Air Fryer Kale Chips (No Oil)

Learn how to make some delicious super cheesy crispy kale chips in your air fryer. They are extremely healthy, very easy to make and lightly seasoned, nut free with no oil. Suitable for vegans, gluten free and paleo friendly. With oven and dehydrator options.

Course Appetiser

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 5

Total Time 30

Servings people

Calories 31kcal

Author Charla

Ingredients

2 bunches of Kale (about 8 cups, tightly packed
1½ tablespoon lime juice
2½ teaspoon smoked paprika
⅓-½ cup nutritional yeast (14.5-22g)
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
¼ teaspoon pink salt

Instructions

To air fry the kale chips

Wash the kale leaves in cold water and thoroughly blot them until they are completely dry.
Remove the ribs from the kale (you can do this by hand or with kitchen scissors).
Proceed to tear/cut the leaves into small bite sized pieces and place them in a large bowl.
Place the lime juice in one bowl and the nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, garlic, onion powder and pink salt in another (be sure to mix the dry ingredients).
Pour the lime juice all over the kale leaves and use your hands to thoroughly coat the leaves.
Sprinkle and coat the leaves (using your hands) with smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, garlic granules and pink salt mix.
Preheat the air fryer basket.Pack the leaves in the basket (you will need about 3 layers).
Air fry the chips for 5-6 minutes at 150C/300F or until they are crispy. Shake the basket half way through and place the rack on top of the kale leaves if you are using a fan forced air fryer to prevent them from flying around.

The Oven Method

Preheat the oven at 300F/150C and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
Wash and blot the kale chips dry and season them accordingly (as per instructions).
Place the seasoned kale chips on the baking tray (it's okay to pack them on but not too much).
Bake the chips until they become crispy (it should be ready in 10-18 minutes, turning and shaking them half way through (the chips will wilt as they crisp up).
Keep an eye on the chips and remove any that become crispy quite early.

Dehydrator Method

Wash, blot and dry the kale chips dry and season them accordingly (as per instructions).
Arrange the kale chips on the dehydrator trays, being careful not to overcrowd.
Set the unit to 55F/130F for 4-6 hours or until the chips are crispy.

Video

Notes

Make sure the leaves are completely dry before seasoning. You can leave them to air dry for up to an hour, use a salad spinner or what I do is use kitchen paper and carefully blot each section dry.
If you want to bake the kale chips in the oven bake at 300F/150C for 10-18 minutes or dehydrate at 160F/60C for 4-6 hours.
It is normal for the kale chips to look quite brown because of the excess use of nutritional yeast so don't be alarmed, its NOT burnt!.
DON'T air fryer the kale chips in single layers, you will want to slightly pack the basket instead or apply an air fryer trivet on top of the chips to prevent them from flying around.
For very large quantities of kale, you may need to air fry in batches.
The more seasoning you use, the darker the chips will be.
Feel free to add any additional seasoning i.e curry powder, chilli flakes, cumin etc...
Cooking time may vary depending on the make and model of your unit. Mine took 6 minutes to get crispy and for the nutritional yeast to turn golden (it's not burnt FYI).

Nutrition