These baked sea salted kale chips are a tasty, addictive, low calorie, melt-in-your-mouth snack that you’re going to love!
What comes to mind when you think of the words “kale chips”? If you’ve never actually experienced kale chips, then words related to “vegan”, “hippie dippie”, and “too-good-to-be-true” probably ring through your head. But if you have tasted these little wonders, well then you know better.
These things are good. But they’re definitely not potato chips. Don’t go thinking you can do a blindfold test and not be able to tell a difference. There is a difference.
But it’s a difference we love. Kale chips are both crispy yet melt in your mouth, and you’ll be surprised when you hit the bottom of the snack bowl faster than you thought possible!
Oven baked kale chip ingredients
- Kale: You can use any variety of kale for kale chips, such as curly, dinosaur, or red kale.
- Oil: You don’t need much oil, just enough to lightly coat the leaves, bringing out that magical crispiness. To use less oil, simply spray the leaves with cooking spray rather than using the full amount of oil.
- Salt: As with any good chip, these kale chips require a healthy pinch of salt.
- Optional flavorings: To bring even more magic to your kale chips, flavor them with a quick homemade blend of spices using any of these seasonings (Ranch and Dorito are my favorites!)
How to make kale chips in the oven
Start by washing the kale and drying it well with paper towels or a clean cloth. Cut the leaves from the spine; the spine is bitter and you just don’t need that in your life. Then roughly tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces.
In a large bowl, massage the oil into the leaves, making sure each piece of kale has a thin coat of oil.
Sprinkle lightly with sea salt, toss to combine, then lay each piece out on a baking sheet, trying to keep them from overlapping (you may need a second tray). Bake at 300 degrees F (150 C) for 8 to 12 minutes, keeping a close eye on them after 8 minutes. They’re done when crispy but not brown.
Have an air fryer? Here’s how to cook kale chips in an air fryer!
Kale chip seasonings
These kale chips are great with some seasonings sprinkled on after baking! You can find a full list of my favorite seasonings here (originally for popcorn, but they all work well on kale chips). Here are a few of my favorites:
- Ranch Seasoning: ½ tsp dried dill, ½ tsp dried chives, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper
- Dorito Seasoning: 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp cumin, ¼ tsp paprika, ¼ tsp chili powder, ¼ tsp salt
- Coconut Curry Seasoning: 1 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut, ½ tsp curry powder, ¼ tsp salt
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale about 5 cups, 8-10 oz
- 1 Tbsp olive oil 15 mL
- ¼ tsp salt
- Optional flavorings see notes
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Wash and dry kale. Cut the leaves from the spine, then roughly tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces.
- Flavor: Massage oil into the leaves, making sure each piece of kale has a thin coat of oil. Sprinkle with salt and toss to coat.
- Cook: Lay kale in a single layer on a baking sheet, uncurling the leaves as much as possible while keeping them from overlapping too much (you may need two baking sheets). Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, keeping a close eye on them after 8 minutes. They’re done when crispy but not brown (will become more crispy as they cool).
Tips & Tricks
- Optional flavorings: Sprinkle on after baking. Find a full list of my favorite seasonings here. A few of my favorites:
- Ranch: ½ tsp dried dill, ½ tsp dried chives, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper
- Dorito: 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp cumin, ¼ tsp paprika, ¼ tsp chili powder, ¼ tsp salt
- Coconut Curry: 1 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut, ½ tsp curry powder, ¼ tsp salt
- Store kale chips in a paper bag, or in a loosely sealed plastic bag lined with a paper towel. They keep well at room temperature for up to a week. If they lose their crunch, throw them back in the oven for just a few minutes.
- Have an air fryer? Here’s how to cook kale chips in an air fryer!
Nutrition Information
Silvia Ribas says
Hi Sarah, I saw this recipe on my Pinterest board “Healthy Snacks”, this is exactly what I was looking for… an easy and delicious recipe to use some of my curly kale from the garden. I’ve always wanted to make kale chips but I can’t help but to always juice my kale. Fortunately I have so much kale in the garden that I can finally try this. Thank you for the inspiration ! xoxo
Sarah says
Hey Silvia, let me know how you like them! I haven’t actually ever tried juicing. What is juiced kale like? Does it have much of a flavor?
Silvia Ribas says
Was just about to head over to my garden to get the kale I need for this recipe, so I will let you know the result. Yes, kale juice is very flavorful but I combine with other ingredients too such as cucumbers, lemon, celery, green apple and others, it depends on what I have in the fridge really. I do have a recipe on my blog if you want to take a look. Juicing is a great way to make sure your body is getting enough nutrients and vitamins, because it’s easier to drink a concentrated juice then eating that same amount of solids. Let me know if you end up trying kale juice as well.
Sarah says
Yea I’ll definitely take a look. Thanks for sharing the idea! Kale is certainly full of a ton of nutrients and I’m sure eating an entire bunch would be quite the task. 🙂
N.P. Xanadu says
I noticed a whopping 720mg of cholesterol noted on the bottom of the above recipe for, of all things – roasted kale chips?! Isn’t cholesterol from animal products, and so I cannot figure out how this could be, unless maybe you changed out bacon grease for olive oil but then, what’s the point of that?
Also, as for the Coca-Cola advertisements inserted in this genre of natural clean eating food publication…again, WHAT’S THE POINT OF THAT???
Sarah says
Hey there, thanks for pointing that out. There are definitely NOT 720mg of cholesterol in this recipe, in fact there are 0mg. I’ve updated the nutrition info to reflect this, thanks for the catch!
As for the Coca-Cola advertisement, unfortunately I cannot control which specific ads show on the site, as they are based on individual readers, times, and locations (though the ads are always family-friendly). If you ever catch an ad on this site that offends you, please feel free to click “Report this ad” to have it removed.
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Abigail M says
It was an easy and great recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Abigail! 😀
Bernie Noetzel says
I did the Kale Ships just as you said They tasted really jummy
Thank’s for the Recipe
Audrey fichter says
This recipe was a success for me! They tasted so wonderful I could hardly stop eating them. I used lemon pepper on them.
Sharon says
Very good flavor
Amy says
Hiya, for anyone who is interested I made them with the nacho topping and it amped up the carbs to 12.1g per net serving based on it being four servings. Hard to believe but that’s what it amounted to. Also protein for that particular combo if anyone needs is 4.9 grams of protein.
Debbie says
Have tried doing these in the past, turned out lousy. But these are Very good. Cooked 10 mins then flipped & cooked another 5 mins. Nice and crispy. I will do this again.
Patricia Johnson says
I love it
Janet says
I’ve always made my kale chips in the dehydrator as that way I don’t have to worry about burned parts or uneven cooking. Dehydrating is very forgiving! But I love your plethora of spice options and have tried two of them and want to say “thank you!”. I’ll be referring others to this page in case they want to try kale chips themselves.
Sarah Bond says
That’s a great idea, Janet! Happy to hear you could get some inspiration from this post! 😀