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Kale Chips: The Legend Continues

March 31, 2014   41 Comments

Kale chips are a food that everyone is eating. And, when I mean everyone, I mean my kids will wolf them down.

Kale Chips: The Legend Continues

Why have they grown in popularity? Probably because it is THE answer to the healthy eating question: How do I get lots of nutrients for few calories?

KALE!!!

I mean this stuff is crazy good for you (for example, over 300% of your daily value of vitamin A in one serving). I have featured it here on Snack Girl many times and there is a section in Snack Girl To the Rescue! devoted to it.

I used to HATE kale. Seriously, I am not kidding you. I hated the stuff and now I am eating it and I LOVE it. Why the shift?

  • Kale is inexpensive – some where around $1 per pound.
  • It doesn’t dissolve in your fridge like lettuce.
  • You can’t beat it for nutrients. It is one of those killer sources of everything.
  • It tastes pretty good if treated properly.

How did we fall in love? I made kale chips (like Rachael Ray, Martha Stewart, Ina Garten, etc.). And, now, I am going to convince you to make kale chips. These are the best replacement for potato chips that you can find. They are satisfying, a little salty, crunchy - yum! They go well with not-so-nutritious beer.

How do you make them? First, you spend all of $2 on a bunch of fresh kale. Then you RIPPPPP the leaves off the stems and toss them into a bowl with some olive oil and salt.

Then, you spread them out on a baking sheet see here:

kalebakingsheet

And bake for FIVE minutes. Viola! Kale chips! Yes, you can do this and when you taste them - you will be eating one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. Toss out your multi-vitamin and wrap your gums around these chips.

I have tried to make these chips without the olive oil and it was not good. Something about the fat in the olive oil brings out the sweeter flavor in the kale. I think that when you are eating something as healthy as kale - you don't need to worry too much about adding a little fat.

This recipe can turn out half burnt/half soggy chips - which I dig.
 Some people don’t like these results.

If you want them to store well - go with 250 F for 20 minutes and they should dry out and be more chip like. Then you can store them in a plastic container.

Do you make kale chips? Share your love (or hate) of kale below.

kaleschips2b

Kale Chips Recipe

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(2 servings)

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Ingredients

1 bunch fresh kale (or 1/2 pound)
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt to taste

Instructions

Heat oven to 500 F. Line rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

Tear the leaves off the thick stems into chip sized pieces. An easy way to do this is to fold the leaf in half and just rip toward the stem. Rinse kale in colander or salad spinner and dry.

Put in bowl and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt to taste.

Bake 5 minutes or until edges are brown and kale is crispy when moved in pan.

The idea here is to make clean up easy (just toss the paper and then you have less work to do).

Nutrition Facts

For one serving = 90 calories, 5.2 g fat, 10.1 g carbohydrates, 3.3 g protein, 2.0 g fiber, 121 mg sodium, 1 Points+

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

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41 Comments:

I have never tried Kale and have avoided the "Kale Chips" since it just sounded awful, but am going to give it a try after reading this post. I'll let you know the consensus!

Love kale chips! To avoid the half soggy/half burnt effect, you can bake for 15-20 min at 325 degrees. But I agree that I kinda like the burnt edges!

I just made a batch with sprayed on olive oil (get both sides), garlic salt, and Tuscan kale... 300 for 10 minutes worked for me, though I've heard it can take up to 20. If you see even a teeny bit of brown take them out (I just waited til they looked crunchy). The store bought ones are horrid, but homemade are good stuff. :)

I've been saying for a while I wanted to make kale chips. Kale is great!Thanks for sharing!

YES!!! I love kale chips. I just made a batch this weekend. I can attest to the need to bake at a low temperature for a longer period of time so that you can store them. Otherwise, they just get soft. But you can always bake them again to crisp them up. There's a holistic nutritionist in Toronto where I live called Joy McCarthy - she has a few fabulous kale recipes: Lemon Pumpkin Seed Sea Salt Kale Chips; Curry-Spiced Kale Chips and Cheesy Kale Chips. Look them up - they are great! Long live kale!

