Vegan ‘Cheesy’ Kale Chips

by L Matthews on February 12, 2012

kale chips plainleaved vegan kale cheesy chips

Use plain-leaved kale for kale chips and curly leaved for kale popcorn!

Perhaps a vegan’s best friend, kale chips are easy to make, nutritious, and delicious. What’s a vegan blog without a kale-chip recipe? Nothing, I tell you!

There are a few key points to remember when making kale chips, otherwise this tasty, crunchy snack can turn into a pile of mush. Don’t pile ’em high when baking, try to get even coverage of seasonings, and make several batches at once so you have some left after you’ve gobbled the first batch (you will).

Plain-leaved kale works best for larger, flat kale chips (in my experience). You can also use other kale varieties and even swiss chard (although the moisture content’s a little higher so baking time will need increasing).

You Will Need:

  • Three or four leaves of kale (plain-leaved, rather than curly is best for chips, although curly kale popcorn is ace!)
  • Nutritional Yeast (nooch)
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Cayenne
  • Pepper

Kale Chips: The Method to the Madness

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

  1. Wash the kale in advance and leave to dry or pat dry with a teatowel or paper towel. Extra moisture will likely ruin the kale chips so give them time to dry.
  2. Chop the kale into inch-square pieces or thereabouts, include the stems if desired (you can also make ‘kale bones’ for your dog from these!).
  3. Throw the kale into a large bowl and add the olive oil. Toss thoroughly until the kale is coated nicely; this helps the other seasonings to stick.
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients, with extra pepper if desired, or extra nooch if you want them to taste ‘cheesier.’
  5. This is the important bit: lay the kale chips on a large baking tray in a single layer. Do this in batches if necessary. Piling them on top of each other will make them soggy and lacklustre.
  6. Roast in the oven for around ten minutes, turning them over halfway through if you remember!

Handle them delicately once cooked as they will be crispy and crunchy and liable to snap or crumble. Serve them as a tasty snack, or even in place of popcorn when watching a movie – although you might not feel like eating when watching a vegan movie like ‘Earthlings‘. Looking for a way to impress a vegan? … tasty ‘cheesy’ kale chips are the way to our hearts.

Green Web Hosting! This site hosted by DreamHost. Want carbon-neutral webhosting with great customer service? Try DreamHost and use code 'Vegans' for a third off!

Leave a Comment

{ 0 comments… add one now }

Previous post:

Next post: