The easiest and tastiest low-carb chips to make yourself have got to be air fryer kale chips. You can make these easily in small batches and eat them fresh every week as after school snacks, road trip munchies, or as a healthy side dish to burgers, soups, and sandwiches. Bonus: Learn how to grow your own kale to save money and have access to the freshest, tastiest harvests! 
Other Veggie Recipes for Later:
Keto Colcannon Recipe for St. Patrick’s Day (or Halloween)
Small Batch Air Fryer Kale Chips
The one drawback to kale chips is that they can be a little fragile compared to potato or even beet chips. The beauty of making small batches of these air fryer kale chips is that you eat them up before they have a chance to get knocked around in your snack box.
There are myriad benefits to growing your own kale, but one is that you can harvest fresh, ripe leaves in small batches and immediately make them into air fryer kale chips.
- This means your eating the kale at the peak of nutrition and consuming it when it will be of the most benefit to your body.
Growing your own kale also means you’re saving money – have you ever bought kale chips from the health food store?! Yikes, pricey!
Today’s article will cover:
- How to grow your own kale from seed in pots or in the garden.
- Then, how to prepare and make air fryer kale chips.
We also offer a few alternative to making kale chips in your air fryer if yours is dirty and you don’t feel like washing it.
Great Recipe for Kids to Make
Before we begin, this is a perfect recipe for kids to help with because it’s very simple.
- The children who help will need to be able to handle knives and be careful around a hot appliance.
Young chefs need practice with both, so this is a good time to bring the kids into the kitchen and guide them through this process. The more time they have to practice with you in the kitchen, the quicker they’ll be able to handle meal prepartion on their own.
If you choose to grow your own kale in your homestead garden, then bring the kids out for that, too. In fact, kale is so simple to grow that it’s a great vegetable for the children’s garden.
Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox, but I love including homestead kids in everything we do!!
Why Plant Your Own Kale from Seed?
Us homesteaders have a thing about growing our own food as often as we can, right? Even if we’ve struggled to grow some crops, kale is a realiable one that even new gardeners can be successful growing.
Here are a few reasons why you might want to grow kale from seed:
- Growing veggie plants from seed enables you to save a lot of money over purchasing nursery plant starts.
- It sprouts readily and transplants well into the garden.
- Kale itself is a highly nutritious green to grow in the garden and can give you more nutrition per square foot than some other crops like corn.
- It is rarely bothered too much by garden pests and is hardy in cold weather, both of which make it comparatively easy to grow.
- Kale also sets seed very easily, making it a simple seed save even for new gardeners.
- Last but not least, kale is also very versatile in recipes. You can saute it or eat it raw in salads…or make these fabulous air fryer kale chips!
Smal Batch Air Fryer Kale Chips Recipe
Ours is a six ingredient air fryer kale chip recipe with herbs, sea salt, and a dash of cheesy flavor (with a nutritional yeast powder option). However, please feel free to experiment with your own flavor combinations.
Low Carb Air Fryer Kale Chips
Ingredients
- 5 Kale Leaves, or about 2 Cups When Chopped Roughly 16 oz.
- 2 Tbsp Cold Pressed Olive Oil May also use avocado oil
- 1 tsp. Sea Salt
- 2 tsp. Onion Powder
- 1 tsp. Dried Basil, Finely Ground
- Dash Cayenne
- 2-3 Tbsp. Cheese Powder or Nutritional Yeast May use 1 Tbsp. of both
Instructions
- Wash 5 medium kale leaves (about16 oz./2 cups when chopped). Pat the leaves dry. Be sure to dry them well or it will take longer to get them crispy.
- Trim the thick kale stem away from the leaves. Chop the leaves and place them in a bowl. Toss in 2 Tbsp. cold pressed olive oil to coat the leaves.
- Add 1 tsp. sea salt, 2 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. basil finely ground, and a dash of cayenne. Mix and massage these herbs and salt into the leaves with your hands for best coverage.
