Nacho “cheese” kale chips are a healthful superfood vegan snack – make them in bulk to snack on throughout the week!
I resisted the temptation to name this post, “Large and In Charge Extra Crispy Cheeseless Cheesy Kale Chips (The Best Evah)”
This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill.
I’m just going to come out and say it….
Best.kale chips.ever.
You guys, I fed these kale chips to my brothers and my dad, who ravaged them like a pack of rabid hyenas. I had no clue if the menfolk would be receptive to the chips (on account of the fact that they’re made out of kale), but my dad told me I should sell them on the open market and make a million dollars. For a man who loves his chocolate milk and fried chicken, I took this to be a major compliment.
The four of us (my dad, brothers, and I) stood around my brother’s kitchen munching on the chips, getting kale crumbs all over our faces, mustaches, beards, and floor. My dad was all, “Did you make this recipe?” and I was all “Mmmmhmmmm…nacho momma’s kale chips, pop. Nacho momma’s.” And he was all, “Well aren’t you just a chip off the ol’ block?” < – What can I say? We’re suckers for a good pun.
Here is where the story gets crazy. These kale chips taste all sorts of nacho cheesy, but they’re entirely cheeseless. In fact, they’re completely healthful! The cheese flavor comes from a mixture of tahini and nutritional yeast. I know…what an actual mind blow!
Nutritional yeast. It’s so mysterious. Have you heard of or tried it? What exactly is it? Can you bake with it like bread yeast? Will it leaven your pancakes? Cinnamon rolls with nutritional yeast, yay or nay? We have so many questions. Let’s answer them!
Nutritional yeast comes from the fungus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (pronounced, “sanctimonious crevice.” Just kidding. I have no clue how it’s pronounced) and is not the same thing as bread yeast. It will not leaven your pancakes, or anything else for that matter. It’s flaky, yellow, and is used in vegan cooking to mimic the flavor of cheese. As an added bonus, it’s packed with B vitamins and all 18 amino acids, making it a complete protein. Those who have candida will not be irritated by nutritional yeast the way they will with bread yeast.
I used Bob’s Red Mill’s nutritional yeast to assemble these super crispy chips. You can also use nutritional yeast in salad dressings and sprinkle it on pasta in place of parmesan. Whether or not you’re vegan, the stuff is so tasty and fun to cook with.
I’m not going to lie and tell you these chips are the easiest things on the planet to make, because they’re kind of an event. They require about 2 hours of baking in the oven, which is why it’s smart to make them in volume.
The good news is, the process of massaging the “cheesy” nutritional yeast mixture into the leaves before popping them in the oven is actually pretty therapuetic. Plus, you can multi-task while the chips are crispifying. For you natural born snackers out there, these kale chips are super addictive.
If you need me, just follow the trail of kale crumbs.
Nacho Cheese Kale Chips
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.
- Rinse all of the kale leaves and pat them dry with a paper towel. Remove the leaves from the stems, keeping the leaves large. Discard the kale stems, feed them to your dog, or put them in smoothies.
- In a small bowl (or blender), combine the remaining ingredients and mix until a thick paste is formed.
- Use your hands to massage the "nacho cheese" mixture into the leaves, covering both sides. Place leaves in a single layer on two large baking sheets.
- Bake for 1 hour, flip the leaves, then bake for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Snack to your heart's delight!
Nutrition
For another great kale snack, try my Easy Sea Salt Kale Chips
Oooooh my goodness, I need these! I always try to make kale chips, and they always suck. I’m impatient but it looks like low and slow is key here…yours look magical! Love the nutritional yeast on them! Making and snacking ASAP.
I love that this version does not include cashews! Yay! I’ve seen so many cheesy kale chips with cashews, and I can’t even try them. 🙁 But I can try these! Hooray!
Oh yes, the tahini replaces the need for soaking/grinding cashews, and makes it approachable for those with nut allergies. So happy you can make the chips! Let me know when you do!
Gahhhhh I heart these chips so much without having tried them yet! Kale + nacho cheese flavoring, areyoukiddingme? Yes x 1000.
Haha that’s hilarious. I totally think you should sell them and make millions but for less than the ones that are already being sold that are like $10 at Whole Foods for 3 chips that are broken. I would totally buy yours for $9. 😉
these sound delicious! i baked my own kale chips for the first time last week. i made two more batches immediately after and couldn’t stop eating them. i did a lazy thing with them, though; i heat the oven to 380 and just bake them for 10-12 minutes. they probably lose a little bit of nutritional potency that way, though, so i’d like to try your lower heat/longer time method, too.
also, i put nooch on mine along with garlic & onion powders for a super savory wannabe cheese festival but i had not even considered tahini. it sounds perfect. i’d go so far as to say the world would probably be a better place if people would just pipe the eff down and eat some kale chips. cheers!
and p.s. your pun exchange made me absurdly giddy.
I couldn’t agree more!EVERYBODY, CAAAAAALM DOWN AND EAT YOUR KALE CHIPS! Phew! We just saved the world. I’ve made a similar recipe to the one I posted here and baked at 350 for 15ish minutes. I love how much quicker it is to cook at a higher temp, but my chips didn’t save well (they got soggy) when I baked at 350. Not that they should last long enough to store away for the nuclear holocaust, but I figured there might be some folks out there who want to bake oodles and oodles of chips and save them for kid’s lunches and such. Anyhoo, so glad you like the recipe and my ridiculous puns! 😀 xoxoxo
Is there a breakdown of Carbs / sugars etc?
Hi there! I don’t provide nutritional info for my recipes, but my guess is that the recipe is low in sugar and carbs and high in fat 😀 xo
I don’t know what’s more brilliant, the name nacho momma’s kale chips or the recipe itself! Gah, these look so good! And I know they taste good if you got a meat loving man to scarf them down.
As soon as you start your company selling kale chips, let me know. I’ll gladly order a few cases!
Could you make these in a food dehydrator? It would use less energy than the oven. And wouldn’t heat up the house in summer.
Hi Laura, you can absolutely make the recipe using a dehydrator! I need to get my hands on one 🙂
My mom makes kale chips similar to this and they are soo yummy! She’ll often sprinkle some over salads or in sandwiches for an extra boost of flavor and nutrition. 🙂 I don’t think she uses tahini so I am really interested in trying that out!! I bet it makes things a bit creamier?? YUM! These look awesome!! ALSO, love all the healthy smoothies and salads you’ve posted lately – helps us all with our holiday detox! 😀
I lohuuuuv nutritional yeast. We put it on everything. I’ve made kale chips with it before (with taco seasoning, mmm) but it looks like yours stuck better and I’m totally intrigued by combining it with tahini. Why do I not do that already? Sounds delicious!
Lahge and in chaghe and PERRRFECTTTTT. Gimme all dose!
I love that you basically slow dried these babies! I always burn my kale chips and I think this is the answer!
Ever since going vegan nooch is my LIFE. I never thought I would be eating something that is deactivated brewer’s yeast, but especially on chips, it is amazzzing!
I love the fact that I know my house of men would devour these… but also, I don’t want to share! These look incredible!!!!
I have had the same jar of nutritional yeast on my counter for over a year, the only thing that I’ve used for is to season popcorn…and now I can add kale chips to my list! My kind of snack!
You really should have named it that.
BUT, really, when I read the name I just KNEW there was nutritional yeast on these bad boys. Seriously, the greatest addition to kale chips that there ever was.
Pinned!