LOVE kale chips! And I love kale in a yogurt, almond milk, fruit smoothie. But, I do not love kale fresh or sautéed.

Another great kale invention is the massaged kale salad. Yes, I did say massaged. You rub it with olive oil and salt which breaks up the fibers and causes the kale to sweat out some of its bitterness. Then you just throw in some lemon juice and any other ingredients you like... There are a zillion variations available in the Internet. But they are all massaged.

Just made these last night & I didn't use oil. I washed the kale really well then cracked Hima Salt all over & baked....I too like the burnt ones - they are really, really good & the kids eat them too! Another thing we do with the kale chips is after they are baked we make a goat cheese with a little skim milk sauce and then dump the crispy kale into the sauce! you can serve with pita bread or crackers or just eat alone. My kids ate that too!! So yummy!!

Love them and I just use a quick spray of oil and onion powder ( high bp, no salt). After lots of experiments I prefer 350. If you use parchment paper don't go up to 500. Paper burns at 450!!

I just can't jump on this bandwagon. I made them based on one of your posts a year or so ago. My daughter wouldn't touch them, my husband thought they were terrible, and for me, they were just passable. Still searching for a good, healthy crunchy snack.

Hmmm,

Paper with salt on it!

I tried then once and thought they were really gross and very unappetizing. So many people live them though, that I might need to give them another try.

I make them in my dehydrator and add a sprinkle od nutritional yeast, which gives them a cheesy flavor.

Kale has 3 times the Vit. A and C of the other popular greens. It has a lot of B6 and potassium as well.It beat out spinach, chard, collard and mustard greens. I toss some in the smoothies I make and put it in my vegetable soup a couple days ago. It does not have a strong taste like spinach and it really is good. Kale can't be beat!

Why would anyone want to omit the olive oil? It's a healthy fat. This is 2014, we're well beyond the low-fat hype of the 80's-90's and now know that healthy fats are good and necessary, right? For the amount needed on these chips, it's really not much of a calorie load.

And I agree with comments above: I prefer to cook mine at lower temps for a longer time. If I'm not in a rush, I'll do 250 for 20-25 minutes. Too high and I get distracted and burn it all up.

Thank you so much Mike for your olive oil comment. Indeed - olive oil is GOOD for you - do not be afraid of this wonderful healthy fat, or other healthy fats for that matter. I'm also loving the non-kale chip comments. There's so much you can do with kale. Actually, I make a great kale salad with olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon and avocado. You mix it all in together and massage it until it's nice and soft, and voila - a fabulous kale avocado salad. You can eat as is or add in chopped veggies like tomatoes or sweet peppers or cooked beets; you can also add lean protein like canned tuna or shredded chicken. It's so yummy. You can get baby kale too which is a bit milder tasting and softer than regular kale. And, I've seen a wonderful salad green mix in a one of our Canadian grocery stores - it includes baby kale, baby spinach and baby chard - OMG - it's amazing! The trifecta, holy grail of super greens!

I wish I knew what I did wrong...I'd heard people rave about how great these are, followed a recipe to the letter, and they were the nastiest things I've ever eaten. Tossed 'em out. And kale here is 'way more than a dollar a pound, but about $3 for a small bunch. I'll stick to things like fresh spinach and apple salad.

I like kale, I have never tried the chips, but you have to keep in mind to do it in moderation. I have to be extra careful with it because of my thyroid issues. However, if you have a healthy thyroid, you can eat yourself into thyroid issues with too much kale! My doctor is the one that told me this. He had a lady that did it.

So enjoy your kale, but remember moderation is key!

Instead of salt, I sprinkle some Parmesan cheese in the bowl as I'm mixing the oil. YUM!

Incredible - just bought some fresh organic kale at sprout's! From start to finish - 10 minutes. Rock on! Love Kale!

At the first look it was like yuck! But I am thinkin' that I want to try them now!!

I really don't like fresh kale, but did try Nuts.com Kale Chips and they were wonderful but VERY expensive. Can't wait to try these! Thank you!!!

Want to try these, but have a question about the carbohydrate count. Recipie shows a serving is 10.1 grams of carbs? This seems high considering a serving of fresh kale is approximately 2-4 gms and olive oil has 0 gms of carbs?

