It took me awhile to “get” kale chips. And by awhile, I mean years.
My lack of love for the crispy little snack had to do with two things: 1) Misguided expectations and 2) I wasn’t making them correctly.
But now, that’s all changed. In my quest to get my crispy-food-loving toddler to eat more vegetables, I set out to master kale chips. Even better, my wonderful CSA farmer has been supplying bunches of fresh-picked kale in droves. So my oven has been a kale-chip-makin’ machine, and I’ve learned to absolutely love kale chips in the process. Even better, so does my kid! Victory all around.
First, let’s set some expectations.
What kale chips are not:
- Crunchy. They are really too thin to have any crunch.
- Just like potato chips, but, you know, not fattening. The fact is, they are nothing like potato chips – they don’t taste like them, and they don’t have the same texture. But they are addicting.
What kale chips are:
- Thin, crispy, and light as air. Seriously – they will blow away in a light breeze. I know this to be true by experience.
- A bit of an acquired taste. They still have a bit of a “green” flavor to them, though mostly they taste salty (especially if you overdo it like I tend to do).
- Easy. From garden to salty snacking in 15 minutes, if you desire.
- Really, really addicting. Have I mentioned they’re addicting?
Still with me? Let’s get started!
How to make kale chips
Pick your kale
I generally use two types of kale for my kale chips. Lacinato kale (also known as Tuscan kale or dino kale) is blue-green, fairly flat, and looks almost leathery – kind of like what you’d expect to see if you were to pet a Brontosaurus (and how cool would that be?).
Curly kale is pretty self-explanatory, with tight, ruffled leaves and a slightly more bitter flavor (though I think they taste the same once they’re chippified – that being an official term).
Wash and dry, dry, dry
Give the kale leaves a good rinse and lay them in a single layer on dish towels or paper towels. Roll them up and gently pat them until they’re as dry as you can get them.
Cut ’em up
Using a paring knife or, my favorite, kitchen scissors, cut the ribs out of the kale leaves and discard them (the ribs are very bitter). Then trim each leave into approximately 2-inch sections (some will be smaller – no worries!).
Toss with olive oil
Place the kale into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil – I use about a tablespoon per medium bunch. And toss gently, but thoroughly. You don’t want to bruise the kale, but you want to make sure every single bit of every leaf gets coated. Curly kale, with all its ridges and valleys, might take a little extra effort.
Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet
Line a baking sheet/cookie sheet with parchment paper or a SILPAT mat and lay kale in a single layer on the mat. Sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt (I use kosher salt) as desired.
Bake until crisp
Place the kale in a 300 degree Fahrenheit oven and cook for 8 – 12 minutes, depending on your variety of kale. I find that Lacinato kale gets crisp in about 8 minutes, while curly kale takes more like 11 minutes. But no matter your variety, check it early! As soon as the kale is rigid and crisp, remove it from the oven. It’ll burn quickly. And if it isn’t yet crisp, keep baking, checking every couple of minutes until it is.
Eat!
Let cool for about 30 seconds or so, then you can start snacking! But be warned – once you start, it’s kind of tough to stop. But, hey – there are worse foods to be addicted to, no?
Here are instructions in recipe form (with a print button). Now go get (healthy) snacking!

How to Make Kale Chips
Ingredients
- 1 medium bunch kale
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (more or less to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Wash kale leaves and dry very well.
- Using a paring knife or kitchen scissors, trim out the ribs and discard. Cut the remaining kale into approximately two-inch pieces.
- Place kale in a large bowl and toss gently but thoroughly, making sure that every last bit of kale leave is coated with olive oil.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Lay kale in a single layer on the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. (If you have more kale than baking sheet, you may need to cook them in batches).
- Bake for 8 - 12 minutes, just until crisp. Start checking at 8 minutes - don't overcook or they'll burn! I find that Lacinato kale cooks faster than curly kale. If your kale isn't crisp after 12 minutes, keep baking until it is - check every couple minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for a minute or two, then serve.
More kale chip goodness
From Kitchen Treaty
- Kale & Pomegranate Pizza with Creamy Kale Pesto Sauceย (the kale on top comes out crispy, just like kale chips!)
From around the web
- Tuscan White Bean Soup with Kale Chips from Connoisseurus Veg
- Nacho Cheese Kale Chips from The Roasted Root
- 6 Tips for Flawless Kale Chips + Well-Dressed Kale Chips recipe from Oh She Glows
Kale chips are amaaazing! I love sprinkling mine with tons of nutritional yeast :).
I’ve never tried that, but it sounds fantastic!
I’m not sure if you use nutritional yeast because you are going for a cheese-like flavor or just because you like the flavor of the yeast, but if you are going for a good facsimile of cheese, I recommend mixing some plain old yellow mustard into your yeast mix. It sounds weird, but it makes it taste much more like real cheese.
I sprinkle hemp seeds on mine and just a spritz of lemon juice. So yummy. I’ll have to try te yeast though ๐
Do you put the nutritional yeast on before or after baking? May be a stupid question, but there you have it…
I made kale chips the same way. Love them. Addicted. I added some garlic powder to my Grape seed oil, fresh squeezed lemon, and sea salt mixture then drizzled over the kale and mixed it up with my hands. YUMMY!!!!!
