These Vegan "Cheesy" Oven-Baked Kale Chips are an easy and healthy recipe made with only 4 clean ingredients. It's the perfect plant-based snack that can be made without a dehydrator and is ready to enjoy in under 20 minutes!
Here's Why This Recipe Works
My top 3 favorite reasons:
- No Dehydrator Needed
- Can Be Prepared In Under 10 Minutes
- Made With Clean, Real Food Ingredients
You can feel good making my healthy plant-based recipe because it's vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, alkaline, and paleo-friendly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are These Healthier Than Store-Bought Chips?
In my opinion, yes!
Store-bought chip snacks are highly processed and have long ingredient lists with ingredients such as these:
S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Dorito Tortilla Chips Ingredients: Whole Corn, Vegetable Oil (Contains One or More of the Following: Corn Oil, Soybean Oil and/or Sunflower Oil), Salt, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Maltodextrin, Wheat Flour, Whey, Monosodium Glutamate, Buttermilk Solids, Romano Cheese From Cow's Milk (Part-Skim Cow's Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Whey Protein Concentrate, Onion Powder, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil and Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Corn Flour, Disodium Phosphate Lactose, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Dextrose, Tomato Powder, Spices, Lactic Acid, Artificial Color (Including Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40), Citric Acid, Sugar, Garlic Powder, Red Bell Peppers and Green Bell Pepper Powder, Sodium Caseinate, Disodium Guanylate, Nonfat Milk Solids, Whey Protein Isolate and Corn Syrup Solids.
Even though they aren't an "apple to apple" comparison to kale chips (especially in taste), they are still basically a bag of GMO's, food coloring with MSG (monosodium glutamate) and artificial flavorings added in.
And they're not vegan or gluten-free.
Kale chips are a healthy alternative to store-bought, S.A.D. chips and can replace an unhealthy chip when you want a salty, crispy snack.
How Do I Keep My Kale Chips From Getting Soggy?
It's very important to store the kale chips in an air-tight, preferably BPA-free, container until ready to serve.
Dehydrating the chips removes all moisture from the kale and this is what makes this crispy.
When they are not kept in an air-tight container, they will absorb moisture from the air which will make them soggy.
Can I Make These In A Dehydrator?
Yes! Make sure you check out my Raw Vegan No-Bake "Cheesy" Kale Chip recipe to make these easily in a dehydrator.
What Type Of Kale Should I Use?
There are several different varieties of kale such as these:
- Smooth Kale - This variety has smooth leaves and includes "Lacinato" kale
- Curly Kale - This variety has curly or crinkly leaves and is the most common type of kale
My favorite type of kale to use for kale chips is the curly variety, but either would work for this recipe.
What Other Kind Of Kale Chips Can I Make?
I've been making kale chips since 2012 and they are my favorite plant-based snack!
Here are some of the unique and interesting varieties I've created:
- Kale Chips with Spicy Peanut Sauce
- Lemon Dill Kale Chips
- Habanero Kale Chips
- Raw Vegan Sour Cream and Onion Kale Chips
- Jalapeno Kale Chips
Although they are delicious, they are all "raw" and made with a dehydrator which I find essential for making healthy snacks.
Karielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions
Here are some of my expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:
Kale: Helpful tips regarding the kale:
- Use either "curly" kale or "Lacinato" kale for the best results.
- Take the extra time to break the thick, fibrous stems off the kale. The stems don't bake well and they will leave a hard piece attached to the chip.
- Don't throw about the stems - they are great to use for juicing!
Avocado Oil: I only use 100% pure avocado oil when baking anything in the oven, but you could substitute with organic extra-virgin olive oil - either will work fine.
Nutritional Yeast: The only brand of nutritional yeast I will use is this non-fortified brand. It does not contain fortified ingredients, synthetic vitamins, or MSG.
Himalayan Pink Salt: This is my salt of preference, however, it can always be substituted with sea salt.
Want More Healthy Plant-Based Snack Recipes?
Check out these:
- Garlic and Shallot Fingerling Potatoes
- Gluten-Free Vegan Thyme and Garlic Crackers
- Roasted Chickpeas with Chipotle and Lime
- or my CLEAN EATING Cookbook with 75+ plant-based recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
Did You Make This Recipe?
I'd love to hear about it! Please give it a rating and leave a comment below...it would make my day! 🙂
Vegan "Cheesy" Oven-Baked Kale Chips
Ingredients
- 10 cups organic kale (de-stemmed)
- 1 tablespoon 100% pure avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then set aside.
Prepare the kale:
- De-stem the kale, break/tear into bite-size pieces, then add to a large mixing bowl.
- Drizzle the avocado oil over the top of the kale pieces and toss them until the avocado oil is evenly distributed, using your hands if necessary.
- Sprinkle the nutritional yeast and Himalayan salt over the top of the kale pieces and toss again until all is evenly distributed, using your hands if necessary.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference.
- Spread the seasoned kale pieces evenly on the prepared cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 6-8 minutes.
- Remove from the cookie sheet from the oven, and flip the kale pieces over, then bake for an additional 6-8 minutes, taking care not to overcook or burn them. The kale pieces should have shrunk in size at this midway point.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.
- Immediately store any leftovers in an air-tight BPA-free container because they will get soggy if left out at room temperature.
Notes
- Use either "curly" kale or "Lacinato" kale for the best results.
- Take the extra time to break the thick, fibrous stems off the kale. The stems don't bake well and they will leave a hard piece attached to the chip.
- Don't throw about the stems - they are great to use for juicing!
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Karielyn! I'm the published cookbook author of CLEAN DESSERTS and content creator of The Healthy Family and Home website since 2012. I specialize in creating easy, healthy plant-based recipes that are gluten-free + vegan and made with clean, real food ingredients that you can feel good about eating.
David says
This recipe was great! We just got a food dehydrator but I decided to make your oven recipe for a quick snack. This will be also great for the kids who don't like veggies. They can just eat as chips! Thank you!
Karielyn says
Hi David! Yay for your new dehydrator...you will love it! These are definitely a win with kids because it's a struggle sometimes to get mine to eat leafy greens, but they will eat kale chips like they are candy.
Make sure you check out my recipe for the raw/dehydrator version here: https://thehealthyfamilyandhome.com/cheezy-raw-kale-chips/
Glad to hear you enjoyed them! 🙂