I totally got hooked on Kale chips last summer. It took me a good long while to try them out, mainly because they were so darn expensive for such a little bag. I mean tiny bag, like really small, pouch small, bag is almost to big a word for the size of these things. They were $6.99 each. I was seriously tempted, but 7 bucks and I wasn’t even sure they would be worth it.
I eventually bit the kale chip and bought a bag. The good new is I totally loved them. Like on the first bite. It didn’t take me long to inhale the entire bag. It’s not like there was a lot in that bag to begin with 🙂
I’ve loved them ever since, the only problem is, I’m not willing to pay $7 a bag for them.
Soon after, I decided to try my hand at making my own. What I discovered is that they are super easy to make yourself! I make these Oven Baked Kale Chips on a regular basis now. I’m always trying to figure out what new combos of spices I can add to them, but I never get tired of them and they never last long around here.
Big bunches of fresh Kale are pretty reasonable at the store, around $2.99, sometimes less. Well worth the price, especially since I can control what goes into making them, the more natural the better I say.
It was a little trial and error in the beginning. The first time I made kale chips, I overcooked them in a too hot oven and burned them somewhat. They weren’t horrid but they weren’t as great as they could have been. My oven tends to run a little hot, so for me, I find that the temperature that works best is 300F. In my oven, I got crispy oven baked kale chips in short order with no burned bits.
I removed the kale from the stems, tearing some of the larger leaves as I went. I placed them in a colander and gave the leaves a good rinse, then left them to dry a bit before putting them in a salad spinner. One of the tricks I’ve found is that your kale leaves need to be as dry as possible before you put them in the oven, water just means soggy kale chips, they steam while they’re cooking.
I like to dress my kale leaves with some virgin coconut oil, garlic powder, crushed red chili pepper and freshly ground salt. Give everything a light toss with my fingers and then spread them out evenly on a baking sheet. Give your kale leaves plenty of room. If I crowd my pan too much, I end up with soggy kale chips. If you don’t over crowd the sheet, you get nice crispy oven baked kale chips every time!
I place my sheet pan in the oven at 300F and cook for 10 minutes. After the time is up, I go in and rotate the pan and make sure everything is cooking evenly and nothing is burning. I leave them to cook another 10-15 minutes. I like to check on them during the second cooking time, just to make sure nothing is starting to burn.
Normally for me, I find about 25 minutes in my oven seems to do the trick for perfect crispy oven baked kale chips.
Once I remove the kale chips for the oven, I leave them to rest for a few minutes, then it’s time to tuck in and enjoy!
These never last very long around here. I could inhale an entire batch in one go. And often do! Oven baked Kale chips are one of my favourite snacks and a total bonus that they’re good for you too 🙂
I love when something tastes great and is good for you. It’s like winning the food lottery.
