The best chips — and the kale fails

Yep, they’re green and they’re healthy. But close your eyes and pop one into your mouth, and a great kale chip will turn the whole idea of snacking upside down.

Not a bit like braised kale or kale salad, kale snacks are tasty, toasty, crunchy bits of goodness, salty enough to satisfy. They’re minimally processed and naturally high in vitamins A, K and sometimes C, and typically deliver an impressive dose of calcium. Since they’re basically just a leafy green they’re very low in calories — about 150 per serving. Swap them for oil-laden, carbbased or nutrition-poor snacks, and they’re a total win. Well, the good ones, anyway.

Making kale snacks at home is entirely doable for those who have the patience, time and creativity to build great flavor into the mix. And the result is significantly less expensive, as commercial kale chips can run $4 to $7 for a 2-ounce bag. But for those who want to grab and go, the best place to find kale snacks is in the health food aisle of natural grocery stores or online.

Great kale snacks are made with carefully prepared kale that’s been stripped of the tough stems, cut into chip-sized bites and mixed with a creative blend of nuts, seeds and seasonings, before being air-dried with minimal heat to a state of tendercrispness.

Kale gone wrong is poorly seasoned, under-dried or dried at such high heat that it turns ugly and bitter. Here’s the scoop on the best of the bunch — and the kale fails. Nutrition details refer to 1 ounce, which is typically half a bag.