Kale Chips are a healthy alternative to a potato chip snack. And you can also use the same technique to make these Baked Spicy Swiss Chard Chips.
Have you joined the kale chips band-wagon? It’s an ingenious way to get your salty chip fix and eat a healthy green at the same time. I know, it’s not exactly the same as a potato chip, but it’s a great alternative if you are watching your carb intake while you get a jump start on your new year’s resolution or if you are dancing around in your swim suit this summer.
I like keeping either kale or Swiss chard in the fridge for a number of reasons. So why not make some Swish chard chips?
Why you should try this recipe
Kale is thicker than chard, but they are both packed with nutrients we all need. When choosing chard, I love using rainbow chard. Again, I love to eat the rainbow. Aren’t these colors beautiful?
I have seen online that this technique can also be used for spinach and lettuce chips, you just have to reduce the cooking time as they are not as thick as chard or kale. You can also bake sweet potato chips and bake sunchoke chips (Jerusalem artichoke chips).
So as you can see, the choices of making vegetable chips at home is limitless.
So what do these chard chips taste like? Confession time: I am not a big fan of the bitter green. But, I have to admit that whether you snack on kale chips or chard chips, it is definitely a flavorful and healthy snack.
And, on the plus side, it doesn’t smell like dead fish, like the dried seaweed my sweet daughter loves to snack on.
Ingredients you need
- Swiss chard leaves: This technique can be used to make chips with any leafy green vegetables.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Since the ingredient list is small, you want to use fresh ingredients at the peak of flavor. You could use vegetable oil, but it is bland and can add a bad after taste. Extra virgin olive oil can give a little or a lot of flavor to your chard chips. You can choose a mild or peppery olive oil. Just be sure to taste it by itself to make sure it isn’t rancid.
- Seasonings: kosher salt, garlic powder, chile powder
Step-by-step directions
1. Whether you are making kale chips or chard chips, the concept is the same. Cut up your chard leaves into equal pieces. I chose to cut mine into 2-3 inch pieces.
2. Toss the leaves with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, coating both sides.
3. Season with sea salt, spicy chile powder (or mild if you prefer), garlic powder, or whatever spices you like.
4. I don’t have a dehydrator so I just bake the chard leaves in a 275º F oven for 40 minutes. You do need to flip them over halfway through baking, but they crisp up beautifully.
Recipe tips and FAQs
Since you only use the leaves for the chard chips, don’t throw out the chard stems. Check out this recipe from Cookistry on how to make Pickled Chard Stems! You can also chop up the stems and add them to Pickled Chard Stems or any other favorite soup.
And for ways to add greens to your diet, like kale and chard, check out this great article from Shockingly Delicious!
So grab a bowl and snack on, my friends!
Both the leaves and the stems from Swiss chard are edible and both can be eaten raw or cooked. The stems offer crunch to a salad and can be added to soups or stews. You can even pickle them!
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Baked Spicy Swiss Chard Chips
Like kale chips? Then you'll love these seasoned & spicy swiss chard chips to snack on!
Ingredients
- 3 large Swiss chard leaves
- 2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- pinch of garlic powder
- pinch of chile powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275ºF.
- Remove stem from Swiss chard leaves and cut into 2-3 inch pieces.
- Place cut leaves in one layer on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil.
- Season with salt, garlic powder and chile powder.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then turn leaves over and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Let chard chips cool and serve.
Notes
Serving Suggestions: Serve as an appetizer or snack, or crush over your steak, tacos or any else that needs a little crunch!
Cooking Tips: This technique works for swiss chard, kale and other greens, too. Keep it simple with just salt or your favorite spices. Make sure your greens are dry. The drier the green, the crispier the chip!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
5 chipsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 27.3Total Fat: 2.4gSaturated Fat: .3gTrans Fat: .3gUnsaturated Fat: 1.7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 134.9mgCarbohydrates: 1.5gFiber: .8gSugar: .4gProtein: .7g
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I have so much Swiss chard left over from my Spring planting so I tried this as a way to use it up, it was wonderful, light,crunchy, a bit salty, delicious!
I’ve been making it all afternoon. How awesome to have a snack that has some redeeming value. I’d enjoyed the kale chips before but never thought about using other veggies. Thank you so much for broadening my horizons!
Hi Wendy-
I’m so glad you like the chard chips. They really are so light and crispy! I’ve seen people even make spinach chips, go figure! I miss my old chard plant. It lasted two years for me, here in So Cal. Enjoy the chard!
Laura
I made this recipe with Swiss chard. Oh my goodness it is so good! Me and my kids ate them right up.
Make anything crunch with some salt and you’ve some serious yum! Glad you AND the kids enjoyed them!
Such a good idea to make them from chard! Gotta try this.
Perfect recipe to curb the urge for salty snacks in a healthy way!!
Hey Laura, Inspired by your recipe, I thought to give a shot to it and I loved the result. They are easy to make and are very crispy. What I really enjoyed was the cheese which I had sprinkled on it. Never thought that even leaves can be made as chips. I have also tried beet greens as chips and they too were equally yummy. Here is my recipe https://www.plattershare.com/recipe/swiss-chard-chips. – Hope you will like it.
I made this recipe twice. The first time the leaves stuck to the baking sheet and were tissue thin, which made them hard to eat (they kept breaking). My husband suggested that I stack the leaves to make the chips thicker and more sturdy. This was a vast improvement, as was lining the baking sheets with parchment paper. I stacked the chips as much as 6 leaves high. Required more baking time to completely crisp up, but did not require flipping the chips. The leaves were completely dry before I started; I massaged each leaf with oil to make sure… Read more »
Thank you for your suggestions. I’m sorry you had so much trouble with the recipe. The chard I had baked into chips were pretty thick, so I didn’t need to double up. If you don’t want to make the chips again, use the chard like spinach and add to soups, pasta, omelettes or casserole?
Yes and I may even try putting it in a green smoothie (but the taste factor may still be an issue).
I love the title of your post! I’ve been searching for great swiss chard recipes and yours caught my attention! Yum!
Hi Jen! Thank you for your kind words. I hope you enjoy the chard chips!
Just made these. Thanks for the great idea!
Thank you for sharing Cody’s story. I will be participating in the auction. Can you tell me what I am doing wrong – Perusing your site, I found recipes I wanted to try and when I clicked recipe, it led me to a descriptive, but not the recipe. I had to click another button to get to the recipe. Am I in the wrong place, or do I have to be redirected to another spot on your site? At first I thought I was in the wrong site, being redirected to the correct site. Thank you. (sorry to put this… Read more »