There are several tricks for making kale chips that are crispy and not soggy or scorched. Let’s explore those tricks so you can make all kinds of tasty kale chip variations.

How to make crispy kale chips

1. Start with clean, fresh kale. For kale chips, it’s best to use kale that is fresh and not wilted. Remove the stems from the kale, tear the leaves into pieces, and wash them. I use a salad spinner to wash and spin the kale before making kale chips.

2. Massage the kale. Using a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil (a little goes a long way so go easy on it) gently rub the kale to coat each piece. The kale with get darker green and more tender as you massage it.

3. Sprinkle with dry seasonings. Dry seasonings such as garlic powder, pepper, parmesan, and even sesame seeds are fantastic for flavoring kale chips. However, be careful using wet ingredients, such as soy sauce, because any added liquid can cause the kale chips to become soggy.

4. Don’t pile the kale on the baking sheet. Instead of just tossing the kale on the baking sheet like I do when I’m dehydrating kale in the dehydrator, for making crispy kale chips the kale pieces need to be in a single layer. So, take the extra minute or two and lay them the pieces out.

5. Bake low and slow. It’s easy to scorch kale and when it’s scorch it’s bitter and not very tasty. To make sure I don’t scorch kale chips, I bake the chips at 300F for about 25 minutes. I think this helps the pieces dry out and cook more evenly so that you don’t have a bunch of brown edges. In my opinion, the browned parts are bitter so I try to make sure we have very few brown spots on our kale chips.

6. Let the kale chips cool. The kale chips will crisp up a bit while cooling, so let them cool for a few minutes before eating.

How to Store Crispy Kale Chips

Storing kale chips so that they remain crispy can be tricky. My best advice is to just make enough kale chips to eat fresh. However, if you happen to have some left over, you can do these things to try to keep them crispy.

1. Make sure baked kale chips are fully cooled before you store them. If not, there will be condensation in the container and it will cause them to be soggy.
2. Some people recommend an airtight container and some suggest a container that isn’t air tight. Because I live in a very humid climate, I use an airtight container. If you live in a drier climate, you might just need a container with plastic wrap over it. This is something you’ll need to just try out and see what works best for you.

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