This 3-ingredient kale chips recipe comes together quickly and is easy to customize with your favorite seasonings.
Kale Chip Ingredients
Here are a few brief notes about the 3 basic ingredients that you will need to make kale chips:
- Fresh kale: It’s best to use a sturdy variety of kale, such as curly kale or Lacinato (a.k.a. “dinosaur”) kale, when making kale chips so that they will crisp up and hold their shape nicely while baking.
- Oil: I typically use extra-virgin olive oil to make kale chips, but feel free to use any other mild-flavored cooking oil that you prefer. Avocado oil, grapeseed oil, or coconut oil would all be good options.
- Salt: Finally, don’t forget to season your kale chips to bring out the flavor of the kale! I typically use fine sea salt or flaky sea salt for a bit of extra crunch.
How To Make Kale Chips
Full instructions for how to make kale chips are included in the recipe below, but here are a few additional tips to keep in mind:
- Choose good kale. When shopping for kale, look for fresh kale leaves that are a vibrant green color (not yellowed or brown) with firm stems (not wilted).
- Take time to dry the kale thoroughly. Moisture is the enemy of crispy kale chips, so be sure to take time to dry the kale thoroughly with a salad spinner, a clean kitchen towel or paper towels after it has been rinsed. Then toss with oil, seasonings and bake!
- Don’t overcrowd the kale. It’s important that the kale leaves are arranged in an even layer (not overlapping) so that they can bake evenly and not steam.
- Monitor closely while baking. Kale chips can go from crispy to burnt in a matter of minutes. So keep a close eye on them during the final few minutes of baking, especially if you have an oven that runs hot or cooks unevenly.
- Store properly. Kale chips are definitely best enjoyed fresh. But if you happen to have any leftovers, just store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 48 hours.
Kale Chip Seasoning Ideas
There are countless ways that you can add extra seasonings to your kale chips, but here are some of our favorites:
- Garlic Parmesan: Sprinkle with garlic powder and Parmesan before baking (or you can add the Parmesan after baking).
- Nutritional Yeast: Sprinkle with nutritional yeast before baking.
- Lemon Herb: Toss with lemon juice and dried herbs (such as an Italian seasoning blend) before baking.
- Everything Bagel: Sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning before baking.
- Cool Ranch: Sprinkle with ranch seasoning before baking.
- Chili Lime: Toss with lime juice and Tajín before baking.
- Za’atar: Sprinkle with za’atar seasoning before baking.
More Kale Recipes To Try!
Looking for more delicious ways to enjoy fresh kale? Here are a few of our favorite kale recipes:
- Everyday Kale Salad
- Blueberry Kale Smoothie
- Ginger Kale Fried Rice
- Sweet Potato Avocado Kale Salad
- Colcannon (Kale Mashed Potatoes)
Kale Chips
This classic kale chips recipe comes together quickly and is easy to customize with your favorite seasonings.
Ingredients
- 1 medium bunch of kale (curly kale or dinosaur kale)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt
Instructions
- Prep the oven and baking sheet. Heat oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prep the kale. Rinse the kale leaves with cold water, then very thoroughly dry the leaves either using a salad spinner or paper towels. Strip away and discard the tough kale stems. Tear the remaining leaves into chip-sized pieces, keeping in mind that the kale will shrink as it bakes, and then place them in a large mixing bowl.
- Toss. Drizzle the kale evenly with oil, then gently toss until all of the leaves are very lightly and evenly coated. Arrange the leaves in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet (or you may need to use two baking sheets if the kale does not fit in a single layer), then season evenly with a generous amount of sea salt.
- Bake. Bake until the leaves are crispy, about 13 to 16 minutes. You’ll want to keep a close eye on the leaves during the final few minutes of baking so that they do not accidentally burn.
- Serve. Remove the baking sheet and let the kale chips cool for 10 minutes. Then serve and enjoy!
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Ugh. One more question. I went to the grocery store this morning and forgot to get parchment paper. I really don’t want to have to go back just for that. Is it necessary, or might there be an alternative?
Hey Sara!
Absolutely – feel free to just use cooking spray to grease the pan a bit. Or you can also use aluminum foil. Whatever works! :-)
Enjoy!
~A
Thanks! Kale is abundant at the farmers market right now, and I was looking for a new way to use it. I wanted to make ALL of it into these chips, but that’s a lot to eat in one serving. Two or three servings, not a problem. :-)
Question. Do these keep well, or do they need to be served immediately?
Hi Sara!
I’ve kept them around for 2-3 days (stored in an airtight container), but not sure if they would last just too much longer. Sorry, not too sure on that one…good luck!
~A
made them! love them! Would be great on a hamburger!
Yum… These look great! I have seen various posts about kale chips but haven’t given them a try yet. I really need to! We get a lot of kale in our CSA, so now I will have the perfect recipe to try!
Hey Jen!
Actually, it was an abundance of CSA kale that initially led my friends and I to try them! So fun – and versatile too. :)
~A
This is such a creative use of kale – I never would have thought to do this! Great recipe!
My biggest craving is “salty crunchy” and this looks like the best way to do it AND be healthy. Cannot wait to try–I’m off to the Farmer’s Market tomorrow!
What temp should the oven be for that 12 minute bake time? Thanks!
Oh no! So sorry everyone — forgot that “minor” detail. :-)
The oven temp needs to be 350 for these. I just edited the post. Enjoy!!
~A
Yeah for kale! I love Cale! Oh wait that is my husbands name! ;)
Hi Ali. how hot should the oven be when making the kale chips? thanks!