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Kale Chips: Believe The Hype

March 19, 2012   59 Comments

Kale is getting a lot of press and finding its way on all the top blogs. I had to ask this kale to stop on the red carpet to photograph it.

Kale Chips recipe

Why is it growing 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 myself many times and started eating it precisely because so many recipes are showing up. Here are three of my kale recipes:

1. greensmoothieb This Green Smoothie Does NOT Taste Like Grass

2. massagekaleb Give The Healthiest Vegetable on The Planet Some Love

3. kalesaladb The Unthinkable: A Christmas Salad

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.

How did we fall in love? Well, I made kale chips. 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.

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

kaleschips2b

Kale Chips Recipe

(no reviews yet)

(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. 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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First 20 Comments: ( See all 59 )

These are really very tasty chips. I am reading about this for the first time but it is very yummy & can be cooked easily. Nice sharing. Thanks.

My wife and I regularly make kale chips sans oil and while we have to keep a close eye on them while baking (since the difference between perfect and burned is about 2.7 seconds), they're delicious like that, too.

She digs hummus + kale wraps and I eat pieces raw as a snack. (Our local grocery store sells a huge bag of kale pieces (I even like the stemmy pieces, but they're not very good for chip-making) for $4.99.)

Please keep the kale ideas coming, Lisa. I think that https://snack-girl.com/snack/kale-chips/ clued me in to the idea of eating it and I'm so glad I tried it. Thank you!

PS to those of you who think, "Oh, that's fascinating, but I'm never going to eat that $#!&!; I almost gagged to death on kale when I was six, so thanks, but no thanks", I have a hypothesis:

In nature (and we humans tend to eat stuff that comes from nature, or at least we used to do that a lot up until about fifty years ago), a bitter taste = possibly poisonous. (That relationship isn't perfect, but you get what I mean.)

So, as a tiny tot, if something bitter touches your tongue, it's not unreasonable for your tiny brain to raise a red flag, saying, "Uh oh! Bitter = Bad!" and you spit it out, possibly saving your tiny life.

While that "bitter test" undoubtedly works well for a tiny body that needs the best "raw materials" in order to grow up big and strong, as we age, we can afford to be less sensitive to the result of a "bitter test" because not all bitter tastes = poison. But -- while we're young -- better safe than sorry.

Again, the above is just some wacky idea I had in an attempt to explain why we hate bitter stuff as kids, but -- for those who are willing to try again later in life -- not so much as adults.

All that said, if you're still convinced that kale will kill you, then skip it and leave more of it for those of us who [heart] it! :)

I made these this weekend and I was so surprised at how great they tasted, I actually ate them all already lol

Great recipe Snack Girl! Just one question- what's the time equivalency if my oven can't go above 450?

Thanks!

These are even healthier if you use a dehydrator!

Frankly, I don't feel the love. I was really excited about trying this when they became "in" a few months ago.

Despite many, many attempts and reportedly "great" variations on this recipe, I just don't like the chips (or several other recipes using the veggie)

To me, kale chips just aren't that satisfying.

They just dissolve into nothing but salt in your mouth.

Ick.

I'll have to stick to the green smoothie for my kale consumptions, I guess.

KALE CHIPS?? Thank you! I know all about the meteoric rise to stardom that kale has taken lately, and my girlfriend is all over it. She served me a kale salad which I did like, but wondered how I was going to get this into my diet b/c I am not a natural fan. These intrigue me, though, and my just be my ticket!

Just had some last night! One of the local farmers at our farmers' market recommend I just pile them on, not worry about spreading them out, and toss once, this is easier for me, and the kids LOVE them! My 3 year old couldn't eat enough of them last night while we watched a film - how's that for a substitute to sugary movie treats?

Ok...it took me months to give these a try...but wow when I did! My friend and I, both WW, are experimenting with different flavor seasonings! YUMMO....I am even planting Kale in the garden........

I am like the commenter above, I was so excited to try this because I never heard anyone say they didn't like them. Well, I did not. I don't know what it was, but it just was not good. I am glad though that you can't taste them in a smoothie!!

I make my Kale chips with Kernel Seasons Barbecue Popcorn Seasoning and olive oil! Makes them even sweeter that way! I love that I can eat a HUGE bowl and not feel guilty!

Excuse me if this is a dumb question, but do you wash the Kale before baking? Just curious is that step is necessary....Thank you:)

Sounds so yummy and healthy. I need to try this.

Will have to try these! Thanks, Snack Girl!!

http://collegecookingandironchefamerica.blogspot.com/

As gardening time comes near, I would like to plug kale as one of the best producers in the garden, per square inch. And our grandchildren eat it right off the plant as it is growing.

I've tried and tried, but I just can't get into kale chips. It's stinky because there healthy. Maybe I'll give them one more try?

Um, I wouldn't eat anything that you buy at the store without washing it first! Wash and dry thoroughly!

Jennifer, try adding different seasonings. EVOO and salt is nice, but can be a little plain. I like to dress mine up with garlic powder, pepper, cayanne, etc. You could even throw on some parmasean cheese as soon as they come out of the oven.

You can bake them with just salt and olive oil, but i like to make various different flavors like tahini lime or sprinkle them with nutritional yeast - takes just like cheesy chips! It's also just as easy to put some spices like cayenne or thyme to perk them up as well :)

I've made kale chips but I came out with half-soggy, half-burnt chips. Any suggestions on perfecting them???

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