OMG KALE CHIPS (Veggies #6.4)

Have you ever eaten kale before?

I hadn't either, but here's the deal: if you tear it up, toss it in olive oil, add a little salt, and bake for 20ish minutes, it turns into this light, crisp, airy, crackly, salty snack.

For me, this is heaven from a baking sheet. I LOVE the crunch of, well, anything crunchy. In high school I would come home, take a plastic cup over to the refrigerator and fill it to the brim with crushed ice before filling it with water. Then I'd eat it. (That might have also had something to do with the anemia at the time, but even still I will crunch the crap out of an ice cube.)

Anyway. Kale. Right.

Easy. Delicious. Crunches like a potato chip with the nutrition of spinach! Win!

First wash & dry the kale. Then tear it into chip-size pieces. I recommend tearing them off of the middle stem; that part doesn't fare too well after being baked.

Put the pieces in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. You really don't need much - a couple tablespoons at most for a large bunch of kale is plenty. The kale will turn from a dusty green to a much brighter veggie green. Be sure to coat the leaves well by using your fingers to spread the oil around.


Lay out on a cookie sheet without any of the pieces overlapping. If they overlap, they won't crisp up like they should. Shake your desired amount of salt on there.


Bake at 350˚ - After the first 15 mins, I'd check every two minutes or so until you learn how fast it cooks in your oven.

I forgot to take photos before throwing them in the oven.

When the edges are turning brown, or they kinda slide around if you shake the pan, or they don't flop when you try to pick them up, you're done! (I tried all of these. I'm wary of just looking at things and saying, "yep! done!" so I start poking at them. Sometimes with sticks.)

If you try these, let me know what you think! I have started demolishing bunches of kale in a single sitting, so you know it's good. Since making this for the first time about a month ago, I've bought at least 5 bunches to make it again.

Note: I tried taking some to work in a tupperware after baking them the night before, and letting them cool completely before covering. They lost almost all of the good flaky crunch and were wilty the next day. I re-baked them when I got home, and they were better, but I still haven't mastered transport. If you have any ideas, let me know!