A fresh salad is a perfect lunch or side for almost any meal.
This easy kale salad is packed with fresh veggies and lots of crunch for in a simple homemade lemon dressing.
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A Family Pleasing Kale Salad Recipe
This kale salad recipe is quick and easy.
- Kale salad can be made ahead – prep it the night before and pack it in lunches the next day.
- Unlike tossed salad, I love how leftover kale salad (even with dressing) can be kept in the fridge without getting soggy!
- The zesty homemade lemon dressing takes just minutes to prep and is so much better than store-bought.
How to Prepare Kale for Salads
Kale is ideal to prep ahead for salad and sandwich greenery because it holds up like a champ in the fridge – it stays fresh without wilting! Prepare kale quickly over the weekend, and it will keep fresh and crisp all week long.
- Rinse the kale leaves in cold water.
- Remove the thick stem by pulling off the leaves.
- Spin dry in a salad spinner or shake dry and dab with a kitchen towel.
- Massage the kale; more on that below.
How to Massage Kale
Say what?! Massage the kale. Massaging kale releases some of its bitterness and helps tenderize or soften it for salads. You can skip this step, but I’d say try it at least once. It changes the texture and flavor of the salad. I use curly kale but have also used dinosaur kale in this recipe.
- Tear or chop the washed kale into bite-sized pieces, then sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
- Next, drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil on your hands. Pick up some of the kale and rub it, massaging the leaves until they darken in color and become tender.
I swear that a massaged kale salad tastes a million times better—we wouldn’t prep kale any other way! If you prefer to massage your kale without oil, try a little fresh-squeezed lemon juice instead!
How to Make Kale Salad with Cranberries
This is one of the best kale salad recipes around! It has cranberries, almonds, and a quick and fresh lemon dressing.
- Wash and massage the kale per the recipe below.
- Prep remaining ingredients and add to a large bowl.
- Place dressing in a jar and give it a shake (or whisk in a bowl). Toss with the salad.
Variations
This is a raw kale salad with cranberries and many other tasty mix-ins. I chose to add carrots, broccoli, red onion, dried cranberries, cheese, sliced almonds, and sunflower seeds, but get creative!
- Replace cranberries with raisins or other dried or fresh fruit like apples!
- I used cheddar cheese, but feta cheese, parmesan, or goat cheese would work well too.
- Swap out almonds for other nuts like pecans or walnuts.
- Make it a meal and top with cooked chicken, steak, grilled shrimp, or salmon.
- Skip the meat and sprinkle with your fave grain like quinoa or add in chickpeas.
More Kale Recipes
Leftover kale can be stirred into pasta, blended into pesto, and even baked into crispy kale chips if the craving strikes! The possibilities are endless. I even love a little kale on my pizza when I have it handy.
- Tropical Mango Kale Smoothie – SO GOOD!
- Quick Homemade Kale Pesto
- Cilantro Lime Mexican Kale Salad
- Sausage & Kale Soup
Did you make this easy Kale Salad? Leave us a rating and a comment below!
Ingredients
- 5 cups chopped kale
- 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups broccoli florets chopped
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese optional, or shredded cheddar
- ¼ cup shredded carrot
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
Lemon Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey or sugar, adjust plus add to taste
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Dressing:
- Combine olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, Dijon, honey, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper in a lidded mason jar and shake well to emulsify. Dip a kale leaf in the dressing and adjust sweetener, salt, and pepper to taste. You can make this dressing as sweet or tart as your heart desires!
Salad:
- Massage the chopped kale with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Rub with your fingers until leaves begin to darken and tenderize. This makes it taste great and gives the kale a silky texture!
- In a large bowl, combine massaged kale, broccoli, almonds, cheese, carrots, onion, sunflower seeds, cranberries. Shake your dressing once more and pour about ⅓ of the dressing over the salad. Toss to coat and add extra dressing, to taste.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Salad
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Hi there, this salad looks great! How long can the dressing keep for?
If stored in a tightly closed container it should keep for one week in the refrigerator. Enjoy Wei-Jing!
Loved this! I replaced broccoli with red pepper, didn’t use cranberries and didn’t rub the kale 1st and we LOVE it. Even my 12 year old boy loves it. Fresh cherry tomatoes from the garden make it great. Thanks!
That is so awesome Sage! Glad to hear you all loved it.
Love this recipe
Many thanks Lois!
Looking forward to trying grilled salmon
Enjoy the grilled salmon Jane, it’d be perfect with this salad!
Absolutely delicious and easy to prepare!!
I am so glad you enjoyed this salad Yolanda!
Very tasty. I did enjoy it with a tiny bit more honey in the dressing. It was good enough that I went back for seconds after the rest of my dinner was finished!
That’s awesome Michelle! We love this salad too!
Look forward to get those recipes
I added pumpkin seeds, pepitas, arugula, and spinach. AMAZING….even my kids ate it!
Mmmmm…those sound like delicious additions Paula!
Best salad ever absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe
You’re welcome Martina! We are glad you loved it!
As a general rule, I do not eat anything with the word “salad” in its name. But I came across this recipe and it looked so good and I liked everything in the ingredients list. I decided to try it and we have been eating this salad almost every day either with a meal or as a meal for the last month…DELICIOUS with or without the dressing! I now eat salad…well at least this one!
I am so glad you enjoyed this Kale salad Cozette!
Yay! Finally a way to eat Kale in the raw! Wow, I am so glad to run across your recipe on how to give a proper massage to Kale. I could tell you knew what you were talking about, and it works, delicious indeed! I even gave the Kale a “pep talk” about letting go of all “bitterness” while it was receiving a loving massage… ;) Thx again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the kale Andreina! I’m a big fan myself!
This was the best salad I have ever made!!! It was delicious!!!
So happy to hear that Clara!
Hello!! I wanted to tell you I made this salad and it was delicious!! It was just as good the next day, which is a big plus!! Thank you!!
Thank you for letting us know Kathy, I’m so glad you loved it!
Delish! I have a new go to salad!
Yay!
Delicious. This recipe will definitely be in rotation at our house.
Yay!
This is THE BEST kale salad I have ever tried, I could eat the whole bowl myself!
It is definitely delicious! Glad you love it!
This kale salad Was fantastic. I bragged about it all day. Are all of my kids loved it my 10-year-old took it for lunch. This was a really excellent recipe that I can see myself making over and over again. Thank you so much. It offered a lot of insight on how I can use kale.
You’re welcome! I’m so glad that you and your kids love the kale salad. I love that she took it for lunch :)
Just made the kale salad this weekend .I omitted the sun flower seeds .I had read an article about sunflowers being sprayed in order to keep the birds from eating the seeds. So i omit them. didn’t miss them
You had me with the lemon dressing. Lemon and kale are wonderful together!!
This will be your new favorite then Deanna!
very good.thank youuu
Enjoy!