Last Updated on January 23, 2023
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 stays on a very short time, using less energy than many other recipes and keeping the heat out of your kitchen in summer. This also prevents you 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.
Some of the items I buy regularly from Vitacost:
- Organic oils, like olive oil for baked kale chips, as well as coconut, sesame, and avocado oil
- Organic whole wheat pasta
- Organic peanut butter
- Organic dark chocolate
- Vinegars, including balsamic, apple cider, and wine vinegar
- Organic nuts, including almonds, Brazil nuts, and walnuts
- 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.
Baked Kale Chips Recipe
No-Fail Baked Kale Chips Recipe
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 kale likely will need a little mixing up.
- Leave kale till 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 return them to the oven, turn it on briefly, cut the power, and let them recrisp. The oven doesn't need to get very hot for this to work.
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. The leaves from broccoli and cauliflower work, 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.
Pin to save this baked kale chips recipe for later!
Baked Kale Chips Recipe Photo credit: PingPongCat
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.
Hi, I'm Susannah, a garden geek, energy nerd, and fan of healthy food and natural remedies. Need some simple, practical solutions for living healthier and greener? You've come to the right place! More about me and my green projects
Mandi says
I’ve never liked Kale before, but I never thought of making Kale Chips. Your recipe sounds great! Thanks for sharing it on Mommy Monday!
Tiffany says
Thank you for this recipe! I must admit I’ve definitely failed at kale chips before and started just buying them, but your post has inspired me to try making them again 🙂
healthygreensavvy says
Oh, my goodness, you’ll save SO much money if you master this! Those things cost an astonishing amount considering what they cost to make, especially if you’re growing your own kale or getting it in a farm share. Let me know if it works for you!
Anya says
I love kale chips, though do have to limit them due to their goitrogenic effects. But homemade is much better than storebought…always! Thanks for sharing on Simply Natural Saturdays, looking forward to seeing what you’ll be sharing this weekend.
Anya says
I forgot to mention, I’ll be featuring this simple recipe tomorrow. Be sure to stop by and grab a button. 🙂
healthygreensavvy says
Thanks, Anya! I hope it might help anyone who’s given up on kale chips after a burnt or soggy batch!
Gena says
I love me some kale chips!! Thanks for sharing your healthy snack in Mommy Monday!
healthygreensavvy says
Thanks for featuring this post, Gena! Hope your summer is full of kale 🙂
Lynn says
Looks great! I’m not sure if I was reading it wrong, but the recipe never seems to say to put the kale into the oven.
healthygreensavvy says
That’s hilarious! Thanks for pointing that out; guess the rest of us took that step for granted. Fixed it. There’s a good reason I don’t bill myself as a recipe developer 🙂
Nice catch! Thanks for stopping by.
Deborah Davis says
I don’t currently have a dehydrator so I am delighted that you shared your easy No Fail Kale Chips method at the Healthy Happy Green Natural Party! I’m Pinning and sharing this!
Debbie says
I have a recipe that calls for basalmic vinegar mixed with the olive oil… sooo yummy that way! Gives them some WOW flavor!
Debbie
Susannah says
I will have to try that sometime! Thanks for the tip!
Edith says
I use garlic sea salt..a sprinkle of parmesan…sometimes dry ranch seasoning…after I spread them out on the cookie sheet I add a few sprinkles of flax seeds..gives a little more substance…have also used his seeds.i grow kale but it seems I can never make enough. My family loves them
Susannah says
That sounds delicious! We go through the plain salt sort so quickly I haven’t tried flavoring them yet, but I plan to!
Katy SkipTheBag says
I haven’t thought about putting them back in the oven if they get soggy. That has been my problem in the past. Thanks for sharing on the Waste Less Wednesday Hop!
Susannah says
Thanks for stopping by and hosting a great hop 🙂
chihyu says
so healthy and delicious. This will be perfect for the upcoming spring/summer months!
Crystal says
I love this recipe. Better than any other. All my other Kale chip Pins have been deleted. 🙂
Susannah says
Wow, I’m honored! I’m looking forward to kale season staring up again!
Tracy Montgomery t says
I grew blue Kale this fall. Is that acceptable for Kale chips also following this method?
Susannah says
Hi Tracy,
Any kale should work. Is blue kale the same as lacinato or dino? I’ve found the texture of those can make the chips have a different texture than with standard curly kale, but it’s all good. I use broccoli leaves as well. Enjoy!
Judy says
This was so easy. What a nice way to make kale into a great snack. I’ll be making these often. Thank you.
Susannah says
So glad you like them!
Lisa says
Super easy recipe. I’ve made kale chips a bunch of times, but some of the ‘chips’ would burn, and some would stay soggy. For whatever reason, this process worked really well. This is definitely my go-to way to make my kale chips now. What I especially love is its almost entirely hands off. After the initial stirring of the kale, I can shut off the oven and walk away, knowing I’ll come back to crispy chips.
Thanks for sharing!
Susannah says
So glad it worked for you, too! Enjoy!