Hello, world. My name is Sarah, and I am a chip addict.
Tortilla chips, veggie chips, soy chips, lentil chips, corn chips, I’ll take them all – but my poison of choice is potato chips. I can’t be trusted with an entire bag, because I’ll eat the whole thing in one sitting. And no, I’m not exaggerating. They’re pretty much my kryptonite. But the problem is, those deliciously crunchy potato chips are nothing but empty calories – they have virtually no redeeming nutritional value.
So what do I turn to, if not my favorite potato chips? Well, kale chips are a pretty ubiquitous option, especially in the food blogging community, but I’ve never had luck making them – somehow they would always turn out soggy and burnt. Pretty awful. And then I would see recipes for dehydrated kale, but I don’t have a dehydrator. Welp.
So, after much experimentation, I think I’ve found the ideal combination of kale + oil + salt and pepper + oven temperature. In fact, after so many failures I’ve had making kale chips, I was actually shocked that these came out perfectly crispy and crunchy…. from an oven. In fact, I’m still kind of surprised about the whole thing. But, believe it or not, I couldn’t stop munching on these chips as I was supposed to be photographing them. And then when I was done, I happily gobbled up an entire head of kale that I had cooked. Woohoo kale chips!!
I know the instructions are a bit long, but I’ve had some bad experiences with kale chip recipes that went short on the explanations. I tried to think of any questions I had when going on my kale chip-making journey, and preemptively answer them in the recipe!
How to Make Kale Chips Without a Dehydrator
Ingredients
- 4 Cups Kale packed
- 1/2 Tbs Flax Oil
- 1/8 Tsp Salt
- 1/8 Tsp Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to its lowest possible temperature. For most ovens, this is about 140 degrees F.
- Wash kale, then dry as thoroughly as possible.
- Cut into large-ish, chip-sized pieces (chips will shrink in oven). My pieces were between 2-4 inches wide. Beware - the thick vein in the middle of the kale is full of water. It's how water travels to the leaves from the stalks! You can include this part in your chips, but those chips will turn out soggier.
- In a bowl, combine chopped kale, flax oil, salt, and pepper, mixing with hands. This is the fun part! Continue combining until all pieces are evenly coated.
- On a baking tray lined with parchment paper, place kale down so it is fairly evenly spaced. (Some overlap is okay!)
- Place kale in the middle rack of the oven.
- Rolling up a piece of tin foil until it resembles a 1-inch wide "snake", prop the oven open so it stays open just a crack. This will allow any steam to escape, so the chips don't get soggy.
- Bake chips for 30-40 minutes, then mix around a bit.
- Stick chips back in the oven for another 30-40 minutes. The baking time will vary depending on your oven's temperature - but that's okay! My rule of thumb is 30 minute intervals until the chips are pretty crispy. If they still need more time, keep checking at 10-15 minute intervals to make sure they don't burn.
- Once the chips are done, let cool (if you can) then enjoy!
Song of the Day:
Swing Lo Magellan – Dirty Projectors
2 Comments
GiGi Eats
June 23, 2015 at 4:39 pmKale roasted in the oven is absolutely phenomenal! Such an easy way to get it into the diet ;)
WellAndFull
June 23, 2015 at 7:54 pmIt is!! Delicious too :)