Keto Rosemary And Olive Parmesan Crisps

Name: Keto Rosemary And Olive Parmesan Crisps
Prep time: 8 min
Cook time: 7 min
Ingredients: 8 oz Parmesan cheese, finely shredded (not the powdery pre-grated kind); 1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and finely chopped; 2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced; 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper; Flaky sea salt, for finishing

⏲ ~15 min total · prep 8 · cook 7 · 4 servings

Dinner⏱ 19 min total🔥 1.8g net carbs

By the KFI Test Kitchen · Tested & approved by Jason Lieu, KFI recipe editor

Published Sep 15, 2026 · Updated Sep 15, 2026

Ingredients

8 oz Parmesan cheese, finely shredded (not the powdery pre-grated kind)
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and finely chopped
2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
Flaky sea salt, for finishing

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400°F and line two half-sheet pans with parchment — the crisps release on their own only after cooling, so don't skip the paper.
Toss the shredded Parmesan with the olives, rosemary, and pepper in a mixing bowl, working it with your fingers so the shreds separate and every strand gets coated.
Drop the mixture in heaping tablespoonfuls onto the pans, leaving 2 inches between mounds, and flatten each to a 1/4-inch-thick disk with your palm.
Bake 6-8 minutes, rotating the pans front to back halfway through, until the disks go lacy at the edges and golden brown in the center — underbaked ones stay pale and floppy.
Cool the crisps completely on the pans, about 5 minutes; they only snap crisp once cool.
Finish each with a pinch of flaky salt and serve, or store airtight at room temperature up to 3 days.

Why this recipe works

Block-shredded cheese Parmesan finely shredded from a block melts into one lacy sheet with no starch to fight it. The powdery pre-grated kind toasts unevenly and never crisps clean.
Olives in the mix Finely chopped Kalamatas melt into the disks, seasoning every crisp from inside. A quarter cup is enough to salt the whole batch.
Cool to crisp The disks release from the parchment and firm up only once cooled, about five minutes on the pan. Warm they bend; cool they snap.

Tips for making this recipe well

Two inches apart

The mounds spread as the cheese melts. Two inches between disks keeps them from fusing into one large shard, and two pans bake the whole batch at once with a front-to-back rotation halfway.

Flatten thin

Press each mound to a 1/4-inch disk with your palm. Thicker mounds stay soft in the middle while the edges go dark.

Read the color

Six to eight minutes at 400°F turns the edges lacy and the centers golden brown. Pale disks are underbaked and stay floppy no matter how long they cool.

Parchment, always

The crisps release on their own only from parchment. On a bare pan they weld themselves down and come up in shards.

Flaky salt at the end

Press a pinch of flaky salt onto each cooled crisp so it sits on the surface and crackles. Salt mixed in early dissolves into the cheese and gets lost against the olives.

Serving suggestions

Most cheese crisps go limp within the hour. These solve it with a full bake to deep golden and a complete cool on the pan, which is what sets the snap. Serve them the day they are made, piled in a bowl where the lacy edges show, and let them stand in for crackers on a cheese board or beside a salad. At 1.8 net carbs a serving, a handful costs you nothing.

Storage and meal prep

Cool them completely on the pans, then store them airtight at room temperature up to 3 days. Room temperature is the right call; the fridge holds moisture that softens the snap within hours. Past three days they pick up ambient humidity and start to bend instead of break. A lagging batch wakes up after a minute in a hot oven, then cools back to crisp on a rack.

Variations worth trying

Thyme instead Swap the rosemary for 2 tsp minced fresh thyme. The crisps turn gentler and more herbal.
Castelvetrano version Green Castelvetranos in place of the Kalamatas make a milder, buttery crisp. Keep the quarter-cup measure the same.
Peppier batch Double the cracked black pepper for a crisp that lands harder. It works well next to a soft, plain cheese.
Smoked paprika A quarter teaspoon of smoked paprika in the mix gives a red-tinged, campfire edge. Keep the rosemary; they agree.

Frequently asked questions

Why are my crisps floppy?

They are underbaked or still warm. Bake until the centers are golden brown and the edges look lacy, then cool them completely on the pan. The snap arrives with the cooling, not before.

Can I use pre-grated Parmesan?

No. The powdery pre-grated kind contains starches that keep the cheese from melting into a single lacy sheet. Finely shred a block on the small holes of a box grater for the right texture.

Do these freeze well?

They do not need to. Airtight at room temperature they keep up to 3 days, longer than a batch usually survives. Freezing invites condensation on thawing, and condensation is what softens the snap.

Can I make them bigger?

Yes, press them larger and thinner rather than thicker, and add a minute of bake time. Anything wider than about 3 inches turns fragile and cracks in storage. Two inches of space between mounds still applies.

What should I serve them with?

They stand in for crackers on a cheese board, and they crumble neatly over soup or salad. The rosemary and Kalamata bring plenty of salt on their own. Point them at mild cheeses or a plain tomato soup and let the crisps do the seasoning.

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