These Kale Chips (dehydrator recipe) ticks a lot of boxes for me. They are kid friendly kale chips, they almost taste like garlic parmasen kale chips, they are nut free kale chips and they are a cheap, healthy snack because they are homemade!
What do I do with kale?
Honestly, before this Kale chips recipe I would have said ‘compost it.’ Kale has always been difficult for me to digest so I never acquired a taste for it. I know it’s become super popular in the last decade but I didn’t get it.
However, these taste like garlic parmesan kale chips so I’m now totally on board. Even my picky toddler thinks these are a good idea!
Are homemade kale chips (dehydrator) healthy?
You bet! Leafy greens are super good for you. I talked about the green leafy vegetables benefits in this post.
More importantly, they taste good. In fact, my friend said that these were the best kale chips she had ever had.
Most kale chips are made in the oven and the ends always get burnt. It’s really hard to get them to cook evenly. The only thing worse than eating kale is eating burnt kale. Bleh. The dehydrator solves that problem for you. Since it cooks it low, slow and the air is allowed to circulate around the kale, the leafy green cooks more evenly.
Best Food Dehydrator for Kale Chips
I’ve only used the Nesco Dehydrator. I choose it because it’s the cheapest one I could find. I didn’t want to spend much money on a dehydrator since I have a lot of kitchen appliances and wasn’t sure if it was something that I would use.
Turns out I do use this dehydrator a fair amount. I like to dry herbs and make Dill Cucumber Chips so I may upgrade in the future. I’m looking to upgrade to this Corsi model. I like how it’s a rectangle (easier for storage) and the trays are stainless steel and dishwasher safe. It’s also got great reviews.
How to Make Kale Chips in a Dehydrator
Remove stem from the leaves and tear the leaves into bite size pieces. Put the leaves in a large bowl and discard the stem.
Drizzle the oil over the kale then massage the oil into the leaves. Take care to make sure that the oil covers the leaves completely and evenly.
Start to sprinkle the garlic powder and salt over the kale then massage and toss the kale. Do this slowly and in batches so all the seasonings don’t end up on just a few leaves.
Finally sprinkle some of the nutritional yeast over the kale. Then toss. Keep repeating until all the nutritional yeast is gone.
Place the kale in a single layer on dehydrator trays.
Set the dehydrator to 160 degrees and let bake for 2 hours or until crispy. Once it’s finished cooking, remove from the dehydrator and enjoy.
If you like this Kale Chips (dehydrator recipe), then you should try these AIP Snack food recipes.
- AIP Shrimp Ceviche
- Dill Cucumber Chips (another dehydrator recipe!)
- AIP Coconut Date Bars
- Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
- Apple Salsa
Or just check out my 15 AIP Snacks post! You can also check out all the snacks that Irena Macri listed on her essential AIP recipe list.
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Kale Chips (Dehydrator Recipe)
Equipment
- Dehydrator
Ingredients
- 2 bunches Kale
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 3 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
Instructions
- Remove stem from the leaves and tear the leaves into bite size pieces.
- Put the leaves in a large bowl and discard the stem.
- Drizzle the oil over the kale then massage the oil into the leaves. Take care to make sure that the oil covers the leaves completely and evenly.
- Start to sprinkle the garlic powder and salt over the kale then massage and toss the kale. Do this slowly and in batches so all the seasonings don’t end up on just a few leaves.
- Finally sprinkle some of the nutritional yeast over the kale. Then toss. Keep repeating until all the nutritional yeast is gone.
- Place the kale in a single layer on dehydrator trays.
- Set the dehydrator to 160 degree and let bake for 2 hours or until crispy.
- Once it’s finished cooking, remove from the dehydrator and enjoy.
Notes
- Keep in an airtight container.
- Best if eaten the day it’s made but should be eaten within a 1-2 days.
- Make sure that the nutritional yeast is non-fortified. I use Sari Foods brand.
Nutrition
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise.
- I always use Himalayan sea salt or Celtic sea salt, unless otherwise noted.
- The majority of my recipes are strict AIP or include notations for reintroductions. However while I make every effort to label non-AIP ingredients and recipes sometimes they slip past me. If you have questions, please ask in advance.
Did you make this recipe? I love hearing your thoughts on my recipes so please rate and comment below.
Don't throw those stems away, make them into pesto, "green gravy"!
Interesting. I've never heard of using kale stems like that before.
It is a waste to throw the kale ribs away. They can be put in a little crockpot overnight and made into pesto the next day. Then you have "green gravy" that can be used on lots of things!
This tasted so good even before dehydrating! I could just eat this raw as a salad.
Good idea!! They are so addictingly (not sure that's even a word!) good. I'm glad you agree.
How much kale is two bunches? I'm growing my own kale...
My guess would be 2 heaping cups once you remove the stems.
I have two bunches that I have removed the ribs from and torn up. It will dehydrate to much less but I think a heaping two cups is much less than what that comes out to.
Raw that is
A bunch of kale obviously varies. Whatever you have is fine. Your chips make just taste a little cheesier. I hope you enjoyed.
Can I leave the nutritional yeast out? Will it affect the drying process?
You can but it will change the flavor. It will taste less cheesy and more garlicly. If fact, I would probably increase the amount of garlic powder to accommodate the lack of nutritional yeast.
My dehydrator only goes to 145 and that's for meats and fishes. Stumped on what to do.
I'd set the dehydrator at 145 degrees and just check it. My dehydrator says that 160 degrees is for meat as well but I found that it just takes forever to dehydrate anything if I don't set it at the max.
This is my absolute favorite kale recipe!! I’ve made these 2-3 times now and they really satisfy my need for savory and salty flavors. I double the recipe and snack on these every day at work. The only change I make is using less garlic (since I eat these at work) This is an absolute must make recipe !
I used Cajun seasoning on mine. I didn't have yeast so omitted that step and these were absolutely delicious, so crisp and still a dark green, not at all brown.
Aren't dehydrators great?!? If I tried this in the oven it would totally be brown and taste all burnt. The cajun seasonings sounds yummy as well.