How to make perfect kale chips

I was so grateful the other day to receive some kale from a friends veggie patch. I had total veggie patch envy as ours has been a bit neglected since Chloe was born. Oops.

Anyway, I was making some kale chips just yesterday and I remembered a conversation I had with a friend recently who told me that kale chips seem so easy, but she can never nail it! She said they’re either soggy or burnt around the edges.

I totally get it.

I’ve had many a kale chip fail.

But you just need a few little tricks up your sleeve and then making kale chips becomes such an easy snack.

So, here are my tips on how to make perfect kale chips.

1. Preheat your oven to a LOW heat, 180°c (355°F) maximum. It is SO tempting to just whack the oven up to a high heat, but this is what gives you the burnt on the outside kale chips, so a low heat oven is a must.
2. Rip up your kale chips and instead of placing them straight onto the tray, pop them in a bowl and then drizzle with oil and salt (and other seasonings) in the bowl, and then massage them a bit with your hands. This is the other trick. By doing this you can make sure the chips are evenly coated with the oil, but not dripping with it. (hint: this is also how I make my rockin’ home made chips and roast potatoes!)
3. Next, place your kale chips on an oven dish and make sure they are laid out flat in a single layer. If they’re all stacked on top of each other, they won’t go crispy.
4. Then, pop them into the oven and keep an eye on them. It usually takes about 10 minutes. I also like to err on the side of undercooked, rather than overcooked… because… well… burnt kale chips no bueno.
5. Then, don’t just leave them on the oven tray – make sure that once they’re out of the oven and cooked to perfection, pop them in a bowl.

And there you have it! How to make perfect kale chips.

Sea salt and olive oil are an amazing combo for kale chips.

Here are some other kale chip ideas:

• Nutritional yeast
• Herbamere (I just discovered this – how ah-mazing is this stuff!)
• Cajun seasoning
• Chia seeds
• Soy sauce or tamari

P.S. I forgot one tip! Be prepared for kale chip crumbs EVERYWHERE if you’re feeding kale chips to toddlers. I’ll just add this to my list of incredibly messy things I’ve fed Chloe 🙂