Snack Recipe: Cheesy Yet Vegan Kale Chips Recipes From the Kitchn

I tried to make kale chips a few years ago when a friend told me how much she swears by this simple, healthy snack. A bad oven and an impatient cook (guilty!) burned them just a little bit. And you know what? They were terrible! But, after tasting some incredibly flavored dehydrated kale chips, I made it my mission to try again and to make them successfully at home — but without a dehydrator. And you know what? It worked! Here's your ticket to healthy-style Doritos. Seriously.

If you're fortunate enough to have the pantry space for a dehydrator, then you can just skip the oven directions here and go about your merry way. For those of us who have to rely on an oven to do the trick, it's no surprise that the key is keeping the temperature very low. As in as low as your oven will go. And prepare to wait it out for a few hours while these chips dry out.

The wait is worth it, however. Somehow, the hodgepodge of ingredients come together to taste, well, cheesy. In a good way. Think of these as your healthy Doritos, and they'll disappear as quickly.

Cheesy Kale Chips

Serves 2 to 4 as a snack

3/4 cup cashews
1 bunch kale, washed and dried
1/2 red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, chopped into large pieces
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup nutritional yeast (not to be confused with Brewer's yeast)
1 lemon, peeled, cut into wedges, and de-seeded as much as possible (a few stragglers are ok)

Cover the cashews with water in a small bowl and let the soak for at least one hour before proceeding.

Preheat oven to the lowest heat setting (mine is 180 degrees). Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Drain cashews and set aside. Trim stems the from each kale leaf and cut each leaf into chip-size pieces.

Add the cashews, red pepper, garlic, soy sauce, oil, and nutritional yeast to a food processor. Scoop the flesh from the lemon and add this to the food processor as well. Blend until smooth. (Alternatively, you can use just the lemon juice for a slightly less bright lemon flavor.)

In a large bowl, combine kale and cashew paste, making sure kale is evenly coated. Place kale pieces on baking sheets allowing space between each piece so they do not touch or overlap. This will take more than one batch, so reserve any remaining kale and refrigerate, covered, until first batch has finished baking.

Bake kale until crisp and completely dry, between 2 and 4 hours. Check after the first hour and turn leaves over. Check kale periodically. Chips will be ready when crunchy and stiff and topping doesn't feel chewy or moist.

Kale chips will keep in an air tight container for one week.

(Images: Stephanie Barlow)

Comments (23)

this looks so good, but the cooking time is way long.. I make my kale chips in the microwave using 1-2 minute intervals.. i wonder if that method could work for this..

Can you share your microwave recipe? I'm curious!

The oven temp/cooking time seem way off to me. I make an almost identical chip, but I bake them at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes. They're plenty dry and crispy at that point.

I agree with @meredithkb. If you are using a higher temp though you need to just keep an eye on them. It takes a matter of 2 minutes to go from perfect crispiness to a burnt mess.

You don't need any special device to make them in the microwave, just lightly season and place one layer of kale on a plate that has been covered in parchment or a few sheets of paper towel. Microwave on high for 1 + 1/2 minutes and then add 30 seconds as needed because they can burn very easily.

Could you make these with cheese to de-veganize them? How much would one use?

Maybe if you can find some type of powdered cheese... You could probably substitute that super dry Parmesan that comes in the green package for the Nutritional Yeast.

King Arthur Flour carries a cheddar cheese powder. Think the packet that comes with mac-n-cheese, just (slightly) more wholesome. I bet that would be a good un-vegan substitute for nutritional yeast.

If you stack a bunch of leaves with the stems lined up, then fold them in half along the stem, you can cut many with one chop. Also works for chard and various leafies.

Do you put the entire lemon wedges in the food processor? I've never heard of that, but that's how the recipe makes it sound ...

Family Circle had a non-vegan cheesy kale chip recipe recently:
Shake 5oz torn Kale (10 cups) with 1 Tbsp Olive oil, 1/8 tsp. Salt
Bake at 300 for 20-25minutes, Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. Parmesan shake-cheese.
I used the ginormous bag of pre-cut Kale from walmart but it made pretty small chips, I'll buy whole and trim next time.

