Crispy Cheesy Kale Chips / Vegan & Gluten-Free

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These vegan kale chips are super crispy and full of cheesy flavor. Coated with nutritional yeast and healthy fats, it’s savory snacking you can feel good about. This addictively delicious snack is baked in the oven. No dehydrator is needed!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of O3 Superfoods. The opinions, text, and recipe are my own creation. Thank you so much for creating the ultimate flax butter and for the support!

Let’s face it, kale can be a little underwhelming or a little intimidating. Just the word “kale” evokes images of bitter and “healthy” tasting smoothies and tough salads. Whether you love or avoid this proud member of the cabbage family I think we can all agree on one thing: chips, in all forms, are amazing!

Crispy, cheesy, salty, can’t stop at one bite chips?...Now we’re talking! Enter, kale. Those tough, unruly leaves are actually the perfect flavor deliver unit for a cheesy topping. And because kale can stand up to salt and heat without shriveling into nothingness (sorry spinach!) they make killer crispy chips.

The first time I made kale chips I was a little skeptical, I mean c’mon, how can you turn kale into a chip that doesn’t taste like….kale. The key is the cheesy topping. We start with good ‘ol nutritional yeast for a powerful cheesy flavor and mix it into a paste with flax butter, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, and spices. Then you massage this mixture into the curly leaves, making sure the leaves are well coated on both sides so that they become crispy in the oven.

It's actually rather therapeutic giving kale a massage. I find this is a good time to catch up with a friend or a podcast or just enjoy getting your hands nice and messy. Once they’re baked and cooled, kale chips are irresistible in the same way potato chips and popcorn are, making them perfect for all around snacking or movie night. You might just find yourself munching through the entire batch in one go. Not that I’ve ever done that! (lol)

crispy cheesy kale chips served in a bowl

What do Crispy Cheesy Kale Chips taste like?

These crispy kale chips taste very similar to store-bought kale chips without the processed aftertaste. I promise, you really can’t taste the kale! They have an addictive delicate crispiness and a powerful cheesy flavor. Basically, what you are tasting is the topping and not the kale.

What’s in these Crispy Cheesy Kale Chips?

Curly Kale

When shopping for kale you might see 3 different varieties, curly kale, lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale), and Russian red kale. You want to use curly kale for kale chips. They have stubbornly curly leaves that grab onto the cheesy topping and can stand up to being rubbed all over without ripping into a bunch of little pieces.

Prep your curly kale by rinsing it off and then drying it carefully. It needs to be dry so that the cheesy topping can stick to it. Then, using a sharp knife, cut out the tough stems or ribs, leaving the kale in 2 large pieces. This makes it easier to spread the topping on and massage it in.

Flax Butter, Tahini, and Olive Oil

These healthy fats help the cheesy topping bind to the kale and make the chips flavorful and satisfying. The oil in these fats is what makes the kale turn crispy. Without oil, the kale will steam instead of crisp, leaving you with sad, soggy chips. You can make the chips oil-free by swapping out the olive oil for more tahini. The naturally occurring oil in tahini and flax butter will still make a crispy chip.

One of the healthiest fats outs there is flax butter. I love it because it’s got all the power of flaxseed but in creamy butter form. If you’re curious, you can read all about the health benefits of flax butter here.

Nutritional Yeast

Fondly called, nooch or golden flakes, nutritional yeast has a unique savory flavor that tastes like cheese. It’s an inactive yeast that is grown on blackstrap molasses, whey, or sugar beets.

You’ll find this plant-based ingredient popping up in all sorts of vegan recipes for added umami and cheesy flavor like my Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce, Vegan Egg Salad, and Creamy Vegan Corn Chowder.

Lemon Juice, and Spices

Lemon juice combined with garlic powder, onion powder, and salt complete the cheesy topping and make it super flavorful. You can also add a splash of hot sauce which I totally recommend! Take the heat up a notch by adding more hot sauce for nacho cheesy kale chips.

If you’re a savory snacker, you need to give these crispy cheesy kale chips a try! They’re:

Crispy
Cheesy
Healthy
Savory
Vegan
Gluten-Free
Addictively Delicious!

Keep scrolling for step-by-step instructions and photos!

Ingredients for Crispy Cheesy Kale Chips

1 head (6 oz. with stems on) of curly kale
2 tablespoons of tahini
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil (use 2 tablespoons of tahini for oil-free)
1 tablespoon of O3 Superfoods Flax Butter (see note)
¼ cup (15g) of nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon of garlic powder
½ teaspoon of onion powder
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
¼ teaspoon of your favorite hot sauce (more for spicy)

Note: If you don’t have flax butter on hand, use tahini instead.

How to make Crispy Cheesy Kale Chips

washed kale for kale chips — Steps 1-2:

1. Preheat your oven to 275 F / 135 C / gas mark 1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Rinse and carefully dry your kale leaves. It’s important that the leaves are dry so that the cheese sauce will stick to them, and they will crisp instead of steam in the oven. If they’re organic, I just wipe them dry with a kitchen towel. Using a sharp knife, remove the hard stems in the middle while leaving the leaves in 2 halves. (Don’t rip them up yet!)

cheese sauce for crispy cheesy kale chips — Step 3:

3. In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients (except the kale) into a paste.

coating for crispy cheesy kale chips — Step 4:

4. Spread the top side (curly side) of each kale leaf with the cheese paste. You can “paint” it on with a fork or butter knife.

unbaked kale chips — Step 5:

5. Take a large leaf and massage the cheese mixture into the leaf until it is well coated and oily all over. You want the top and the bottom of each leaf to be massaged with your oily fingers so that it will crisp in the oven. Then rip potato chip-sized pieces off the large leaf to create the kale chips.

baked kale chips — Step 7:

7. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the chips from the oven and, using your fingers, carefully flip each piece over. Switch the placement of the baking trays in the oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes. (60 minutes total)

Enjoy Crispy Cheesy Kale Chips for all around snacking, movie night, or game day. They also make a great salad topping!

Notes:

If you have a very large bunch of kale and don’t use it all, that’s okay! You just want to be sure each piece is nicely coated.

Rip the leaves into pieces that are slightly larger than regular potato chip size because the kale leaves will shrink some as they dehydrate in the oven.

Cooking time: It takes 60 minutes (30 minutes on each side), in my vintage oven from 1952, for the kale to get crispy. But it may take less time in a modern convection oven.

More healthy vegan snack recipes:

Chocolate Covered Chickpea Clusters

Super Seed Energy Bites

Coconut Bacon

If you like this recipe, please leave a 5-star rating on the recipe card below. I always appreciate your feedback and hearing about your creations! For more yummy vegan recipes, you can also follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Tiktok. I also send out a weekly newsletter with my latest recipes and upcoming cooking classes. Subscribe here to receive a FREE e-cookbook!

Crispy Cheesy Kale Chips

Crispy Cheesy Kale Chips / Vegan & Gluten-Free

What do Crispy Cheesy Kale Chips taste like?