Savory Granola With Rosemary

Savory Granola combines everything you love about mixed nuts, trail mix, and crunchy granola, all wrapped up in one tasty bite! With a hint of fresh rosemary, crumbled kale chips, and loads of texture and crunch, this is one savory snack that always hits the spot.

In a way, this savory granola is more like trail mix than granola, except there's no dried fruit like you might find in trail mix. And this tasty snack also includes cheesy kale chips and fresh rosemary!

Flavorful and nutritious, it's fantastic sprinkled on salads, grain bowls, steamed veggies, and baked sweet potatoes.

It's lightly salty and seasoned with rosemary and garlic. I have to admit, I eat it by the handful as an afternoon snack!

Granola recipes are nothing if not versatile. They lend themselves to all sorts of experimentation - various seasonings, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. They even range from fat-filled and sugary sweet, to more health conscious varieties like our Crunchy Oil-Free Granola.

For today's recipe, I wanted to create a savory granola featuring one of my favorite herbs, fresh rosemary. So while the ways you might enjoy this savory granola are different than regular granola, the way you prepare it is basically the same. In other words, it's so easy!

How to Make Savory Granola

Preparing granola is pretty much a 3-step process:

1. Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add dry ingredients to the bowl, and stir to coat.
3. Spread it out on a pan and bake.

Super easy, right? 

This particular recipe is oil-free, which makes it different than most. So we're using a little tahini plus maple syrup and apple cider vinegar as the coating for the dry ingredients.

As a substitute for the tahini, you could also use sunflower seed butter or cashew butter, and possibly even aquafaba (though I haven't tested that, so don't hold me to it).

As far as dry ingredients go, of course we're starting with rolled oats. I love oats because they're affordable, accessible, and nutritious. And of course, they're what makes this granola.

After that, feel free to get wild! Use any nuts you have on hand, such as:

• cashews
• walnuts
• almonds
• hazelnuts
• pecans

I like to include seeds in savory granola, too. My top choice is pumpkin seeds because they're beautiful and packed with nutrients.

You can also use sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, and chia seeds.

To keep things affordable, remember to check the bulk bins at the grocery store. Ingredients like flax seeds are often cheaper in bulk than pre-packaged off the shelf.

I love ALL of the ingredients in this savory granola, but I think my favorite is the KALE! Around the same time I was deciding what to include in this oil-free savory granola, I was also creating these Cheesy Oil-Free Kale Chips.

Suddenly, a light bulb moment! The crumbled kale chips blend so nicely with the hint of rosemary in this granola. It's a delicious pairing and a perfect way to sneak more greens into your day.

My Oil-Free Kale Chips are super easy, but if you want to save some time (and don't mind spending a little more money), you can also use store-bought kale chips. 

In addition to fresh rosemary, I used a small amount of garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper to season this savory granola. Feel free to play around with the spices to suit your taste. The cayenne doesn't add noticeable heat, so if you like things spicy you'll definitely want to bump up the amount!

Storing Tips

I like to store the granola in a glass jar in the refrigerator. I really appreciate that it's a snack that keeps for a while (at least up to two weeks, probably longer).

I've found that when I'm getting really hungry at dinner time, I can nibble on a few bites of this granola to hold me over until the vegetables are ready.

So if you're one to reach for chips or crackers when you get hangry, maybe prepping a batch of savory granola every couple of weeks can be a new, healthy habit!

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