Garlic and Chili Baked Kale Chips (Homemade Keto Snack)

It constantly amazes me with just how many tasty snacks that you can actually make out of healthy ingredients. Take these garlic and chili baked kale chips for example. They’re a perfectly viable alternative to unhealthy potato chips and they taste absolutely fantastic. Even my kids love them, and they aren’t exactly the biggest leafy green fans in the world. If you enjoyed our homemade zucchini chips recipe, then these chips should be right up your alley. The kale is infused with an immense amount of flavor thanks to the addition of garlic powder and chili flakes, while olive oil helps to add a nice amount of heart healthy fats into the mix.

It’s All In the Ingredients

The idea of making keto chips out of kale may seem totally alien to some of you at first glance, and that’s completely understandable. If you had told me a few years ago that kale chips would be one of my new favorite snacks, I definitely would have just nodded my head and smiled, as if to say “yeah sure, whatever you say”. How times have changed! Thanks to a tasty combination of ingredients, these kale chips are indeed delicious, and they’re definitely one of my favorite go-to snack recipes.

It all starts by removing the hard rib from the center of each of your kale leaves, and then tearing the leaves themselves into small bite sized pieces to use as your chips. Using kale for making chips as opposed to potatoes doesn’t just keep this snack incredibly low in carbs and keto-friendly — this dark leafy green is an absolutely nutritional powerhouse. It’s high in vitamins A, C, and K, it possesses potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and studies have even found that it’s a great dietary food for helping to support your cardiovascular system. (1)

You’ll be placing your kale chips in a bowl and combining them with a few other choice ingredients that will up the taste factor to 11. In order to give your chips their garlicky flavor, you’ll be using a single teaspoon of garlic powder. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to give them an incredibly distinct and flavorful taste nonetheless. Along with the kale, you’ll also be getting quite a few benefits for your heart thanks to the garlic, as it’s known to help lower both cholesterol levels and blood pressure. (2)

Adding a bit of dried chili flakes is a great way to complement the garlic flavor and give your kale chips an ever so slightly spicy kick. As with the garlic powder, this recipe only calls for a small amount of chili flakes to be used, but remember the old saying — big things can come in small packages. Using ½ teaspoon of chili flakes is enough to give the chips a noticeable kick with each bite, and the capsaicin content provides even more cardiovascular support for your heart and body. (3)

You’ll also be mixing in a bit of olive oil in with the other ingredients. And in keeping with the theme of these baked kale chips being an incredibly heart healthy snack, we all know that olive oil is a great source of monounsaturated fatty acids that provide numerous benefits for cardiovascular health. (4)

All things considered, these kale chips don’t just taste ridiculously good — they’re clearly ridiculously good for you as well, as nearly every ingredient used (you’ll also add just a pinch of salt) provides some great benefits for your heart health. If you’re one of those people who has always sworn off making healthy snacks out of veggies like kale, then this could definitely be the recipe to turn things around for you. It’s definitely well worth a try!

208_recipe_ketopots Garlic and Chili Baked Kale Chips (Homemade Keto Snack)

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
9 oz kale, washed and dried
½ tsp dried chili flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Remove and discard the hard rib from the center of each leaf.
Tear the leaves into small bite size pieces.
In a bowl place the kale, olive oil, chili flakes, garlic powder and salt and toss to coat.
Spread the kale out in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until leaves are crisp.
Cool completely before serving.