I salute you all that find kale chips yummy. I've tried, I really have. They always taste like green cardboard to me. :-/

@meredithkb You're right - usually kale chips cook up a bit faster in the oven. In this case, the "cheesy" topping slows the process down, as well as making sure these dry slowly so they taste dehydrated rather than baked - for me, there's a big taste difference in slowly drying them. Give it a shot at the higher temperature and let us know!
@gray lady Yes, I like to scoop the inside of the lemon and add it all in the food processor to capture all the juicy lemon flavor - if you'd rather just use the juice, that will work as well.

Inspired by this recipe last night to change up my Kale chips, but didn't have time to do the full version... I tossed the kale in olive oil as normal and then sprinkled with white cheddar popcorn seasoning. I liked it better than my normal kale chips because it had a more subtle salty flavor and was also a bit creamy. Not vegan, but delicious.

I think gray lady was asking if the entire lemon wedge - meaning also the rind - goes into the food processor. If that was indeed the question, then I think the answer is no, just the flesh and juice get processed, but not the rind.

Also, I am allergic to most nuts including cashews, but I can eat (and love) peanuts, almonds, pine nuts and sunflower seeds.

Think any of those would work in place of the cashews? Also, what is the point of soaking them?

Thanks!

Vegan here and I am SO EXCITED you posted this recipe... I have been buying a bag full weekly at $5.00 per bag and their gone in 5-minutes!!!

THANK YOU!

If you want to do real cheese, parmesan cheese grated with a microplane grater works well (the pieces are small enough that they get crispy, not gooey).

@Griffin - Cashews work great here because they get quite soft once soaked. Softening helps them blend evenly with the other ingredients so there aren't any chunks in the "cheesy" topping. I haven't tried using other nuts, but you could try macadamia nuts or sesame seeds - soaked to soften them up first. Try searching online for other alternatives and let us know how it goes!

Also, regarding the lemon -- no peels. Either scoop the lemon flesh away from the peel and use that, or lemon juice will work as well (fresh, if possible!).

For those of you looking to use real cheese, let me know how it goes. If you're at all curious, try the recipe as is -- I'm not vegan and these taste amazing, even up against non-vegan alternatives!

I just wanted to thank you for this recipe! I added cajun seasoning to the mix, and it made the most awesome snacklets ever! FINALLY something that settles a decades long secret vegan sadness about not being able to eat cheese-its. <3

Well...I'm underwhelmed by the instructions...2-4 hrs seems ridiculous. Checked other links here (& elsewhere which line up with other recipes posted here - googled half a doz before my 2nd attempt). However, I'm overwhelmed by the goodness. Kale is no stranger to me but never attempted the chips until today.

I noted the oft mentioned WARNING about watching closely. ALL other recipes recommend anywhere from 10-20 min @ 350. And an old post from Maxwell calls for 15 min @ 400. So, popped mine in the oven @ 350, checked after 5 min due to the warnings & they were mostly just ashes. I did get a measley couple mostly green bites which spurred me on...

Round two was much better but still not optimal although I never took my eyes off them, watched em like a hawk, I did. Off now for round three. Thinkin I'll try the microwave version this time. I'm determined to figure it out but 2-4 hour just ain't happenin' here.

Being that good vegan cheesy kale chips seem to be one of the most expensive store-bought snacks out there I power through & make these. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED. I too turned my to ash the first time. Here's what I've come out with from trial/error to get my "perfect kale chip":

1) Instead of soy sauce, I add light (not dark) miso paste. This is an ingredient in many vegan cheeses - it adds to the authenticity of taste and all around adds a bunch more flavor and saltiness - a little goes a long way. (I used two teaspoons to make a double batch of this recipe.) I also add extra garlic.

2) I coat them about half has thickly as in the picture - with the miso and extra garlic, you get even more flavor, no need to coat as heavily. This also helps them cook faster.

3) As the best way to make these is a food dehydrator - and I don't have one - I turn my oven into one. I learned my oven didn't have to be as low as 180 - I could crisp them up faster BUT with the oven cracked open. So I put them in at 250, oven door cracked for about 20/25 minutes.

It's so good that while I'm waiting for a batch to get done, I usually end up eating a salad of the raw kale mixed in the "cheese" as it is. Delicious.

Also, for those who think the original recipe is downright crazy: its the closest way to mimic a food dehydrator and keep the kale technically "raw" - hence the extreme low temperature & 2-4 hour time. Only something to worry about if you're into being strictly raw, though I'm convinced the flavor of the chips (the one time I tried it the long/raw way) is slightly better.