Disclosure: This Bacon Cheddar Kale Chips recipe is sponsored by SargentoĀ®. All opinions are my own.
SargentoĀ® is hosting the third and final phase of the Chopped at Home challenge. Sargento wants to see what great recipes home cooks can come up with using Sargento cheese and this weeks ingredients. The lucky Chopped at Home grand prize winner is going to win $10,000 and a chance to compete in New York City at a live cooking event.
I'm sure you all have seen or at least heard about the Food Network show Chopped. Each episode a group of chefs are challenged to come up with a delicious recipe using the ingredients they find in a food basket. Each round someone is eliminated until the final round when one of two chefs win.
Some of the ingredients on the show can be brutal to work. I've been amazed at the creativity some of the chefs have.
This weeks Chopped at Home ingredients are:
- SargentoĀ® Chef Blends 4 State Cheddar
- Kale
- Oyster Crackers
- Bacon
For me this weeks Chopped at Home challenge turned out to be a really big challenge. I have never eaten or cooked kale!
So what is a Chopped at Home chef to do? Kale chips have been all the rage for the past couple of years. It seems like I see a new Kale Chip recipe somewhere online at least once a week.
Although the Chopped at Home challenge is a little more lenient than the show in that you can use other ingredients beside the 4 featured ingredients I choose to stick with the 4 ingredients and try to come up with a recipe that kale chip lovers everywhere would love.
I think I've done it. At least I think I have because this kale chip newbie couldn't stop eating these Bacon Cheddar Kale Chips after they came out of the oven. I then preceded to snack on them all day.
These Bacon Cheddar Kale Chips are crispy and cheesy with just right amount of bacon and a little touch of heat from the red pepper flakes.
To reheat them I simply stuck them in the microwave for 20 seconds to warm up the cheese and bacon. They stayed crispy which really surprised me. Usually when you warm crispy foods up in the microwave they loose the crunch factor. Not so for the Bacon Cheddar Kale Chips.
How to make Bacon Cheddar Kale Chips
Ingredients
- 1 bunch Kale, washed and patted dry
- 1 cup Sargento Chef Blend 4 State Cheddar
- 8 slices bacon, cooked crispy and chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Ā½ Oyster crackers, crushed
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Ā½ teaspoon black pepper
- Ā½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Mix the cheese, crackers and bacon in a small bowl and set aside.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove the thick stem from the kale and break into pieces.
- Place the kale on the cookie sheet in a single layer.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the kale and using your hands rub the oil on all sides of the kale leaves.
- Sprinkle with sea salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.
- Bake the kale for 8 minutes.
- Flip each piece of kale over and bake another 8 minutes.
- Carefully remove the tray from the oven and sprinkle each piece of kale with the cheese, bacon and cracker mixture.
- Return the tray to the oven and bake an addition 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Remove the tray from the oven and serve immediately.
Check out the Sargento Pinterest board for more cheesy recipes.
Bacon Cheddar Kale Chips
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale (washed and patted dry)
- 1 cup Sargento Chef Blend 4 State Cheddar
- 8 slices bacon (cooked crispy and chopped)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Ā½ cup oyster crackers (crushed)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Ā½ teaspoon black pepper
- Ā½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Mix the cheese, crackers and bacon in a small bowl and set aside.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the thick stem from the kale and break into pieces.
- Place the kale on the cookie sheet in a single layer.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the kale and using your hands rub the oil on all sides of the kale leaves.
- Sprinkle with sea salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.
- Bake the kale for 8 minutes.
- Flip each piece of kale over and bake another 8 minutes.
- Carefully remove the tray from the oven and sprinkle each piece of kale with the cheese, bacon and cracker mixture.
- Return the tray to the oven and bake an addition 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Remove the tray from the oven and serve immediately.
Nutrition
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sargento. The opinions and text are all mine.