- Fill the air fryer basket and set to 325F/163C. There are different size air fryers, so if the kale doesn't all fit, simply run a few batches.
- Fry for 3 minutes, pull out the basket and test for crispiness. If they need a little more heat, shake the basket gently and return it to the air fryer for 1 more minute until crispy.
- Turn into a heat-proof bowl and gently toss with cheese powder, if using. If using nutritional yeast, allow to cool to room temperature and then gently toss. (High heat will damage nutritional yeast.)
Notes
- Curry Powder
- Ranch Dressing Mix
- Cumin and Chili Flakes
- Parmesan Cheese & Oregano
Easy & Quick to Make Kale Chips
The longest part of this process is actually processing the kale. After washing the leaves, search them for hidden dirt and aphids.
- Especially if you have organic kale, be sure to check along the back rib of the leaf and all inside the curls.
You can pat dry or use a salad spinner to remove excess water. Use a knife or kitchen shears to cut the back rib off the leafy part. Then, cut into bite-sized pieces.
- The leaves will shrink up a bit as they fry, so don’t worry about measuring each piece.
Toss the oil, herbs, salt, and pepper before placing the kale into the basket of the air fryer. Don’t add the cheese or nutritional yeast yet.
Once you’ve checked for crispiness and the chips are deliciously crunchy, you can place them into a bowl and toss them in cheese powder or nutritional yeast.
Added Nutrition for Air Fryer Kale Chips
Nutritional yeast has a nutty, almost cheesy flavor that adds a dimension of nutrition, making it a great addition to kale chips.
- If you’re unfamiliar with nutritional yeast, please visit this article by City Homesteads that explains what it is and the benefits of nutritional yeast.
Sea salt, too, adds flavor and an impressive mineral profile to an already minerally rich vegetable.
To learn more about sea salt, visit Redmond Salt’s article on the benefits of sea salt.
The flavor combination in this recipe produces a flavor similar to buttered popcorn. Which is a real treat if you’re on a low carb diet and miss your popcorn!
Air Fryer Kale Chips – Random Notes
If your toaster oven has an air fryer setting, you can follow the instructions we’ve provided for stand alone units.
The only secret to homemade veggie chips is to watch for burning! You want crispy, not charcoal.
Other favorite toppings include:
- Curry Powder
- Ranch Dressing Mix
- Cumin and Chili Flakes
- Parmesan Cheese & Oregano
Store the kale chips in an airtight container once COMPLETELY COOLED. Moisture will make the chips soft, so be sure to cool them completely.
I prefer mason jars with tight lids for storage, but anything airtight will work.
- Store them for 3-5 days at room temperature.
- If you’ve added dairy, eat them up within 3 days or they might start to taste a little meh.
They probably won’t last that long, though, since they’re delicious. The point of making them in small batches is so that they can be consumed right away!
Options to Air Fryer Kale Chips
If you’re too lazy to clean out the air fryer to make these kale chips, I feel that. Here are some options!
If you’re using a dehydrator:
Follow steps 1-3, and then:
- Lay the kale out evenly without touching on dehydrator racks .
- Dehydrate on the living foods setting (around 105F/41C) to make an softer raw kale chip.
- Or dehydrate at a higher setting for a crispier finish 130°F for about 4-6 hours.
- Turn into a bowl and gently toss with cheese powder or nutritional yeast, if using.
If you’re using an oven:
Follow steps 1-3, and then:
- Lay the kale out evenly without touching on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake the kale chips at 225F/ for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until crispy. Watch carefully for burning and stir periodically to turn over leaves.
- Turn into a bowl and gently toss with cheese powder or nutritional yeast, if using.
Are Kale Seeds Edible?
We’re familiar with eating the leaves, but I’ve been asked before if kale seeds are edible, too.
Edible, yes. Palatable, meh.
If you’d like to try frying up a seed pod, try radish seed pods instead. Fried radish seed pods are peppery like mustard seeds.
Your livestock can eat kale seeds, however, as well as the kale stalks that were cut away from the leaves to make this recipe. Both can also go into your compost pile.
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