Spicy Nacho Kale Chips
Hi hello! Happy week after Christmas. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday if you celebrated, or at least some time off of work to spend with your favorite people. I had a lovely relaxing week of family, friends, and cookies. So. many. cookies.
The day after Christmas, I went to the co-op and checked out with an embarrassing amount of vegetables. I was craving greens like whoa, while still craving peanut butter blossoms. confusing.
I made several greens-focused recipes over the past few days, and thought I’d start out the week after Cookiemas with some healthy (yet-ridiculously addictive) kale chips. Fitting, since I’ve been alllll about chips lately.
If you haven’t had kale chips, they are a perfect healthier option for salty, crunchy cravings. I’ve been making them for a couple years now, and cannot keep myself from eating the entire batch (as long as Ryan isn’t home to steal some). For this reason, the recipe today is a single serving (a HUGE single serving), because let’s be honest – no one is going to stop at half the batch. If you do, you’re stronger than I am.
Since kale chips are easy to make at home, I rarely buy the overpriced pre-packaged variety. Until, of course, I saw “Zesty Nacho” kale chips at Trader Joe’s. Intrigued, I bought them, opened them in the car, and proceeded to eat the entire bag. They were cheesy, crunchy, and tastier than I ever expected.
After looking at the ingredients on that package, I decided I had to make my own version at home. It seems as through Trader Joe’s uses blended sunflower seeds to create a sort of cheese sauce, but I kept things a little easier by using nutritional yeast, salt, and tons of spices: onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and turmeric (for a little extra nacho color).
The result is a POW nacho flavor, and oh-so-very healthy. Like, obscenely healthy. As in, 200 calories, 10g fiber, 15g protein, and so many nutrients I won’t even bother to list them here.
We like heat in this house, so I used a hefty dash of cayenne. If you’re not into spicy, use half or just leave it out. I made them without the cayenne before, and they’re still perfectly nacho-y and flavorful.
I still love my potato chips, of course, but it is great to have a healthy, easy-to-make alternative for at-home chip cravings. Let me know if you try these!
Spicy Nacho Kale Chips
Crispy, cheesy, and super healthy kale chips! Full of protein, fiber, nutrients and nacho flavor.
Yield: 1 serving
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- ½ bunch curly green kale (~5 large leaves)
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 300.
- Slice each leaf along the stem, and then cut into 2-inch pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry. Pour on the olive oil, and use your hands to massage the olive oil into each leaf.
- Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl, then pour over the kale, and use your hands to mix the spices among all of the leaves.
- Spread the kale in a single layer on a large parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, turn the cookie sheet, and bake for another 12-14 minutes. Let sit on the cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes before enjoying.
Kale chip technique from Oh She Glows.
Nutrition Information: Serving Size: Full recipe, Calories: 205, Fat: 10.4g, Saturated Fat: 1.4g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 541mg, Potassium: 1166mg, Carbs: 19.2g, Fiber: 10.2g, Sugars: 2.2g, Protein: 15.5g
Love the new blog design!! I’m excited to try this new kale chip recipe; unfortunately all kale chips I’ve tried have fallen flat in the flavor department. Your recipe looks promising, and I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for the wonderful recipes.
Thank you so much! I hope you like these!
This design is amazing! Happy New Year, new look!
New design looks so great!!
I had the same exact thought as you after Christmas… after stuffing myself with cookies I needed something healthy and I went to the store and loaded my whole cart with produce. Then I made a batch of kale chips. I just did olive oil, salt and pepper, and some parmesan cheese. These sound SO addicting and delicious. Can’t wait to try them out!
I have kale in the fridge so I definitely need to make this recipe.. never made kale chips before. Your new blog design looks awesome too!
where is the protein coming from? 15 whole grams?
Primarily from the nutritional yeast – 2 tablespoons has 9g of protein!
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Hello,
This recipe sounds yummy, but I can’t have yeast as I am on the candida diet. Is the nutritional yeast a must, or can I leave it out?
Thank you in advance
Theresa
Unfortunately the nutritional yeast is crucial to the cheesy flavor, but you could try them without it and just have spiced kale chips. Let me know how it goes!
Pingback: Ever Heard of Nacho Kale Chips? - FitSnapp Recipes
Thank youuuu!!!
This recipe is amazing. I just discovered kale chips and I figured they would be impossible to make. You have proven me wrong, and they’re just as good as the ones from Trader Joe’s. Great job!
Awesome! Thank you for the comment!
These look great! I linked them to my post on Kale recipe ideas.
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