Nacho Cheese Baked Kale Chips/Crisps (Oil-free)

Once you’ve tried these melt-in-your-mouth cheesy crispy baked kale chips you’ll be making them all the time.  Get almost all of your Vitamin C intake in just one serving.

I could rave about the benefits of kale chips all day long.  

When people tell you that you can’t indulge in chips (We Brits call them crisps) they haven’t tried these kale chips yet. 

My son and I go crazy for kale chips, and I often don’t get a look in because he scoffs the lot before I get to sit down.  I don’t mind though because I’m just happy he is getting some vegetables in his diet as he doesn’t really eat many other vegetables. 

Most kale chips are laden with oil or a rich cashew sauce – which don’t get me wrong are delicious.  But I wanted to see if I could recreate the same deliciousness with a fraction of the calories by avoiding oil and nuts.  I have done just that and I’ve kept the same moreish taste. 

Once you eat one of these cheesy nacho kale chips you’ll be hooked and you won’t be able to stop.  But that’s no problem with these kale chips as they are jam-packed full of nutrients. 

With each serving of these kale chips, you’ll get 88% of your recommended vitamin C for the entire day.  And that’s not all. 

If you ended up eating the whole batch (and I wouldn’t blame you if you did) you’d get half of your daily intake of protein, all of your daily intake of calcium, and three times the amount of Vitamin C intake for the day – all for just 247 calories. 

Most things are too good to be true, with the exception of these cheesy kale chips. 

Crispy, flaky, melt-in-the-mouth cheesy goodness.  What more could you want? 

You can either bake these in the air fryer or the oven and I have instructions for both. I also have some ingredient substitutions if you want to replace some of the ingredients.

This is the perfect movie-night snack that your body is actually going to thank you for.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• This recipe and all recipes on my website are suitable for the special diets, vegan, plant based, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, free from refined sugar, and vegetarian.
• This recipe contains 61 calories per serving.
• This recipe contains 5g protein per serving.
• One serving of this recipe contains 88% of your recommended daily intake of Vitamin C.
• One serving of this recipe contains 31% of your recommended daily intake of calcium.
• If you ate the whole batch on one go you would get half of your daily intake of protein, all of your daily intake of calcium, and over 3x your daily intake of Vitamin C, all for just 247 calories.
• This recipe takes just 6 minutes to cook.
• I have avoided oil and nuts in this recipe to keep the calories at just 61 per serving. 

Ingredients

Ingredient Substitutions

• Kale: You can replace kale with other thick leafy greens but keep a close eye on them while they are cooking as the timings might change.  I have tested these with spinach and they do work but tend to clump together more as the leaves are so floppy.
• Soy yogurt: Use any type of yoghurt or cashew cream if you don’t mind the extra calories.  You could also replace this with 2 tablespoons of oil.
• Cheese seasoning: Replace the homemade cheese seasoning with nutritional yeast.
• Salt: You could replace this with 1-2 tablespoons of tamari or remove it altogether, but the kale chips won’t be as tasty
• Lemon juice: Replace this with lime or orange juice or remove completely.
• Maple syrup: Adding sweetness balances out the bitterness of the kale, but you can remove this if you want.  Replace it with any other liquid sweetener or granulated sweetener.

The Structure Of A Plant Based Plate

Each of the recipes I create fits into my Plant Plate System.  This system incorporates 5 food groups into every meal. 

The 5 food groups are 1) Plant Protein, 2), Leaves, Fruit, And Veg, 3) Aesthetic Additions, 4) Nutrient Packed Carbohydrates, and 5) Taste

This recipe adds plant protein to any dish.  It falls under the “vegan protein” category on the Plant Based Plate and is not a complete meal.

The diagram below helps you visually see how this element features on a Plant-Based Plate.

Click here to discover more about my Plant Plate System and some of the benefits of eating this way.

Here’s how this recipe is structured according to the Plant Plate System.  

Adding each ingredient to the following categories helps you to easily see how to make substitutions.  It also lets you know the exact reason why the ingredient is in the recipe. 

Plant-Based Protein

• Kale
• Soy Yogurt

Leaves, Fruit & Veg 

• Kale

Aesthetic Additions

• Nutritional Yeast

Nutrient Packed Carbohydrates

• Kale

Taste 

• Homemade cheese seasoning 
• Salt
• Lemon juice
• Maple syrup

Recommended Equipment

Here are the main kitchen equipment tools I have used to create this recipe.

How To Make This Recipe

• Strip and cut the kale to your desired length.
• Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl until the kale is completely coated.
• Bake in the oven or air fryer.

What To Serve With Kale Chips

Here are some of my favorite things to serve with kale chips: 

• Smoky Tempeh Bacon
• Creamy Edamame Guacamole
• Vegan Ranch Dip Recipe
• Spicy Vegan Cauliflower Buffalo Wings
• Vegan Zucchini Fritters
• Crispy Homemade Baked French Fries
• Oil-free Sweet Potato Fries

For more options, see all of my best vegan, gluten-free carbs side dishes.

How To Serve

Serve kale chips straight away.  The longer you leave them, the soggier they get.

How To Increase The Calories

If you would like to increase the calories in this recipe, replace the yogurt with a vegan cream, or 2 tablespoons of oil.

Frequently Asked Questions

How To Store Leftovers

This recipe keeps for up to 4 days out of the fridge in an airtight container.

More Tasty Vegan Protein Recipes

This recipe is part of my vegan protein series.

If you’re looking for easy, vegan protein snacks and side dishes, check out some of my other vegan protein recipes:

• Vegan Jackfruit Shredded Chicken
• Easy Vegan Meatloaf With Mushrooms And Oats
• 10 Minute Plant Based Black Bean Burger (Gluten Free) 

You can see all of my vegan protein recipes here.

Recipe

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