This recipe for Kale Chips with Parmesan is so easy to make at home and a nutritious savory snack full of fiber, iron, and vitamin A. Kale chips are crispy little bites that are portable too. For those times when you're on-the-go and have limited access to healthy food and you're looking for a little something, these chips are just what you need! I pack them in the "to-go" bag all the time!
Jump to:
- Can I Get Kale Chips in the Grocery Store?
- What You Need to Make Kale Chips
- How to Remove Stems From Kale
- How to Dry Kale
- Variations (Spicy and Dairy Free Options)
- How to Bake The Chips
- You Know They're Finished When...
- How to Store Cheesy Kale Chips
- A Great Low-Carb Chip Recipe
- What's the Kaufmann Diet?
- For Some More Clean Snack Recipes, Try These
- "📖 Recipe"
Can I Get Kale Chips in the Grocery Store?
Store-bought kale chips have a ton of sodium, sugar, yeast, MSG, and toxic vegetable oil in them. They are also very fragile and they are often smashed in their packages from being transported. Kale is inexpensive and with minimal effort, you can make these at home using fresh ingredients for a fraction of the price of the commercial chips.
What You Need to Make Kale Chips
- Fresh kale (any variety)
- Neutral oil (olive oil or grapeseed oil)
- Parmesan cheese (grated on box grater)
- garlic powder
- Sweet Hungarian paprika
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
How to Remove Stems From Kale
Kale has a hard, fibrous vein running down the center of each branch. It is easy to remove. Just grab the stem with one hand, pinch the base of the leaves with your other hand, and run your fingers away from you, towards the tip of the stalk. The leaves peel right off.
Tear the leaves into bite-size pieces, about two inches each.
How to Dry Kale
The key to getting crunchy kale chips is to use dry leaves. Place the rinsed leaves into a salad spinner and give it a few spins.
After spinning, wrap the kale in a clean dish towel while you prepare the seasonings. As you can see, there was about a quarter cup of water in the leaves. That's a lot!
Variations (Spicy and Dairy Free Options)
My kale chips with cheese are seasoned with garlic powder, sweet Hungarian paprika, salt, and pepper. For a spicier chip, you can add a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper or hot sauce.
If you don't have paprika hanging around, leave it out. If you don't eat dairy, leave out the cheese. A kale chip seasoned with oil, salt, and pepper is a very respectable chip!
How to Bake The Chips
Whisk together the oil, garlic powder, paprika, Parmesan cheese, salt, and some fresh pepper in a large mixing bowl.
Add the kale to the bowl and toss with tongs until all the leaves are coated.
Scatter Parmesan cheese over the kale and give it a few tosses. Then, scatter the leaves on two large sheet pans.
The kale will shrivel when baked, but be careful not to overcrowd the pans. Place the pans in the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Rotate the pans, moving the top pan to the bottom shelf and vice versa. Bake another 7 minutes. If you have a convection oven, there is no need to rotate the pans.
You Know They're Finished When...
Kale chips should feel crispy when you remove them from the oven. However, there is a a very thin line between crispy and burned. If they feel soggy when you pull the first tray from the oven, you can add them back in for one or two minutes.
When they are finished roasting, remove the trays and place them on a top of the stove. You can slide the parchment onto a big plate to cool. Let them sit for at least 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. The taste will change a lot in the first half hour than from when they get pulled from the oven.
How to Store Cheesy Kale Chips
When I make my chips, we usually eat about half of them after I make them. If there are extras, I leave them on a dinner plate and drape a sheet of waxed paper over the plate and they're good to go the next day.
The chips will be good for about 3 days in a sealed container at room temperature. If you remove them from the container and they feel a little soggy, just place them on a sheet pan and put it in a preheated 250 degree Fahrenheit oven for two-three minutes to get them crispy again. Do not walk away from them for they can burn quickly.
A Great Low-Carb Chip Recipe
This recipe for kale chips with parmesan is low-carb (3g per serving) and a great option for your keto diet. You're always looking for more fiber, right?
For the Kaufmann Phase One diet, leave the cheese out. If you are on Phase Two and you can tolerate dairy, the cheese shouldn't be a problem. Make sure you use clean oil to prepare the chips. Vegetable oil, made from soy, is not on the diet. You can use olive oil or grapeseed oil. You can also use coconut oil. Just heat it a bit to bring it to a liquid form before mixing.
What's the Kaufmann Diet?
If you're looking for a good diet to slim down or achieve better health for yourself and your family, read my quick post on the Kaufmann Diet Phase One. The Kaufmann Diet is very easy to follow; It's a low-carb diet without all the "keto" packaged junk food. Doug Kaufmann of Know The Cause has devised an easy to follow diet that you should definitely check out.
For Some More Clean Snack Recipes, Try These
Like Kale Chips, Tostones are another great snack that is made with green plantains. They are gently fried in oil, removed, flattened, and then thrown back in the oil briefly.
I like to eat them as a snack, but the Cuban specialty is often served as a side dish.
Try my Authentic Tostones with Pink Sauce recipe. You'll love it!
"📖 Recipe"
Kale Chips with Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1 bunch curly kale about 6 cups of stemmed and torn kale leaves
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
- ½ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Reconfigure your oven racks to accommodate two baking pans.
- Rinse leaves and tear into 2-inch pieces. Towel dry or use a salad spinner to dry the leaves. (It is very important to use dry leaves to get them crispy.)
- Add oil, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper to a large mixing bowl. Whisk the ingredients together. Add kale and toss with tongs until all leaves are coated.
- Add cheese and gently toss.
- Scatter leaves on the baking sheets without overcrowding the pans.
- Place pans in the oven and roast 7 minutes. Rotate the pans in the oven, moving the top pan to the lower position and vice versa. Roast another 7 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the chips rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes until cool.
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