These kale chips are delicious, oil-free, nut-free, and can be made without a dehydrator.
Most kale chips require a dehydrator, and many recipes also include oil.
These kale chips are incredibly tasty and crispy – without needing any oil – AND without needing a dehydrator.
Now, you do have to use a particular method of baking with the oven. Because it’s very easy to burn kale chips in the oven. When they overcook or burn in spots, they lose that gorgeous vibrant green color and taste bitter. The taste is just not the same. It’s not fresh and clean, but rather bitter and sulfurous.
See, most recipes for kale chips in an oven have the setting WAY too high, usually around 400 degrees. But even in recipes that bake chips at a lower oven temp for longer (ex: 300 degrees for 30+ minutes), your kale chips will “cook” rather than “dry”. A dehydrator is so effective because it dries the foods, it doesn’t cook them. That’s why the chips taste so fresh and the greens taste more sweet than bitter.
I don’t have a dehydrator so I started experimenting, to get these crunchy-munchy bites of deliciousness. And this is what I discovered…
The trick is to mimic dehydrating in your oven.
To do that, you need to use the lowest temperature setting possible for your oven, and then alternate turning the oven off and on. For my trials, this took about 1 1/2 – 2 hours. The result? Crispy, irresistable kale chips!
Healthy Kale Chips: Seasonings
Before I jump to the recipe for these healthy kale chips, let’s talk about seasonings. In my experience, kale chips can be too heavily overseasoned, or seasoned with just salt and oil.
This recipe gives you an oil-free ‘dressing’ for the chips that is flavorful but not sickly or hot-spicy. Remember that the kale becomes smaller, and more concentrated with this drying method or with dehydration. So, be somewhat conservative with assertive spices and also with the salt. Try the recipe as-is first, then add your spices to personalize the next time round (see note about seasoning).
And finally, this ‘dressing’ uses some nooch (nutritional yeast). I promise it tastes good. It’s the combination of the ingredients together. Give it a try, even start with a touch less at first to get the idea.
Let me know if you’ve made these, share in the comments. x Dreena
Oven-Dehydrated Kale Chips
Ingredients
- 1 bunch fresh kale curly or dinosaur; about 6–8 loosely packed cups after prepping
- 2 teaspoons tahini
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon tamari
- 1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup
- 2 1/2 – 3 tbps nutritional yeast
- 1/8 teaspoon (scant) sea salt
Instructions
- Wash the kale leaves. Strip the leaves from the stems and place the leaves in a salad spinner. Spin to remove as much water as possible.
- If leaves are still damp, use a kitchen towel to blot dry.
- Turn oven to lowest setting possible (ex: 170F).
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the tahini, lemon juice, tamari, and maple syrup.
- Stir or whisk through until fully smooth in the bottom of the bowl.
- Add kale leaves and toss through with your hands, gently incorporating the sauce through the leaves.
- Add the nutritional yeast, and continue to work through the kale leaves.
- Transfer the kale leaves to the prepared baking sheets, spreading out.
- Sprinkle the leaves with the sea salt.
- Place the baking sheets in the oven on 2 racks. Bake for an hour.
- Then, turn off oven, rotate trays, and then let sit in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Then, turn oven to 170F again, and bake for another 15–20 minutes.
- Check kale: if completely dry and crispy, remove from oven. If not, turn off heat and let sit for another 30–40 minutes. By then, the kale should be crisp and ready to eat!
Notes
- If your oven can go lower than 170F, the process may take another 20–30 minutes.
- To re-crisp leftovers, reheat at same low temperature until flaky again.
- Do not add extra wet seasonings or it will make the leaves soggy.
- If you want to add other flavors, stick with dry seasonings, and remember the flavor intensifies with drying.
This post was originally published in 2012 and has been updated for 2023.
Melissa George says
I finally made these – they are amazing! The flavor is great and they are nice and crunchy. Perfect! Perfect! Perfect!!! I’ve tried making kale chips in the oven before – lots of oil and cooked at a high heat. But they never turned out very good, some were burnt, some undercooked and just a very few that were crispy and good. I had given up on ever liking them. But thanks to your recipe I finally have delicious kale chips. And so much better without all the oil! Thanks, Dreena for another great recipe!
Dreena says
Oh hurray, hurray!!!! SO pleased to read this Melissa, thank you. (*happy dance*) 😀
L-J says
Thanks for this. I have friends that don’t have dehydrators and will pass it on. I also appreciate the tip about turning the oven off/on since I know a lot of ovens won’t go low enough to dehydrate safely.
Another tip I’ve heard is that if you have a gas oven, check to see what temp the oven retains with just the pilot light running. That might do the trick for some that don’t want to buy a food dehydrator.
Dreena says
That’s a terrific tip, never heard/thought of that – thanks for suggesting!
Erica @ Cult of Kale says
I made these tonight and they came out great! I did not need to turn on my oven the second time, after leaving them in with it shut off they were perfectly crispy. I did tear them into very tiny shreds which may have helped crisp them up faster.
Dreena says
Hi Erica, that’s WONDERFUL! 🙂 I always love to get the recipe reports after posting, thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂
Valerie says
Made these tonight and they were great – came out perfectly crispy and not burnt! When I’ve made them before in the oven, some would be chewy, while others would be burnt. Will definitely be making kale chips more often now! Thanks for the recipe.
Dreena says
Kale hurrahs!!!! Thank you Valerie, I’m so pleased to hear that. Appreciate that you dropped a note with your feedback!
Mollie says
I bought a “cheap” dehydrator just to see how I would like it. I used it a ton in the fall when I had apples and pears coming out my ears. I’ve also dried orange peel(for crafts), tomatos and onions(just to try it & lots of other things that didn’t turn out so well. I plan to use it a lot more to make snacks as my son enters Kindergarten this year. Once this dehydrator dies, I’ll invest in a nicer model.
I’ve been making Kale chips in the dehydrator for months. I cant wait to try your seasoning!!!!
Thanks!
Dreena says
Mollie, tomatoes are something I’d love to dehydrate as well. One day… 🙂 Thanks for the note.