But, it was prohibitively expensive so i took matters in my own hands and couldn’t be happier. They’re good with some parmesan sprinkled on top too

  4. Love the kale-ness! These are great. I use nutritional yeast I like that cheesy kale. Fave store-bought brand is Kookie Karma. I don’t know what they do but they’re insanely good.

  5. I am DOING THIS! Off to the farmers market today…

    • Amy » Make sure you thoroughly dry the kale after washing. Crispy kale chips are great, soggy ones, not so much! Also, add Parmesan for extra flavor.

  6. My husband and I grew kale for the first time this winter. It took so long for us to get around to trying it. Turns out, we love kale chips! Yay for another winter veggie!

  7. This is genial. kale has to be one of the most abundant of veggies here where I live and so this is A WINNER. GOTTA TRY this weekend!!

    • Rose :: FineCraftGuild.com » great Rose. Please let me know how they turn out. Make sure to thoroughly dry the kale before placing in the oven to make sure they get crispy and not stay wilty!

  8. Hi Sharib,
    I just love Kale Chips, they are a real treat for me. Your recipe looks awesome! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Have a great week end and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

  9. Yum! I have been wanting to try these. Pinning this recipe to try 🙂

  10. What a fun blog you have, I admittedly never have tried Kale, but hey there is a first for everything! Thanks so much for showing off this week, I am excited to announce you were selected to be my blog of the week for next week, please email me for more info!

    Carlee
    http://www.ladybirdln.com/2012/02/showing-you-off.html

  11. Wow…so easy…who knew ? Thanks for sharing your post over at Healthy 2day Wednesdays!

  12. We loved having you link up to our “Strut Your Stuff Saturday.” We hope you’ll be back! -The Sisters

  13. allison says:

    Hi there, just wanted you say that you time and temperature worked out perfectly!! i was going off of another recipe that called for 200F (it actually said it wouldn’t reccomend cooking at a higher temp than 250) and it just wasnt working out for me, so I found your recipe, and whoa- perfect kale chips!!! thank you!

Trackbacks

  1. […] started making homemade kale chips just a few weeks ago and already my kids have asked if there’s anything else we can […]

  2. […] year, we added kale so we could make more crispy kale chips and kale dip. We planted more zucchini for zucchini mint dip; orzo and zucchini; zucchini cheese […]

  3. […] 5 tries and now both of my kids love kale.  Of course, the first time I served it to them was as a chip, baked in the oven with a little bit of olive oil, sea salt and parmesan cheese.  Now that […]

  4. […] been a mystery to my family. However, since we’ve discovered it, and have fallen in LOVE with our Crispy Kale Chips, I’m on a mission to find as many tasty recipes boasting our new leafy friend.  In fact, I also […]

  5. […] Thirty-five minutes later we were enjoying our tasty quiche with a side of homemade kale chips. […]

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