A surprisingly delicious healthy snack, Kale Chips are a favorite for both me and my daycare kids. They have the crunch and flavor of traditional chips without all the junk!

Baked Kale Chips Recipe

Today, Kim from Life Over C’s is sharing her tips for Meal Planning with Kids, so I thought I’d take a break from all of the indulgent treats we’ve been sharing and share something a bit healthier — kid-made kale chips!

Have you ever had kale chips? They are sooo much better than store-bought potato chips, and even the kids can’t get enough of them! I find myself craving them, and eating them by the handfuls whenever we make them!

I know that may sound hard to believe if you’ve never had these, but I like the crunch of them better than chips, and the flavor is amazing – something that the one-dimensional saltiness of chips can’t come close to.

Plus, you can feel good about gorging on these chips because at 33 calories, 1 cup of kale gives you:

• 3 grams of protein
• 2.5 grams of fiber (helps regular blood sugar)
• Vitamins A, C, and K AND Folate
• Alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid
• Lutein and zeaxanthin (protect against macular degeneration and cataracts) and various minerals including phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and zinc

Now, I’ve tried making salt-free kale chips and they just don’t work for me. I don’t add salt to most foods, but kale chips need a bit of salt to really make them a delicious, snackable option. Just a sprinkle will do and it’s still way less salt than a serving of chips would contain. You can also play with this recipe and use different seasonings to replicate your favorite store-bought chip flavors:

• BBQ Chips: paprika, chile powder, brown sugar, garlic powder, mustard powder and salt (check out the increments here)
• Sour Cream and Onion (check out this homemade seasoning)
• Cheddar: nutritional yeast has a pleasant cheesy flavor, or you could use actual cheese, or cheesy popcorn seasoning
• Salt and Vinegar (pretty obvious combo)

There are so many options – and you can even use different types of kale as they all have slightly different flavors! But I’ll be honest, I’m sticking to this recipe – it’s just so satisfying!

Check out our quick recipe video to see just how easy these kale chips are to make and then don’t forget to scroll down to grab your free printable recipe!

Kale Chip Ingredients

• Bunch kale
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• Sea salt to taste

Tip: try out different seasonings for different chip flavors – like nutritional yeast for cheesy chips, or your favorite seasonings.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful:

• Cutting board
• Large mixing bowl
• Cookie sheet
• Silicone baking mat

How to Make Kale Chips with Kids

The kids love helping to make kale chips. We start off by shredding the kale into bite-sized pieces, which is a great fine-motor exercise and helps them practice visual discrimination – comparing the “example piece” to the pieces that they are shredding.

Next is the best part: they get to squish the olive oil into the kale! This is a fun and slippery sensory experience – just make sure you witness the hand-scrubbing before they dive in!

Have the children help you space out the pieces of kale onto a silicone-mat lined baking sheet and add just a small sprinkle of sea salt for flavour.

Bake the kale chips at 350F for 8-12 minutes until they crisp up and turn a dark green. If the edges start to brown, you’ve cooked them too long but they will still be tasty.

Pin this Homemade Kale Chips recipe:

Grab your free printable recipe card for our delicious homemade kale chips recipe:

We love serving our kale chips alongside a kid-made sandwich, or as a special movie night treat.

For more delicious recipes using kale, check out Ella’s Favorite Green Smoothie recipe or our Fall Quinoa Salad with Maple Walnut Dressing.

The original pin from 2015:

Check out our other Vegetable Recipes here: