Dehydrated Raw Vegan Spicy Kale Chips
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Dehydrated Raw Vegan Spicy Kale Chips... because eating kale as chips is what the cool kids do. What's better than plain old regular kale you ask? Crispy, crunchy-in-my-mouth, spicy kale chips that's what.
These dehydrated raw vegan spicy kale chips are:
- Crunchyyy
- Crispyyy
- Spicy, but not too much.
- Cheezy, without the nooch, because some people don't like nutritional yeast 🙂
- Perfect to have around as a snack, serve as a side with other meals, or impress your bae, because they'll 'think' you need major skills to make this, but you don't. Because it's super easy. And I'm gonna guide you through it okay?
Now, go get your hands on some fresh kale...
Remove the stems, place the kale leaves in a bowl, and whip up the awesome spicy cashew sauce ...
Pour this said creamy spicy cashew sauce all over the kale leaves. Be nice and massage the kale leaves with your hands so that you coat all of the kale completely. Also, you can totally eat one or two or three pieces of fresh kale coated in this yummy yummy sauce. Taste testing, ya know?! 😉
After the kale has been completely coated - spread over dehydrator tray and dehydrate overnight. I knowwww. This.is.the.hardest.part. But if you stick 'em in the dehydrator right before you go to bed, you'll have tasty dehydrated raw vegan spicy kale chips fresh and ready to go for lunch or next day's dinner!
I use the Excalibur Dehydrator (affiliate link) and I absolutely loveeee it. It is pricey, but it's an investment that is WORTH it in my opinion. You can make all kinds of stuff with this thing. A few recipes on this site that I made using my dehydrator include - my popular Dehydrated Raw Vegan Cheezy Broccoli Chips recipe, Simple Raw Vegan Banana Bread, and also my Perfect Raw Vegan Sundried Tomato Wrap recipe. You can also make breads, tortillas, taco shells, fruit leathers, crackers, and more. Many dehydrator recipes to come soon. I promiseeeee! <3
PS. If you don't have a dehydrator, NO WORRIES! I've given instructions for oven roasted crispy kale chips too 'cause .. I love ya! 🙂
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PSS. If you try these crunchy dehydrated raw vegan spicy kale chips.. pls will ya let me know? 'Cause it makes me happy to know that you're happy and eating vibrant healthy food!
Anyway,
with love + gratitude..
Jen ♥
Dehydrated Raw Vegan Spicy Kale Chips
Dehydrated Raw Vegan Spicy Kale Chips that will make you say YUM! Crunchy, chewy and flavorful. Oven option available. Raw Vegan | Oil free | Gluten free
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: If oven - 45 min, if using dehydrator = 12 hours
- Yield: 4 to 5 cups of kale chips 1x
Ingredients
- 1 big bunch of fresh kale which usually brings 8 to 10 individual stalks. I use anywhere between 150g to 180g of kale each time.
For Spicy Cashew sauce:
- 1 cup of cashews
- 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
- 1 cup of water
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 1 chipotle pepper (soaked if dried) *read notes for powder substitutions
- 1/4 tsp of salt
Instructions
- If you will be making these in the oven, begin by preheating your oven to 350F. If you are keeping them raw and using a dehydrator, move on to next step.
- Make spicy cashew sauce – place all ingredients for the sauce in a blender and blend until you have a creamy consistency.
- Remove the stems from the kale and place kale ‘leaves’ in a big bowl. Once you’ve removed all kale from stems, add spicy cashew sauce and combine preferably by hands so that you can massage the sauce well into the kale leaves.
- If roasting – cover a baking dish with parchment paper and place kale leaves on top. Roast at 350F for 25 – 30 minutes, checking every 10 to 15 minutes to avoid burning. Remember every oven is different so keep an eye out because yours might be crunchy and ready sooner.
- If using a dehydrator – place on reusable dehydrator silicone sheets (affiliate link) or place parchment paper over your mesh dehydrator sheets and place kale leaves on that. Dehydrate for one hour at 155F, and then bring down heat to 115F and continue to dehydrate overnight or for 10 to 12 hours.
Notes
- I like to dehydrate my food at high heat (155F) for one hour to avoid any bacteria from growing in my food overnight due to moisture.
- If you can’t find a chipotle pepper you can sub for chipotle powder or another spice such as cayenne pepper. For powder form – start with 1/8 tsp of powder and depending on how spicy you want the sauce to be add up to 1/2 tsp of powder. Please note 1/2 tsp is VERY spicy, at least for me! I usually stick to 1/8 tsp to 1/4 tsp of powder.
- All ovens are different. My chips are usually crunchy within 30 to 35 minutes. Sometimes they are ready sooner, sometimes they need an extra five more minutes. Continually check your chips and remove once you feel that they are crunchy enough for your taste.
- All dehydrators are different. Your chips may be ready within 10 hours, or they may need a few more hours to reach that crunchy consistency. Be patient with dehydrators. It takes time! 🙂
- If you have chickpea miso on hand – another variation of the cashew sauce that I love is adding 1 tsp of chickpea miso but make sure to bring down salt measurement to 1/8 tsp instead of 1/4 tsp or else it’ll be too salty.
- Chips stay fresh and crunchy if stored in an airtight glass container and placed in the fridge. Best if served fresh, but will last about 3 days.
- Feel free to use more or less kale as I mention above.. you can make as many, or as little, kale chips as you desire but the cashew sauce is enough for up to 180g of kale. If you have a lot more kale, you’ll have to make more sauce.
- Yield = 2 dehydrator sheets or 2 baking dishes
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I love the idea of healthy kale chips! For some reason, I never make my own, but seeing this, may give me a push I need! Thank you for sharing!
You should definitely try it. Homemade is best, and cheaper 😛 haha
These look SO good! Kale chips are the best, I absolutely love this recipe. Thanks!
Thanks Linda! 🙂
These look so hearty and delicious! I haven’t had kale chips in ages and I think I need to ASAP
KALE chips are always a GOOD idea! 🙂
Looks so good! I wish I had a dehydrator! I know there is an oven option but I always wanted a dehydrator. I have tried to make chips before in the oven and they always come out soggy 🙁 Will these come out crunchy?
Hey friend.. I totally feel you.. a dehydrator is the best way to get the crunchiest of chips in my opinion.. but the oven is a GREAT alternative! I am so positive that you’ll get some crunchiness and crisp using the oven if you follow my recipe. I made sure to test the recipe in the oven to make sure myself and, even-though NOT as crunchy as the chips in the dehydrator.. they were still very crunchy and so so tasty!! Of course times may vary because different ovens work in different ways.. but just keep an eye on them and continue assessing (aka sneaking bites of kale chips aka test tasting haha) their crunch and remove once they’ve gotten crunchy enough for your taste, but of course don’t let them burn! 😛
I confess, kale has taken some time for me to get used to. I’m getting there. We have it in our smoothies everyday for sure because the health benefits are AWESOME! But to just sit and eat a kale salad? I’ve done it, but it takes some coaxing for sure. But this recipe looks so good, I might just be ready to dig right in!
Hey Marly! I totallyyyy understand you. Hey, I’m *still* not the biggest fan of kale myself, especially in salad form! But, I have found different ways to enjoy it.. in smoothies for sure just like you said, it goes down a lot easier that way haha. I have also found that using it in soups like in a ‘broccoli and kale’ soup, it tastes pretty good too.. I’ll be posting a recipe for that soup soon by the way. Okay, so back to the chips – kale in chip form has been a life saver for me.. trust me, it doesn’t taste like the kale in a salad. These are crunchy and crispy anddd you might just even forget that you’re actually eating kale because the flavors of the sauce are sooo yummy. Give it a go! And remember the sauce is very flexible – feel free to change it up to whatever suits your palate! 🙂
Oh, man. This has me wanting to run out and buy a dehydrator ASAP. Especially with spring/summer on its way, sounds like the perfect time for this recipe! I also loooove that you used a spicy cheesy sauce rather than just seasoning the kale. So smart!
Haha Brittany! A dehydrator is a fun kitchen tool to have for sure. I love mine! And yesss, spring and summer are right around the corner and this is a perfect fun and vibrant dish for that time of year! 🙂
I tried these yesterday, Jen, and they were not only awesome, they were so quick to make! Takes only minutes to prepare, then dehydrate overnight and, voilà, you have a healthy snack. Keep those great recipes coming!
★★★★★
Yay Cleo this makes my heart so happy! Thank you so much for coming back and leaving a review. <3 I am happy they turned out great for you. You are motivating me to get creative and come up with more dehydrator recipes to share. Thanks again.
How long do these typically last in an airtight bag? Looks delicious and I’d love to prep some in advance for backpacking and camping.
Backpacking and camping are so much fun! I would say, if you make them the day before your trip and keep them in an airtight seal, they should last a few days, maybe up to a week.. just make sure they are really dehydrated and dry. I wouldn’t want to store them at room temperature if they have any moisture. I’m sorry that I can’t give you an exact number as I haven’t really tested it myself. They might lose a bit of their crunch after a while. Enjoy your adventure!
OMG.. I found so many recipes for raw cheesy kale chips but this was what I really wanted and they turned out so amazing.. I probably used less sauce but saved some for broccoli chips or should I say chunkies? lol
Thanks a ton for this recipe!
★★★★★
That’s so awesome to hear! Thanks for the feedback. Broccoli chunkies sounds way cooler hahaha.