Ohmygoodness gracious. I have never craved a kale chip as much as I do right now. ๐
These habitual. Once you start eating them, you can’t stop.
I’ve been wanting to make these for a long time – kale chips seem like such a great snack! Yours certainly turned out to be very pretty and presentable!
Thanks, Julia! The biggie I think is not burning them. I did that the first few times and I was like, people EAT these? And love them?!! ๐
i am yet to get into this kale chips bangwagon. Thank you so much for the detail instruction I will be looking for kale leaves and attempt these soon.
Always wanted to know how to do this, thanks!
I recently tried kale chips for the first time. This recipe looks great! I also use kale for soup – http://sdonutrition.com/recipes/healthy-kale-soup-weight-loss-recipe
I made these for the first time today and they turned out great! Perfectly crispy with only a slight “green” flavor. They ARE different from potato chips, but they surprisingly conquered my craving for some traditional chips. (I just like the occasional chip for the crunch and the saltiness, and this satisfied both of those cravings.) I’ll definitely be making these often!
These are also fantastic with a little paprika sprinkled on top!
Love that idea!
Fantastic! Even my kids loved them!
Yay! I know what a victory that can be! ๐
I love the detailed information, but I would like to know how to store the chips, and how long can you keep them.
Yum yum yum! Always wanted to try them, and these are yumm! Shared with my neighbors who are also new fans!
Yum yum yum! Always wanted to try them, and these are yumm! Shared with my neighbors who are also new fans!
Thank you Karin.
I’ve been researching kale chips hoping
it will substitute my craving for real chips.
I was excited (overly) but your site has lowered my expectations in a “good way” (lol)
This is the most clarifying article I’ve read yet.
Kudos to you! Great blog too.
Will try them this weekend.
Awesome!! I made them today. I have NEVER eaten so much kale in one sitting! Thanks.
I used the curly kale and baked it for 10 minutes and it has turned out perfectly each time. One cookie sheet worth of chips was actually a very small amount of kale. I had a huge bowl of kale after cutting it into pieces and used one cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil (did not have parchment paper)after another. I ended up having about six batches. Me and my boyfriend eat every batch that came out while the next batch was cooking. DELICIOUS!
Now that we have tried ALL our batches, I have some information since we experimented a bit with each batch. It tasted great using kosher salt. Also good was a batch sprinkled with garlic and red pepper flakes, another with celery salt, and finally another with garlic salt. The last batch was made with kosher salt and black pepper, which I do not recommend because the black pepper gave it a strange taste.
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Since I purchased Kale Chips at our local grocery store and tried them for the first time, I have always wondered how to make them. Well, this Kale Chip recipe is great. I just made several batches and I can’t stop eating them. Thank you Karen!
Hi Roger, so glad you like the recipe! They are totally addicting, aren’t they?!
I made these now I am completely, wholeheartedly addicted. Thank you. I think. ๐
Lynne xx
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We just made these and nearly ate the whole batch. So crispy and good. Can”t wait to make them again.
Experimenting for the first time today! First pan, just salt, turned out great. Now trying garlic, bbq, taco, and maybe another kind depending on what I have left.
best recipe ever for kale chips – every other time I made them, they were bitter and too dark – I guess the oven or minutes was wrong. This time, they were perfect. I even put a picture of them on facebook. Thanks again for this awesome step by step recipe ๐
Hi Danielle, I’m so glad you liked them! I had the same experience before making them this way – so glad I don’t hate kale chips after all. ๐
I just made the kale chips by your directions, they came out great! Something I’ll be making more often and really tasty!
So glad you liked them! My toddler has actually been *asking* for these lately – love that. ๐
Too much oil, I tried the recipe as shown and I think you should put how much kale to add to the 1 T oil. Second batch was less oily with only a teaspoon drizzled on, but still makes your fingers greasy when eating. Tried truffle oil spray, and it worked better & gave a great taste. First batch greasy this morning (made them late last nite) so I don’t recommend storing, just bake & serve
Hi Gayle, that’s a good point – “1 bunch kale” is not necessarily very descriptive, is it? Makes for a wide range of possibilities. I’ll weigh my kale next time and provide that info which should help. Thanks for your comment.
Wow, just read your recipe…Wow, just cooked a couple batches (one w/ salt, one w/out), Wow, great snack!
BTW, have I expressed enough the WOW factor that I just experienced! Nice.
how long will they keep after cooking?
Will the save well like in a zip lock bag to take to work or school the next day?
Wow! I tried these for the first time and they came out tasting so delicious on my first try! Thank you for all your trial and errors. This recipe is a keeper!
Hi Pam, I’m so glad you like it! ๐
I LOVED these but they don’t keep well. I made some last night and they are limp and not crispy at all this morning. I sealed them in a Tupperware container. Any ideas?!
I found an good answer to my problem above!
Nice! NoshOn.It is a great site, and putting rice in the container to help absorb excess moisture is a brilliant idea. I would also think storing them in a *non* airtight container would work, but they could get stale. They never last longer than a day for me! ๐
as a heath conscious disabled person!
