This Kale Salad is crisp, colorful, and packed with fresh veggies and lots of crunch. Topped with a simple homemade lemon dressing, it’s perfect to serve alongside baked chicken breasts or garlic grilled shrimp.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Kale Salad
Flavor: A tangy lemon dressing balances this hearty kale salad made with crunchy broccoli, sweet cranberries, and salty cheese.
Why Make It: Leftover kale salad (even with dressing) can be kept in the fridge without getting soggy, making it perfect for meal prep!
Technique: For the best results, massage the kale with oil and salt to ensure it’s tender instead of tough.
Total Time: 20 Mins Servings: 4
Ingredient Notes for Kale Salad
- Kale: Chop or tear into bite-sized pieces and remove any tough stems. Then, massage it with a little olive oil and salt until the leaves darken and soften for the best texture.
- Broccoli: Chop the broccoli into small pieces so it blends into the salad. Swap it for broccoli slaw or bagged broccoli florets to save prep time.
- Carrots: Shredded carrots add sweetness, color, and crunch. Use bagged shredded carrots to save time.
- Cranberries: Dried cranberries bring chewy sweetness that balances the earthy flavors. Replace with raisins, dried cherries, or chopped dried apricots.
- Almonds: Sliced almonds add crunch and nutty flavor. Swap with pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds for a nut-free option.
- Onions: Use a small amount of red onion for bite and color. Thinly dice or soak in cold water before adding to the salad to reduce the bite.
- Cheese: I use cheddar cheese, but feta cheese, parmesan, or goat cheese would work well too.
- Dressing: Fresh lemon juice, Dijon, honey, garlic, and olive oil make this tangy-sweet dressing that balances the kale’s earthy flavor and ties all the ingredients together. Swap maple syrup or sugar for honey, use avocado oil instead of olive oil, or try whole grain mustard for a little texture.
Favorite Variations
- Make it a Meal: Top this salad with grilled chicken, steak, grilled shrimp, or baked salmon.
- Skip the Meat: Sprinkle this salad with your favorite grain, like quinoa, or add in chickpeas to make it a full meal.
How to Make Kale Salad
- Wash and massage the kale (full recipe below).
- Prep the remaining ingredients and add them to a large bowl.
- Place the dressing in a jar and give it a shake (or whisk in a bowl). Toss with the salad.
Storing Leftovers
Store leftover kale salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. This hearty salad holds up well in the fridge, but some toppings are best added fresh when ready to serve.
This salad does not freeze well.
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.
Did you make this easy Kale Salad? Leave us a rating and a comment below!
Ingredients
- 5 cups chopped kale
- 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups broccoli florets chopped
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ½ cup cheddar cheese shredded or diced, or crumbled feta, optional
- 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 or add to taste
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- To make the dressing, combine olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, Dijon, honey, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper in a lidded mason jar and shake well to emulsify.
- Massage the chopped kale with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Rub with your fingers until leaves begin to darken and tenderize.
- In a large bowl, combine the kale, broccoli, almonds, cheese, carrots, onion, sunflower seeds, and cranberries.
- Shake the dressing once more and pour 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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Made this tonight and added grilled shrimp! So good and my new favorite go to!! Never heard to add olive oil to help with kale but this is a keeper for sure! Dressing was amazing I made a double batch! Thank you!
Delicious! Made some modifications based on the ingredients I had on hand. Substituted tahini for the oil and Maple Syrup for the honey in the dressing. Used in season Lacinato kale from the farmers market. The only additional add-ins were pumpkin seeds, roasted beets, and quinoa. Will definitely make again with other variations.
Hi C Perry- Can you clarify for me where you use the tahini in the recipe? I am sure it should be obvious to me but I am on a program and am messing will all of my cooking knowledge in the hopes of eating cleaner/better… help a girl out? (& roasted beets are the bomb-diggity!)
So delish! I added a little more honey to cut the tartness
I’ve made this many times for family and friends. Everybody’s loves it even kids!
I would like to
Learn different variation of kale salad
Hi Marie, we have a easy Kale Caesar Salad, a Kale Quinoa Salad, and this delicious Pomegranate Salad that is made with kale.
Great salad
I’ve made this several times and I’m always impressed with how easy it is to make and how delicious every bite is. I tend to substitute red cabbage for the red onion. It’s a very bright, yummy, healthy salad.
Absolutely delicious!!! My new favorite salad. So easy to make, great ingredients. Love it!
This is easy to make, and very tasty. It lasted several days without going bad.
Can’t wait to try this week for dinner with chicken gnocchi. The picture of Kale Salad with Lemon dressing has an orange cubed food, which I thought looked like sweet potato or summer squash. Just curious what food item that might be – peace Joy
This is the cubed cheddar cheese in the recipe. I do think sweet potato would be delicious in this recipe too!
Delicious! My whole family loved it. Thanks for explaining how to massage the kale first. It made a difference. The dressing is so excellent. Can’t wait to make this again!
This salad is amazing! The dressing is my new favorite! My daughter and I love it! Thank you for sharing!
This was amazing – I did substitute the wine vinegar for regular spirit vinegar but purely for my own preferences. My first time trying raw Kale and this recipe delivered!
This is my second time making this and it’s delicious! Massaging the kale is a game changer. Thanks for sharing!
Very good kale salad and Love the bright fresh lemon dressing!
This is my favorite salad ever!!
Delicious! Had a bunch of kale in the garden and this was easy to make….love how easy it to swap ingredients for what you have on hand. Definitely making this again….and the dressing was perfect ❤️
Where can you find cranberries in the spring? Are you referencing dried cranberries in this recipe? Thank you.
Hi Dawn! We do use dried cranberries in this recipe.
I love the difference the oil and salt prep does for the kale!
I added sliced mushrooms, avocado grilled chicken and feta cheese for a complete summertime meal. Thanks!
Fresh and delicious. It has become a frequent request at family gatherings
This salad was excellent! I loved how delicious it was, and subbed in pomegranite seeds, radish, raisins, feta, and orange slices.