Kale Chips
Fill that salty crunchy craving with an incredibly healthy, vegan, gluten-free option! These Kale Chips are super easy to make at home with a food dehydrator and they’re crispy, crunchy, “cheezy”, and incredibly healthy, too!
Meet my latest obsession – AND my kid’s! This is by far my favorite way to eat kale and if it means that my kids are devouring kale, then it truly cannot get any better. Welcome, Kale Chips!
Ingredients Needed
It doesn’t get much easier than this.
- Fresh Kale – We prefer Curly Kale, which is the one you’re most likely to find in your grocery store, but your local farmers market may have some other varieties like Tuscan Kale, Red Russian Kale, or Siberian Kale. This recipe is great for any variety!
- Olive Oil – A good one like Extra Virgin.
- Kosher Salt – Or regular table salt, or get fancy and use Pink Himalayan!
- Nutritional Yeast – This is optional, but it adds a delicious “cheesy” like flavor, but if you don’t have it, no problem! They’re still delicious!
We also love to make these with our Everything bagel seasoning!
Do I need a Dehydrator?
No, not necessarily. You can also make them in your air fryer and your oven (see recipe notes), but our favorite way is with a food dehydrator. Mainly because it’s so hands-off. There are many out there and we started with this one:
It was great! But then we updated to this dehydrator which is like the Cadillac of Food Dehydrators. If it’s in your budget, trust me, you won’t regret it!
How to Make
Another reason why we love them so much is that they are so easy.
Step One: Clean the kale and tear it into bite-sized pieces and add to a bowl.
Tip: Be sure that after you clean it, it’s nice and dry be able to get a good oil, salt, and nutritional yeast coating.
Step Two: Add olive oil, salt, nutritional yeast and then give a good mix. This is best done with your hands. Yes, it’ll get messy but it’s the best way to ensure it’s all mixed well.
Step Three (if using a dehydrator): Add the kale pieces to dehydrator trays and let the machine do its thaaanngg.
Dehydrated until crispy delightfulness!
I mean, hellooo.. does it get any more delightful? Let me repeat: my 2 and 4 year olds LOVE these so much that they actually ask for them with their cereal for breakfast.
No matter how you make them, enjoy them! They are crispy like a chip. Salty like a chip. Cheesy like a cheesy chip. But HEALTHY!
Perfect bites of vitamin A, C, iron, calcium, and potassium that again, let me say, my kids LOVE!
Other Great Dehydrator Recipes
If you do get a dehydrator, that means you can also make these dehydrator favorites:
Other Favorite Kale Recipes
This is a snack that keeps on giving. Not only do the girls love it, but it’s so incredibly healthy. It’s a truly win-win. My girls ask for kale chips all of the time, and I am happy to give it to them!
Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
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Kale Chips
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 bunches of kale cut and cleaned
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
Instructions
- Make sure the kale is completely dry. Rip into bite sized pieces.
- Drizzle a bit of olive oil over kale and mix well. Sprinkle on salt and nutritional yeast. Mix well again and add to dehydrator trays in a single layer on each tray.
- Set dehydrator to 160 degrees and cook for 2-3 hrs until nice and crispy!
I buy kale all the time and I’ve yet to make it into chips. It sounds like such a wonderful munchy type snack. So much better to snack on something that’s good for me than on something that has empty nutritional value. I have to go to the health food store — I’ve got nutritional yeast on my list. Looking forward to trying the chips out.
Great – I hope you enjoy them, Marisa!
Oh, I so have to make these! We love kale chips, but I’ve never tried making them at home. I have nutritional yeast in my pantry, which I love, because it adds a parmesan cheese type of flavour to me. Thanks!
Yes! It’s like a “cheesy” snack that’s secretly healthy!
Oh my God I have to get a food dehydrator!! What else can I use it for?? I love kale chip but find it so hard getting them just right in the oven, either not crispy enough or burnt 🙁
Oooh you definitely need a food dehydrator! We use ours for these kale chips, beef jerky, and dehydrating onions for homemade onion soup from scratch! https://www.servedfromscratch.com/alton-browns-beef-jerky/
https://www.servedfromscratch.com/onion-soup-mix-from-scratch/
this is such a great idea for a snack! i have never used nutritional yeast before, but my mom is a huge fan of it!
Can you believe I’ve never eaten a kale chip? Who knew they were so easy to make!
So. Very. Good. I’ve been looking to an alternative to munching chips in front of the TV at night, and these are awesome, especially when you’ve had enough hummus for the week:)
Just bought nutritional yeast… I need to break out the dehydrator and try these!
Oh yay! Yes, you do! They’re so tasty and easy!
I’ve never had kale chips. I love kale salads, does that count?? I look forward to giving it a try!
I LOVE! kale chips! I’ve never tried nutritional yeast. I should probably fix that…
Oooh Megan you don’t know what you’re missing! 😀
that kale looks amazing! i have to try these!