Air Fryer Ranch Kale Chips Recipe

By
Leah Maroney
Leah Maroney
Leah Maroney
A recipe developer and food photographer, Leah Maroney is an ardent home cook and food blogger who has written over 300 recipes for The Spruce Eats.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 12/27/22
air fryer kale chips

The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney 

Prep: 2 mins
Cook: 12 mins
Total: 14 mins
Servings: 2 servings
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
173 Calories
14g Fat
10g Carbs
4g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 173
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 14g 18%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 659mg 29%
Total Carbohydrate 10g 4%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 43mg 216%
Calcium 94mg 7%
Iron 1mg 8%
Potassium 323mg 7%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Tossing kale in the air fryer transforms the vegetable into something crunchy, crispy, and extremely craveable. They’re the perfect way to get in some extra greens. You’ll get the satisfaction of crunching on something, without the usual high calories that come with fried foods. 

The air fryer method is much faster than baking. You also don’t have to put the kale pieces in one even layer, so you won't have multiple baking sheets full of kale. You can just load it all in and you will end up with perfectly crispy chips.

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch kale

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1 teaspoon dried dill

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    ingredients for air fryer kale chips

  2. Remove the curly leaves from the hard stem of the kale. Break the leaves into smaller, bite-size pieces.

    olive oil and seasonings mixed together in a bowl

  3. Whisk the olive oil, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, dried dill, and salt in a large bowl.

    kale stripped from its stem on a cutting board

  4. Add the kale pieces to the bowl and toss them to coat. Make sure to evenly coat the leaves with the seasoning.

    kale tossed with seasonings in a bowl

  5. Add the kale to the basket of the air fryer. Set the air fryer to 400 F and cook for 10 minutes, shaking halfway in between the cooking time.

    seasoned kale in air fryer basket

  6. Serve and enjoy!

    air fryer kale chips in a bowl
     The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney

Recipe Variations

There are so many possibilities for seasonings. Here are some of our favorites…
Everything Bagel Kale Chips: Toss the kale with olive oil and everything bagel seasoning.  Top with additional bagel seasoning and start munching. 

  • Spicy Kale Chips: Add a 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne powder and a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to the original seasonings.
  • Garlic Parmesan Kale Chips: Add two tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of garlic powder and a 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese to a large bowl. Stir and then toss with the kale. 
  • Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips: Add 2 teaspoons of malt vinegar powder and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the olive oil, then toss with the kale and air fry.

Recipe Tips

  • In order to make your kale chips super crispy, you can’t wash them right before air frying. They need to be super dry before adding the oil. So wash them the day before and dry them in a salad spinner. Add them to a paper towel lined plastic bag and cook them the next day. 
  • Make sure to remove the stems from the kale leaves. These will take much longer to cook and will not get crispy.