My daughter loves kale chips. She’s 7 years old. She doesn’t know that some people hate kale, or that others love it with a passion and eat it all the time. She just knows that these chips are salty and delicious and a cool green color, and when you’re 7, that’s all that matters.
Kale chips are incredibly easy to make. Just heat up your oven, grab some salt and oil, and you’re ready to go. Even if you think you don’t like kale chips, I’d challenge you to try them again. Here’s the recipe.
Ingredients
1 bunch curly kale
olive oil
kosher salt
Recipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a sharp knife, slice the kale leaves off their stalks. Discard the stalks. Rinse and fully dry the kale leaves. Put the leaves in a large bowl and drizzle olive oil over them. With your hands, rub the oil into the leaves, making sure the leaves are entirely covered in oil. Add more oil if need be. Once all the leaves are well-oiled, spread them on a baking sheet. Liberally sprinkle kosher salt over the leaves, tossing with your hands to evenly distribute the salt. Bake the kale chips for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges are brown but not burnt. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
- To slice the leaves off the stalk, I simply run my knife along the stalk on each side. You’ll end up with two halves of a kale leaf with the rib missing between them. You could also use kitchen shears.
- I use a salad spinner to do the first rinse and dry of the kale leaves. Then I pat the leaves dry with paper towels to ensure they are as dry as possible.
- Don’t skimp on the salt or the oil. Add more than you think you need, and that’ll probably be about the right amount.
- Bake the kale chips until you think they are done, then let them bake another minute more. If the chips aren’t fully baked, they will be chewy instead of crunchy, and not nearly as appealing to eat. The tastiest chips will be brown on the edges.
- Eat the kale chips shortly after baking. They will stay crisp for a few hours but will eventually become limp.