I am all about the low temp and longer cook time too. I've never had success with the high temp cooking. Also I even turn the oven off after 30 minutes and just leave tem in for a bit. My kids and picky husband gobble them up

Love them, crispy or soggy. Just olive oil and salt. Has any tried tossing with coconut oil instead?

We like Kale chips, but is have the problem where I burn some of them while some are still soggy. I'll try one of the slower, lower temp methods suggested. My kids ask for them often.

Snack Girl, I've been told you need to cut the leaves away from the middle vein due to it's being bitter! That may explain some of its bitterness? I grow kale at home cuz it's organic, fresh, and delicious! I have a quinoa and kale -stuffed sweet potato recipe I tried last Thanksgiving that everyone-including my vegetable-hating hubby-dearly loved! Love it in my breakfast smoothie too; today was avocado, kale, apple, raspberries, tomato, 2/3 c. O.j., protein powder, and 6 ice cubes, enough for 3 servings. Delightful!! Plan on trying the kale chips soon! Thanks, Girlfriend!

All things in moderation. Too much dark green veggies can cause a blood clot if you are prone to them because of the Vitamin K. Even too much water is bad for you. My uncle washed too much sodium out of his body and nearly died from too much water. He didn't feel well and wasn't eating, just drinking lots of water. Went into convulsion. ANYTHING can be bad for you if you over indulge. It is key to find out what is the ideal amount to eat or drink.

it's also important to spread them out. it takes two or three pans for me to make a batch. if they are crowded they don't crisp up as nicely.

If you want to die for kale chips, the best way to make them without question is to throw them into a dehydrator for 3 hours. Perfectly crisp, melt in your mouth kale chips every single time and when done this way they stay crisp in an air tight container for a week! I always make 4 huge trays at a time and they never ever last in our house as long as a bag of chips we love them that much! I tend to mostly use a little olive oil and 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast, sprinkle on a mix of garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder,cayenne powder,paprika, and a little salt and pepper. Talk about outstanding ~ both cheesy and slightly spicy.. give this a try,you won't be sorry!

Made them once and loved them...Thanks for putting them back on my radar!!!

Question, I was doing some research on oils earlier this year as i was running out of what i normally cook with and found out that not all oils are made equal, and some can't be used at high temperature. There's a bunch of diff kinds of olive oil apparently but all of them have a smoke point below 500F, which is what's in this recipe. Isn't it harmful to bake it at 500F using olive oil?

Mainly curious if you ever looked into all the different kind of oils XD. I recently bought the big bottle of avocado oil from costco to cook with once i'm done with the oil i have. can't wait to cook with it!

but man i really need to make kale chips...i keep chickening out lol

You know, I have seen so many recipes for this, and every single one uses this really high temp, and when I try it, they all come out like carbon!

Do the lower temps others here use really work? Are they crispy when they come out?

The lower temps work fine...just takes a bit longer. I generally use 300-350. Check after 7-10 minutes, maybe rotate the pans and switch their positions (top one to bottom rack and vice-versa), then give it another 5-10 minutes depending on crispiness.

Thanks for the info - so you do two pans at once in the same oven?

Yes...two pans. My kids and wife love kale chips so I need to make a big batch (I actually don't care for 'em...I prefer my kale braised.)

I noticed a couple comments above about the dangers of earing too much kale. I understood that was only an issue with raw, not cooked. Am I wrong?

Excellent question! I am not sure. I had not heard that. My doctor simply said she ate so much she went hypo.

I will ask the next time I speak with him. I still eat some kale, broccoli can apparently do it to, and I will check back.

i know you shouldn't eat it if you're on blood thinners because of the vitamin k.

Moderation is key in all things - my brother got gout from eating too much asparagus!

Just This Afternoon I Was Standing At The Stove Ripping Apart Kale Leaves To Make Kale Chips. My Six Year Old Daughter Walked In And Screamed Oh Boy Mommy Is Making Kale ChIps. We Love Them.

my mom & i make these all the time, but we sprinkle some garlic powder on it. it adds a little more flavor to the kale chips

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