I was reading about kale as a superfood*
then I found your site for making Kale-chips!
I have a Philip’s air fryer that makes chips without oil*
so as soon as I can buy some Kale,
I will be using it to make Kale-chips
post the results later when sampled
Hi Richard, I am very interested to hear how they turn out with your air fryer! Hope you loved them.
hi* Karen!
tried Kale-chips yesterday
sprayed with a little olive-oil,
in my plastic-colander,
to begin then a little shake!
cooked for 8 min’s on 200′
they turned out lovely*
had them with some bubble& squeak cakes!
for my supper!
Xxx
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I’ve been wanting to try kale chips for a long time and oh my they are as addictive as you said! Its almost like a semi garlic, seaweed flavour. I think I’m in love. Also, I used an olive oil spray bottle which coats them with the oil but not extra additives. Worked out a treat!
I have just managed to find some Kale to make these delicious chips.
To dry them I spun them in my salad spinner before coating in the Olive Oil.
It worked a treat.
Great idea with a salad spinner! Those things are fabulous. ๐ So glad you liked them!
Put mine in my dehydrator. Worked great without having to worry about burning them.
Great idea!
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Just made these – first attempt and they are absolutely fabulous, they have crisped just perfectly, I really didn’t expect them to, thank you so much!!
Yay! So glad they turned out perfectly for you!
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what a fantastic way to enjoy one of the healthiest vegetables that’s not only a fighter against cancer, but also against aging and is in fact a libido booster and a lifter of good mood! thanks for sharing this awsome snack recipe ๐
Sounds weird to make chips out of kale, but I’m going to try it! Thanks for putting the recipe up! ๐
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This was delicious!
My skeptical boyfriend gave me two thumbs up.
I consider skeptical boyfriend approval to be a huge compliment! ๐ My husband forced himself to try them once … and only once. Guess not *everyone* can be a fan! ๐
This was my first DIY kale chip experience and it turned out fantastic! I will never buy kale chips again. I added salt and vinegar with my oil and let them sit for 5 minutes. This turned out to be good in flavour! Just be warned, when you open the oven door it will really smeel like vinegar. I tried baking the chips at 300 for 8-10 minutes and 150 for 2 hours… the 300 temp was perfect! It took less time and produced a better result. The key, I think, is to not crowd the baking sheet. These are my office mid-morning snack!
Salt and vinegar – yum! I must try that. ๐
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How long are they good for once you make them? How do you store them? I am completely clueless lol
We always eat them right away, but previous commenters have discovered that they keep for a couple of days in an airtight container with a little rice in it to help absorb excess moisture. I’ll make a batch soon to test storage methods on my own and update the post as soon as I know more! ๐
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Kale – I am sorry, but it is a leafy green vegetable and I don’t eat that! Well, I do actually, but Kale was one of those vegetables I was not a fan of, but this recipe changed my mind! YUM! Thanks for the easy step by step. I will blog this. Expect a ping back
http://www.goodcookbecky.com
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This is a great recipe! I have a question about the oiliness of the chips after they are baked. I took them out of the oven after around 10 minutes. They were nice and crispy, but they were soooo oily! The silicone mat they were on was quite slick with the oil. I made sure the leaves were fully oiled before placing them in the oven. Maybe I should use parchment paper instead of a silicone mat to absorb the oil? Any tips/advice on this? Thanks so much!
My instructions for the amount of kale to use is pretty imprecise – a bunch of kale can be small or huge! So I would say just use less oil next time. Start with half the amount or even less, and if you find that’s not enough to coat the leaves, just add a little more. That should work a little better for you. I don’t think parchment is any more likely to absorb than a silicone mat, but I could be wrong there!
To reduce oiliness, next batch, I’ll brush the whole leaves (minus ribs) with olive oil using an ordinary pastry brush, before cutting them up. Brush lets you daub oil into all the curls and crevices.
If I’m using the Tuscan kale (as opposed to the curly), I leave the leaves (no pun intended) whole(or sliced once lengthwise down the middle if large) and they seem to crisp up just as well.
Will be starting 40+ kale seedlings tomorrow for transplanting into the garden in May. Not hard at all to grow (but need the occasion spray of BTK, a natural insecticide) to keep them free of the small green ‘cabbage’ worms.
I am such a horrible cook, I hardly make anything BUT I wanted to try this one out! Thank you for the printable recipe… made it super easy for me and it turned out great!! I would describe the taste as fresh spinach chips. Hope that helps! Yum!
Now I want to try making spinach chips! ๐ Thanks for the nice comment, Lisa. So glad you like them (and the printable recipe, too! I use that feature all the time myself!)
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Thank you for sharing this recipe! Tried it last night for the first time and success. Hubby and I both loved them! No more potato chips for us, these are way better!
Yay! So glad you both love kale this way! I still need to convince my husband. Well … more for me. ๐
I used Sesame Oil on one batch and liked it even better than with olive oil
I love that idea! And maybe a few sesame seeds sprinkled on the chips after baking. Yum.