The Easy Way To Make Kale Chips

Kale chips don’t sound like anything special really, but they can be, which is the key. I had no idea what to do with our excess kale. Making chips had never crossed my mind because the only kale chips I’d ever had were from the store and were bland and chewy. A friend suggested we try making them, so we did! Worst case scenario, we wasted some kale. No harm. No foul. Luckily, not only did we not waste kale, we discovered our new favorite snack!

Prep

• Wash and thoroughly dry your kale. They must be almost all the way dry, so we pat them down with paper towels or a rag.
• Strip the kale off of its stem. You don’t want any stem in your chips. Not a good texture or taste. Put the kale leaves into a large mixing bowl.
• Pour enough olive oil over your kale leaves to lightly cover each leaf. You don’t want to overdo it, so use your judgement. I pour some olive oil then toss the leaves with my hands and then decide if it needs more oil or not.

In The Oven

We made our first batch in the oven, and the chips turned out very thin and very crunchy.

• Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Line baking sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• Lightly grease your pans.
• Place your kale chips onto the pans, making sure each leaf has its own space.
• Salt your leaves or dust them with whatever seasoning you’d like.
• Put in the oven for 5-10 minutes. The timing really depends on how hot your oven runs. Ours runs very hot, so each batch only took about 6 minutes.
• Let cool. Then repeat until all your leaves are turned into chips.

In The Dehydrator

We tried the dehydrator (this dehydrator if you’re in the market for one: Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator, White – MADE IN USA ) for the second time around. The chips turned our super crispy and really flavorful.

• Place kale leaves on each level.
• Salt or dust them with whatever seasoning you’d like.
• Turn your dehydrator on to 135 degrees.
• Turn your dehydrator off after about 3 hours. You can test a chip from each level to make sure all of the chips are done and as crispy as you want.

Results

After much deliberation, we decided that we like the dehydrated kale chips better than the ones made in the oven. They kept their dark green color, were much more flavorful, were thicker and equally as crunchy. So far, we’ve made sea salt, seasoned salt, garlic, sriracha & lime, teriyaki and spicy red pepper chips. The possibilities for flavor are endless, and they really are too easy to make. What are some that you have tried?