Crispy, Cheesy Air Fryer Kale Chips
These Air Fryer Kale Chips are the ultra-crisp and crunchy snack you can make in minutes with some pantry basics, and fresh seasonal kale. They’re light, savoury and seriously moreish. Serve them warm straight from the air fryer, tuck a handful beside sandwiches, drop them onto grazing boards or crumble over soup.
In This Article
Nutritional Benefits
Kale is the star in this recipe and is known as an extremely nutrient dense food. Not without reason! Kale contains a good amount of vitamin C and the fat-soluble vitamins A and K, along with the minerals magnesium, calcium and phosphorous, in addition to plenty of dietary fibre. It’s also a good prebiotic source and a good source of carotenoids, antioxidants (1) and characteristic phytochemicals of the Brassica family of veg including glucosinolates and polyphenols (2).
It’s because of these nutrients that kale has become widely known as a medicinal food. Why? It’s great for gut health and reducing intestinal inflammation (1,2), supporting the phases of detoxification in the liver (2), reducing systemic inflammation, supporting cardiovascular health (1) and enhancing nutrient status overall (1,2).
Ingredients – What You’ll Need To Make This Recipe
While this recipe skips the basic oil toss for a richer, more flavourful coating, you still only need a few simple ingredients to create these deliciously crispy kale chips. The nourishing paste they’re coated in combines tahini, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast, which becomes an utterly moreish cheesy seasoning as they dry. They’re the perfect afternoon snack, and the best part is you’re increasing your intake of green veg with every bite.
- Fresh kale – curly kale is a good choice for its study leaves that make very crispy chips. They also hold the seasoning well.
- Nutritional yeast – the base flavour for the cheesy seasoning.
- Tahini – helps the seasoning cling cling to the chips and adds earthiness to the flavour profile.
- Lemon juice – brightens and balances the savoury coating.
- Garlic powder – adds depth to the seasoning and is the key ingredient to making them so snackable.
- Salt – helps tenderise and flavour the kale.
You can dial up or down the cheesiness by adding a touch more (or less) nutritional yeast if preferred. You can add to the cheesy flavour too – try including cumin, onion powder, smoked paprika and a little chilli, which will give you more of a nachos seasoning.
How To Make This Air Fryer Kale Chips Recipe
A tiny bit of prep goes a long way with this delicious, healthy snack. While you might want to ash the kale and toss it through the paste, thoroughly drying it once its washed is important. Too much residual moisture means the seasoning will be diluted, and the kale may be far too wet to get super crispy. And we definitely want our kale chips to have crunch!
- Rip the kale leaves off the thick stem and break into bite-sized pieces.
- Thoroughly wash the kale leaves and dry them using a salad spinner, a clean kitchen towel, or paper towels. Set aside briefly.
- In a large bowl mix together the nutritional yeast, tahini, water, lemon juice, garlic powder, and salt until they form a paste.
- Tip the pieces of kale on top and massage through the paste until all leaves are well coated.
- Add the coated kale leaves to your air fryer basket or on air fryer racks in a single layer. Crowding the basket or air fryer rack will cause the chips to steam rather than dry out so be cautious not to overfill them. It may take several batches but that’s better than soggy chips!
- Air fry at 320ºF/160ºC for 6-7 minutes. If you have an air fryer with a basket, shake it half way through. If yours has racks, rotate them half way through moving the top rack to the bottom, middle to top, bottom to middle.
- Once dried, tip into a bowl and enjoy.
Cooking the kale at a low temperature ensures the leaves have a chance to dry out and crisp up before they burn. While it’s tempting to want to cook them all at once, the size of the batch you can cook will depend on the size of your air fryer. Most average-sized machines will take one quarter of a bunch of kale at a time. You will also want to ensure they’re laid out in a single layer and not piled on top of each other.
Substitutions And Variations
Replace the garlic powder with one tablespoon of my Garlic Miso. It adds lots of extra umami flavour somehow making the chips even cheesier!
While I do think curly kale gives the best results with this recipe you can use any type of kale you like. If using Lacinato/Tuscan kale keep a close eye on it, as it can burn a lot faster than curly kale.
If you’d prefer a plain chip for something different leave off the cheese paste and toss the kale leaves with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and half a teaspoon of salt. Air fry as-is or include any other of your favorite seasonings before putting them in at 320ºF/160ºC for 4-5 minutes. They will need less cooking time without the heavier cheese paste on them.
How To Make These Kale Chips In The Oven
No air fryer? No problem, you still get to make your own kale chips too. It will just take longer but they will be equally delectable.
- Preheat the oven to 120ºF/50ºC and line a baking sheet (or two!) with baking/parchment paper.
- Wash the kale and dry it thoroughly then pull the leaves off the thick stems and cut or rip them into bite-sized pieces.
- Mix the cheese paste by combining the tahini, water, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika and salt in a small bowl. Stir until a thin paste forms.
- Rub the paste all over the kale leaves in a thin layer and put them on the lined baking sheets in a single row, not overlapping each other. Air flow is important for that crunch!
- Bake for 40 minutes (see notes in recipe card below), turn the chips over and bake for another 30 – 40 minutes or until crips.
Tips For Success With This Recipe
Do not overcrowd the kale chips in the air fryer basket or on trays – depending on your type of air fryer. This is the quick road to creating soggy, undercooked kale chips.
Let your chips sit for a minute or two before digging in. You’ll get better crunch from them if doing this.
If your chips still have a mildly soft centre when they come out – put them back in at the same temperature for one minute. Do keep in mind that letting them sit briefly can help them get crunchy though.
Storing/Make Ahead
Store any leftover kale chips in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Assuming they’ve been dried thoroughly they’ll stay lovely and crisp. Adding paper towels to your container (one below the chips and one above) can help keep them crisp too.
FAQ
Chips that don’t crisp up are either under-cooked, or had too much seasoning added to them.
Yes! Homemade kale chips add plenty of nourishment to your day and are an excellent replacement for potato chips.
More Snack Recipes
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Crispy, Cheesy Air Fryer Kale Chips
Equipment
- 1 Air Fryer
Ingredients
- ½ bunch curly kale (this was 3 tightly packed cups for me)
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup hulled tahini
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp garlic powder (see note 1)
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 320ºF/160ºC while you prepare the kale chips.
- Pull the leaves off the thick kale stems and either chop or rip into bite-sized pieces.
- In a large bowl – mix the ingredients for the chip seasoning by stirring together the nutritional yeast, tahini, water, lemon juice, garlic powder, and salt until a paste forms.
- Add the leaves into the bowl and massage them through the kale so that each piece is covered in a thin layer.
- Place the seasoned kale pieces onto air fryer racks or into your air fryer basket. The kale won't crisp up if the racks or basket are too crowded so you may need to do 2-3 batches depending on the size of your air fryer.
- Turn the air fryer back on to 320ºF/160ºC and cook the kale chips for 6 minutes. Rotate the racks half way through or shake the basket to ensure even drying.
- Tip into a bowl, let sit for a minute or two, then enjoy.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Gabby Campbell
Gabby is a degree qualified Naturopath/Nutritionist (BHSc Nat) with a love of all whole foods. She started her Naturopathic career in clinical practice before making the move to recipe development and online education – a result of wanting to combat the misinformation that abounds on the internet about food and health. Whole Natural Kitchen aims to transform the way you think about healthy eating by helping you embrace an abundance of nutritious foods while leaving the health fads behind. MORE ABOUT GABBY