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Quick and easy Crispy Kale Chips are the tastiest way to eat more greens! You need just two ingredients and 20 minutes to make these healthy vegetable chips.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Kale: Any kale works here: Common curly, Lacinato (aka Tuscan or Dinosaur kale), red or Redbor, or Siberian kale. Be sure to remove the woody stems before tearing the leafy greens into “chip”-size pieces. The bags of chopped kale always include stems. The weight of a bunch of kale varies, but here are some guidelines. The bunch of curly kale pictured in this post weighed 9 ounces, then 6 ounces after I removed the toughest stems. After tearing it into small pieces, I had 12 cups of uncooked kale. This cooked down to 8 cups kale chips.
Step-by-step instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Fill a large bowl with water and add kale. Swish around to remove any dirt; drain. Dry thoroughly using a salad spinner or a clean kitchen towel.
- Tear the kale leaves into 1-inch to 2-inch pieces, discarding the ribs, and place in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss with your hands until evenly coated.
- Arrange the leaves in a single layer (with NO overlap) on ungreased cookie sheets. Rub each leaf gently between your fingers as you work to ensure each is covered in oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until leaves are crispy.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: 12 cups uncooked kale cooks down to 8 cups kale chips. Because they are so light and thin (shatteringly crisp), I like 2 cups kale chips per serving (4 servings).
- Storage: Store in an airtight container or a zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Your pan plan: Kale cooks down to a fraction of its original size. Plan on 2 to 3 sheet pans per bunch of kale (depending on the size of the bunch and the size of your pans). I do about 4 cups uncooked kale per baking sheet.
- No overlap: The most important step for super-crispy vegetable chips? They must be arranged in a single layer. Overlapped chips causes them to steam and they won’t be crispy.
- Spice things up: At the same time you add salt, feel free to sprinkle on your favorite savory seasonings: Smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, Cajun Seasoning, cumin, chili powder, Za’atar, garlic powder, or Everything Bagel Seasoning. Or skip the salt and use my copycat Lawry’s Seasoned Salt instead.
Lovely leafy greens recipes
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White Bean and Kale Soup
Breakfast Recipes
Spinach Smoothie
Salad Recipes
Rainbow Thai Salad with Mango
Salad Recipes
Strawberry Spinach Salad
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Crispy Kale Chips
Quick and easy Crispy Kale Chips are the tastiest way to eat more greens! You need just two ingredients and 20 minutes to make these healthy vegetable chips.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale stemmed and torn into 3-inch pieces (about 12 cups, see note 1)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Fill a large bowl with water and add kale. Swish around to remove any dirt; drain. Dry thoroughly using a salad spinner or a clean kitchen towel.
- Tear the kale leaves into 1” – 2” pieces, discarding the ribs, and place in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss with your hands until evenly coated.
- Arrange the leaves in a single layer (with NO overlap) on ungreased cookie sheets. Rub each leaf gently between your fingers as you work to ensure each is covered in oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until leaves are crispy.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Kale: Any kale works here: Common curly, Lacinato (aka Tuscan or Dinosaur kale), red or Redbor, or Siberian kale. Be sure to remove the woody stems before tearing the leafy greens into “chip”-size pieces. The bags of chopped kale always include stems. The weight of a bunch of kale varies, but here are some guidelines. The bunch of curly kale pictured in this post weighed 9 ounces, then 6 ounces after I removed the toughest stems. After tearing it into small pieces, I had 12 cups of uncooked kale. This cooked down to 8 cups kale chips.
- Yield: 12 cups uncooked kale cooks down to 8 cups kale chips. Because they are so light and thin (shatteringly crisp), I like 2 cups kale chips per serving (4 servings).
- Storage: Store in an airtight container or a zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Your pan plan: Kale cooks down to a fraction of its original size. Plan on 2 to 3 sheet pans per bunch of kale (depending on the size of the bunch and the size of your pans). I do about 4 cups uncooked kale per baking sheet.
- No overlap: The most important step for super-crispy vegetable chips? They must be arranged in a single layer. Overlapped chips causes them to steam and they won’t be crispy.
- Spice things up: At the same time you add salt, feel free to sprinkle on your favorite savory seasonings: Smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, Cajun Seasoning, cumin, chili powder, Za’atar, garlic powder, or Everything Bagel Seasoning. Or skip the salt and use my copycat Lawry’s Seasoned Salt instead.
Nutrition
Serving: 2cupsCalories: 160kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 9gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 77mgPotassium: 987mgVitamin A: 20080IUVitamin C: 241mgCalcium: 302mgIron: 3mg
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Technique and prep are everything here – oven temp, separation, rubbing oil on each one. Mine were delicious although I over did the salt! I used a convection toaster oven, and they were crispy in about 12 minutes, so watch your timing the first couple of times you make them. Definitely making these again!
Hi Julie, thank you so much for your comment! I’m so glad you loved them! – Meggan
Perfectly made!
Thank you Kathrine! – Meggan
This is an amazing recipe, chips turn out crispy and tasty, and easy directions. I Definitely recommend trying this recipe, especially off you’re new to kale chips.
Thank you Barbara! – Meggan
I got some kale in my produce box subscription. These were easy and tasty and a great healthy snack!
Perfect and easy thank you!
Great recipe! I was finally able to get them crispy but not burnt with this recipe. Thank you!
Hi Meghan,
I can’t wait to make this kale chips., I love almost all kinds of chips. They’re my biggest problem, when I get home from work if I have any chips in my pantry, I’m in trouble.., LOL, so I rather not buy them. I’ll definitely try this Kale Chips.
Thanks so much,
Annie 💃🏽
I keep on making the chips. I prepare them in my dehydrator, so I can make 9 sheets in one. I also use parmezan cheese, that is good to. But I prefer SALT and pepper. Thanks for this great idea.
Thanks I follow this recipe and had some delicious kale chips last night. Have you ever tried storing these? Do these keep well in an air tight container? How long do they last?
Hi Bek, I can honestly say I’ve never had to store them… overnight yes, and they were fine, but beyond that they never lasted (as in, we ate them immediately)! I will see what I can find out and get back to you, though. Thanks!