My dad’s kale garden was growing like crazy, so he cut me about 5 pounds of prime kale. I juiced a ton of it, but I thought I’d try making kale chips. I used kale and tree collards, and I liked the texture of the collards better. These are super easy to make, and don’t worry because you don’t need a dehydrator. A dehydrator is be optimal way to preserve the nutrient value because you can set it at under 120 degrees. The hotter you bake them, the more enzymes are killed. If you do it in your oven, just turn it to the lowest temp and bake for a few hours. My oven only goes down to 170.
One important thing to note is that these chips are extremely crispy when they come out of the oven, but if you let them sit out they will absorb moisture and go soft quick. Put them in a mason jar and seal them tight to keep them super crispy.
I’ve been obsessed with sriracha chili sauce, so I thought I’d create a recipe using it as a primary flavor. I added a little of soy sauce and grated ginger to balance it out.
I tried some plain and soaked them in salt water. They were good, but I preferred the flavored ones.
Recipe:
- 1 lb fresh kale or collards
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons sriracha chili sauce
- thumb size grated ginger
- break kale into bit size pieces
- add soy sauce, sriracha, and ginger
- scrunch the kale together hard so they kale starts to break down and soften. This will force the flavor in. Let sit for a half hour.
- Dehydrate at a temp less than 120 degrees for 3-4 hours or bake in oven on a cookie sheet at the lowest temperature possible for around 2 hours. Just bake them until they are brittle and crispy.
- Store in a mason jar.
