Parmesan Kale Chips

Parmesan Kale Chips make the perfect can't-eat-just-one salty snack or easy side dish!  Super healthy, kid-friendly, and topped with Parmesan cheese, it's the best way to eat this superfood!  Kale chips are ready in under 10 minutes!

Fresh From the Garden

• The Perfect Salty Snack or Side Dish! - If you're a fan of chips, pretzels, and all the salty snacks, you are going to love homemade kale chips! They give you that hint of salt that makes you want one after another, but with kale chips, that's okay! My family was skeptical when I made my first pan. We couldn't quite decide if we liked them, but we couldn't stop eating them til the pan was gone! We were hooked, so we've kept growing kale in the garden, and we've been making these baked Kale Chips with Parmesan ever since!

• Quick and Easy! - Parmesan Kale Chips couldn't get much easier! They cook up so fast that the most important part is watching them so they don't burn! In under 10 minutes, they are ready to be an easy side dish for dinner, or a healthy snack.

• A Seriously Healthy SUPER Food! - We know those big leafy greens are super good for us! If you love kale, try these 14 Ways to Use Garden Kale! I also throw it in my Italian Sausage Bolognese Sauce, add it to Freezer Pesto, and chop it up with my other Mixed Herbs and Greens for the Freezer.

• Try my Bacon Kale Spaghetti, Kale Apple Slaw Salad and Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sausage and Kale. It's great to throw in soups, sauces, and on pizza!

Ingredients

• Kale - We love growing kale in the garden, it's one of the easiest things to grow! It's best picked fresh, but if you need to store it, I like to put the stems in a jar of water in the fridge or on the counter, like a bouquet of flowers. You can make kale chips out of any type of kale with curly or flat leaves.

• Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper - Kale chips are seasoned very simply, and a little bit goes a long way. You want to wash the kale, but then make sure it's fairly dry before you toss it with oil.

• Parmesan Cheese - I always buy a block of Parmesan cheese because it lasts so much longer than pre-shredded, and is usually cheaper if you compare the amount. A block of Parmesan works great for kale chips. A microplane is the best tool to get very thin shreds that melt and adhere as they hit the hot kale chips.

See recipe card for full quantities.

Instructions

Step 1 - Wash your kale well under cold water and then make sure it's fairly dry before chopping. You can do this by shaking off the excess water, lightly dabbing it with a kitchen towel, or even using a salad spinner.

Remove the stems by cutting along the stem with a knife and then chop the leaves into chip-sized pieces. 

Step 2 - Toss them on a sheet pan with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven at 400°F for about 7 minutes.

Check them after 5 minutes, you can even gently toss them on the pan with your hands (don't burn yourself!) or tongs.  

Step 3 - Keep and eye on them toward the end so they don't burn! Sometimes the outer edge of the pan cooks quicker than the inside, so a quick toss to get all the kale crisp helps even them out.

Just don't burn them!

Just as they come hot out of the oven, top them with Parmesan, shredded with a microplane so it melts instantly over them. Serve immediately.

Tips for No-Fail Kale Chips

• Massage the Leaves - When you are tossing the raw kale with oil, salt and pepper, don't use too much oil. You don't want them to be soggy. Then you want to toss them with your hands, kind of massaging the oil into the leaves so they are completely coated.

• Use a Large Pan so you are able to spread the leaves out in a single layer on the pan. If the leaves are bunched up on a pan that's too small, they won't get crispy.

• Just So Much and No More! - Don't burn the kale chips, really, don't burn the kale chips! But, they also can't be underdone or they will be soggy and not crisp! So, yes, you have to cook kale chips just perfectly! When you sense that they are starting to get crispy, after 5 or so minutes, give them a gentle toss carefully with your hands or with tongs. They are so thin that a slight variation in the oven temperature evenness can cause part of the pan to be done and the rest not to be. So give them a quick toss and then bake another minute, then check again. Don't walk away, you gotta watch them at this point!

• Use A Block of Parmesan Shredded with a Microplane - The idea is that you want the hot-from-the-oven kale chips to melt the Parmesan cheese instantly to adhere as it's shredded over them. A microplane is the perfect tool because it shreds the cheese so thin that it melts on contact, becoming one with the kale chips! Using pre-shredded cheese or a larger grater will work, it just won't adhere as well.