Baked Kale Chips
These Ranch flavored Kale Chips are gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free and vegan.
Kale chips are such an easy healthy snack! If you haven’t had them before, than you definitely have to. You can buy them in stores and those are good, but they can get really pricey. These ranch flavored kale chips are so easy to make at home, there’s no point in spending the extra money at the store!
Why Kale?
Why kale chips? Why the kale craze in general? Both good questions! Do you remember when kale use to just be a garnish on plates at restaurants? Oh how times have changed. Just from looking at kale, we can tell it’s nutrient rich. Even compare it to a healthy leafy lettuce like Romaine lettuce. Kale is so much darker in color and has less water content. That is usually a good way to tell if a vegetable has a lot of nutrients.
What does kale have going for it?
- High in fiber
- Low in calories
- High in iron
- High in vitamin K, A and C (just to name a few)
- Filled with antioxidants
- Filled with anti-inflammatory fatty acids
- High in Calcium
As you can see this kale trend is no joke. There’s a reason we stopped using it as a frilly garnish and actually started getting creative with kale recipes.
Why Baked Kale chips?
Kale is a great veggie to turn into a crunchy treat. Since it’s water content is not as high as some other salad greens, it holds up well to heat. The key to making kale chips is cooking them low and slow. This not only gives them a crunchy texture, but also preserves their nutrients.
The ranch flavor in these kale chips comes from The Real Pantry’s Real Food Ranch Seasoning. It’s a vegan seasoning blend but it adds such a yummy ranch flavor to these baked kale chips.
Baked Kale Chips
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons coconut butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Real Food Ranch
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 bunch of kale
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Melt the coconut oil and coconut butter and mix in your ranch seasoning and nutritional yeast.
- Remove your kale from the stems and break up into large pieces and place in a bowl. Keep in mind the kale cooks down so the pieces need to be slightly larger than you want your kale chips to be.
- Pour the melted oil and seasonings onto your kale and use your hands to massage the kale, yes massage the kale. Massaging the oil and seasonings in will make sure the kale is evenly coated and also a bit more tender.
- Bake for about 30 - 40 minutes in the center of your oven. They are done when they are completely crispy.
- Enjoy once they cool down!
Notes
- Coconut butter: Artisana Organics Coconut Butter
- Ranch Seasoning: The Real Pantry's Real Food Ranch