A fresh salad is a perfect lunch or side for almost any meal.
This easy kale salad is packed with fresh veggies and a super simple homemade lemon dressing, making it perfect as a healthy side dish!
Full of fresh ingredients with lots of flavor and crunch, this is definitely one of my very favorite kale salad recipes!
An Easy and Delicious Kale salad
A quick and easy kale salad recipe is perfect for warm weather but we honestly love it all year long!
- It’s fresh, delicious, and totally make-ahead so feel free to prep this bad boy the night before and pack it along in lunches the next day.
- Unlike tossed salad, we love how leftover kale salad (even with dressing) can be kept in the fridge.
- Packed with nutrition but more importantly, packed with flavor, this will anyone into a kale lover!
- The zesty homemade lemon dressing takes just minutes to prep and is so much better than store bought.
How to Prepare Kale
Kale actually makes the ideal prep-ahead salad and sandwich greenery because of its ability to hold up like a champ in the fridge! It stays fresh without wilting long past its leafy counterparts. Prepare kale quickly over the weekend and it will keep fresh and crisp all week long and keep it on hand as a salad green 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 the bitterness and helps tenderize or soften it for salads. You can skip this step but honestly, I’d say give it a try at least once. It changes the texture and the 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 little olive oil in your hands, just a tiny bit! 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! Prefer to massage your kale without oil? Try a little fresh-squeezed lemon juice instead!
How to Make Kale Salad with Cranberries
Really, this is one of the best kale salad recipes around! Kale salad with cranberries, almonds, and a quick and fresh lemon kale salad 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 easy peasy kale salad with cranberries is loaded with tasty mix-ins. There are so many raw kale salad ideas! I chose to add carrots, broccoli, red onion, dried cranberries, cheese, sliced almonds, and sunflower seeds, but you could totally get creative here and empty out your crisper drawer! Add some avocado when serving if you’d like.
- Raisins would work excellent instead of the cranberries or try other dried or fresh fruit like apples!
- I used cheddar cheese here (a favorite salad mix-in of mine!) but feta cheese, parmesan, or goat cheese would work well too. You could even go dairy-free and make this scrumptious salad vegan!
- 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 meant 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. Is kale good in a salad? It’s so crazy versatile!
- Kale Quinoa Salad
- Kale Caesar Salad
- Tropical Mango Kale Smoothie – SO GOOD!
- Garlic Butter Kale Rice
- Quick Homemade Kale Pesto
- Garlic Bacon Kale Recipe (How to Cook Kale)
- Sausage & Kale Soup
- Cilantro Lime Mexican Kale Salad
If you get a chance to try this easy kale salad, let me know in the comments below!
Easy Kale Salad with Fresh Lemon Dressing
Ingredients
- 5 cups kale chopped
- 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups broccoli chopped
- ½ cup almonds sliced
- ½ cup cheese optional (cheddar or feta work great here!)
- ¼-½ cup carrots shredded
- ¼ cup red onion diced
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup cranberries
Lemon Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon honey or sugar adjust + add to taste
Instructions
- First make your dressing by combining ingredients above in a lidded mason jar then 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!
- Next massage your chopped kale with a little 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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Love this recipe! Easy to make, nutritious and yummy. I used the kale from my garden.
Thank you.
absolutely best salad dressing! a definite favorite in my household.
Easy and tasty. I have a couple of other go-to kale salads but really like that this one includes more veggies. Already made it twice this week.
Hands down – favorite kale salad recipe! Even my teens request it! Lots of veggies and super nutritious. Thank you for sharing.
Wonderful recipe!
This is by far my most favorite salad recipe I’ve found . It is so delicious and quite simple to make !
I’ve been playing around with kale salads in attempt to evolving the palat and this variation is super yummy! Packed with so much flavor, I learned that the flavor of the red onion with fresh Parmesan cheese & the dressing…WOW! My first time with a yellow onion was good, but red, just wow.
I also added chopped roasted almonds. We typically get the rotisserie chicken at Costco and I’ll shreds some of that in with. Or cubed Black Forest ham or egg. The possibilities seem endless. Thanks for sharing!
You’re very welcome Faith! Thank you for sharing your ideas too!
This salad is a total winner. I add twice as much kale and a can of drained chickpeas.
Massaging the Kale is a must! What a difference! I happened to leave out the raw broccoli. The dressing is so good, and the crasins MAKE the salad!
Will absolutely make this again!
This salad is delicious! I served it with fried catfish to feel like I was eating a “healthy” meal. I followed the recipe for the dressing and for the salad went with almonds, carrot, feta, pickled onions (yum!) and raw broccoli. Thank you!