Kale Salad

Our kale salad with honey mustard dressing is a refreshing, vibrant, and nutritious recipe you can serve as a side dish for a special meal or as a main for a light and tasty lunch.

You’ll love how easy it is to put together with simple, wholesome ingredients.

Kale is a versatile autumn and winter leafy green vegetable with an earthy, bitter-sweet flavor, cabbage notes, and many health benefits.

There are many ways of eating kale; kale chips, sautéed kale, creamy kale pasta, and Tuscan white bean soup are some of the most popular.

But it is this colorful and flavorful winter kale salad that stole our hearts.

Thanks to its freshness and crunch (given by the lemon juice, green apple, and mustard dressing), kale salad is excellent as a side dish to rich and warm mains like our lentil loaf, mushroom wellington, or stuffed butternut squash.

That’s why it’s an excellent side dish for a memorable holiday dinner like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

It’s also perfect as an easy and healthy lunch if you feel like having something light but packed with flavor and nutrition.

And the best part? You can customize this salad with your favorite add-ins. We made a list of the best ones for you to choose from.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Kale

We use Tuscan kale, also known as cavolo nero, dinosaur kale, or lacinato kale.

Substitute curly kale for Tuscan kale. They are both delicious in this kale salad.

Our advice is only to use the tender part of the kale leaves and remove the woodier stems, as they are hard to chew when raw.

Since we are using raw kale, we must massage it with fresh lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar) and a pinch of salt.

Apples

We like to use tangy green apples such as Granny Smith apples. Their color, crunch, and acidic flavor work wonderfully with the kale.

For a sweeter flavor, substitute Fuji apples or Pink Ladies for Granny Smith.

Red Cabbage

Cabbage is another excellent winter vegetable to add to salads. For this one, we use thinly sliced red cabbage.

Substitute green cabbage for the red one. You can also use pickled red cabbage if you are into tangy flavors.

Carrots

The sweetness of shredded carrots balances out the slight bitterness of the kale. Plus, orange and dark green together are a fantastic color combination.

Substitute diced and roasted butternut squash, roasted sweet potatoes, or kabocha squash for carrots. In principle, most orange vegetables are an excellent flavor match with kale.

Avocado

Avocado adds creaminess and healthy fats. If you are more into crunchy textures, you can substitute toasted almonds, chopped walnuts, pecans, or pinenuts for avocado.

Pepitas, sunflower seeds, or mixed seeds are also good options.

Pomegranate seeds

Juicy, sweet, and a little sour add a beautiful color and flavor to this dish.

Substitute dried cranberries or diced red bell pepper for pomegranate seeds.

Feta cheese

Crumbled feta cheese or non-dairy feta cheese adds a salty and savory taste that fits beautifully with the sweetness and bitterness of the other ingredients.

Substitute shaved parmesan cheese or goat cheese.

Honey mustard dressing

Our honey mustard dressing is spot on for this raw kale salad. You can make it with the following:

• Extra virgin olive oil: substitute olive oil.
• Fresh lemon juice: substitute orange juice for a sweeter and less tangy dressing.
• Honey: substitute maple syrup or agave syrup.
• Mustard: Dijon mustard or yellow American mustard.
• Salt and black pepper: we like to use sea salt or kosher salt.
• Garlic powder: optional.

US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

1. Massage the kale

Since kale has a robust, chewy, and hearty texture, firmer than lettuce or spinach, we want to soften its leaves when eating it raw. We do this by massaging the leaves with salt and lemon juice.

First, rinse and shake off the water from the kale leaves. Separate the leaves from the woody stems. You can do so with a knife or tear them off with your hands.

Chop the kale leaves into bite-size pieces and add them to a large bowl or serving platter. Discard the stems.

Tip: if you want to dry the kale with a salad spinner, you might need to remove the stems first.

Add two pinches of salt and the juice of half a lemon juice (about two tablespoons), then pinch or massage the kale with your fingertips until you can feel it get softer (about 30 seconds).

Set it aside for a few minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.

Note: massaging the kale with lemon and salt softens its texture, making it less tough, easier to eat, tastier, and less bitter. We think this step is essential to make the best kale salad.

You should feel some of the fiber break off. Don’t over-massage. We don’t want flimsy kale. The lemon and salt help us break down the tougher kale fiber.

2. Add the other ingredients

Top the kale with bite-size apple pieces, thinly sliced red cabbage, grated carrot, pomegranate seeds, and diced avocado.

Optionally, add crumbled feta or non-dairy feta.

Tip: only add the avocado if you are serving the salad within the next 30 minutes, as it might turn brown once it’s out of its shell.

3. Drizzle with the dressing

To a small jar, add olive oil, lemon juice, honey or maple syrup, mustard, salt, and black pepper. Close the jar and shake well.

Tip: you can also whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Drizzle half the dressing on the salad, bring to the table, and toss before serving.

Serve the other half of the dressing on the table for people to help themselves and drizzle on their portion.

Kale salad with roasted winter squash

If you have a few minutes to spare, substitute roasted butternut squash, kabocha squash, sweet potatoes, or carrots.

Peel and cut your chosen vegetable into 3/4 inch cubes, toss with olive oil, salt, and black pepper, and arrange on a baking sheet on a single layer.

Bake in a preheated oven at 430°F or 220°C for 20 minutes or until fork tender.

Kale quinoa salad

This kale and quinoa salad is a tasty, nutritious, and colorful recipe excellent as a healthy make-ahead lunch or dinner and for meal prepping as it keeps well for several days.

We make it with bell pepper, almonds, corn, spring onion, and, of course, kale and quinoa.

Check out our kale quinoa salad recipe.

Kale salad is best served from late September to late April when kale is in season.

It’s excellent when you have guests for dinner because it’s colorful and incredibly flavorful.

You can serve it as a side dish during your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, for example, next to a lentil loaf, mushroom wellington, or stuffed butternut squash.

For a more casual meal, try it with:

• Roasted chickpeas or crispy air-fryer chickpeas.
• Fried tofu or air fryer tofu: cut into cubes and lightly seasoned.
• Farro, quinoa, rice, or couscous: mix them into the salad to make it a wholesome lunch.

Tofu

Fried Tofu

Tofu

Air Fryer Tofu

Sauces

Roasted Chickpeas

Basics

How to cook couscous

Make ahead: kale salad is a great recipe to make ahead because the kale gets softer and more flavorful, marinating with the dressing and with the other ingredients in the refrigerator.

We recommend making it up to 24 hours before serving it. However, it can safely be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

If you plan to add apples, avocado, or feta cheese, do so last minute, a few moments before serving it.

Refrigerator: store kale salad leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. The salad will improve in taste and texture up to 24 hours after making it. Then it’ll slightly degrade, but it will still be excellent for up to 3 days.

Toss again: toss the salad in some freshly made dressing before serving it, as it might dry in the fridge.