The BEST kale salad recipe! It's packed with colorful vegetables, crispy chickpeas, avocado, cranberries, and pepitas. Great for lunch!
Kale salad recipes aren’t as trendy as they used to be, but I’m still making them, and I think you should be too. My case in point is this kale salad recipe, which, if I do say so myself, is one of the most delicious ways to eat kale.
A vibrant carrot ginger dressing coats the tender leafy greens, and roasted chickpeas, colorful veggies, and avocado add lots of contrasting textures. I love to serve it as a side dish because it pairs well with almost any meal, but it’s also hearty enough to pass as a standalone lunch. The sturdy greens hold up for days in the fridge, so it’s perfect for meal prep!
It may not be one of the coolest salads to be making these days, but it’s certainly one of the best. Find the full recipe and my tips for making it below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Kale Salad Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this kale salad recipe:
- Kale, of course! Any type of kale will work here. I especially like to use curly kale, but feel free to swap in Tuscan kale (aka lacinato kale) if you prefer.
- Extra-virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice – You’ll massage them into the raw kale to help the leaves soften.
- Roasted chickpeas – They add plant-based protein and crunch.
- Carrots and beets – I grate these root veggies to add sweet, earthy flavor to the salad.
- Watermelon radish – Thin slices add crisp texture and bright pops of pink to the salad. If you can’t find a watermelon radish at your market or grocery store, sub in regular red radishes.
- Avocado – For creamy texture.
- Dried cranberries – They add sweet-tart flavor.
- Toasted pepitas and sesame seeds – For nutty crunch.
- And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Kale Salad Dressing
The guest star of this recipe is the carrot ginger dressing that you see in the photo above. I make it by blending roasted carrots with ginger and tangy rice vinegar. It has a wonderful creamy texture and bright, refreshing flavor. You’ll LOVE it on this kale salad recipe!
How to Make Kale Salad
When it’s not prepared well, a raw kale salad can be tough and bitter—no thanks! The first trick to making yours delicious is to massage the kale so that the leaves become soft and tender. Here’s how to do it:
- Remove the kale leaves from the stems and wash them well. Spread them on kitchen towels to dry, or quickly dry them in a salad spinner.
- Tear the kale leaves into bite-sized pieces.
- Place them in a large bowl and add fresh lemon juice, ½ teaspoon olive oil, and a few pinches of salt.
- Use your hands to massage the lemon and oil into the leaves until they become soft and wilted and reduce in the bowl by about half.
That’s it! Add the root veggies, half the avocado, cranberries, pepitas, and more salt and pepper. Toss to combine.
Drizzle the salad with the dressing, and toss again. Top with the roasted chickpeas, the remaining avocado, and sesame seeds. Season to taste and serve!
How to Store Kale Salad
Leftover kale salad keeps well for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Because the kale leaves are so sturdy, it holds up well even when it’s dressed!
This recipe is a great one to meal prep for lunch. If you prep it ahead for multiple days, I recommend keeping the avocado separate. Add it to individual portions just before you eat so that it doesn’t brown in the fridge.
Want more meal prep/lunch tips? Check out these 60 Healthy Meal Prep Ideas or these 41 Healthy Lunch Ideas.
Salad Variations
- Toss in some cheese. Sprinkle in feta cheese or shaved Parmesan cheese for a salty bite.
- Roast the veg. Add sliced roasted beets or roasted carrots instead of grated raw ones.
- Change the protein. Swap out the chickpeas for baked tempeh, tofu, or lentils.
- Add a grain like quinoa or farro for a heartier salad.
- Switch up the seeds. Replace the pepitas with toasted sunflower seeds, or try a nut like toasted almonds, pecans, or walnuts instead.
- Try a different dressing. My tahini dressing, lemon vinaigrette, or balsamic vinaigrette would be yummy alternatives to the carrot ginger dressing.
More Favorite Salad Recipes
If you love this massaged kale salad recipe, try one of these delicious salads next:
- Kale Caesar Salad
- Best Broccoli Salad
- Chickpea Salad
- Cabbage Salad
- Lentil Salad
- Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Balsamic
- Greek Salad
- Or any of these 51 Best Salad Recipes!
Want more plant-based meal ideas? Check out our 85 Best Vegan Recipes.
Kale Salad
Ingredients
Carrot Ginger Dressing (See notes)
- ½ cup chopped roasted carrots, from 3/4 cup raw carrots
- 1/3 to ½ cup water
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Salad
- 1 batch Roasted Chickpeas
- 1 bunch curly kale, stems removed, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small carrot, grated
- 1 small red beet, grated*
- ½ watermelon radish, very thinly sliced
- 1 avocado, cubed
- 2 tablespoons dried cranberries
- ¼ cup pepitas, toasted
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- Sea salt & Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Make the dressing and roast the chickpeas: Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the chickpeas with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with pinches of salt and pepper. Place the carrot pieces for the dressing in their own corner on the baking sheet to roast alongside the chickpeas. Roast for 25 to minutes, or until the chickpeas are browned and crisp and the carrots are soft. Set the roasted chickpeas aside. Transfer the carrots to a blender and add the water, olive oil, rice vinegar, ginger, and salt. Blend the dressing until smooth and chill in the fridge until ready to use.
- Place the kale leaves into a large bowl and drizzle with the lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of olive oil, and a few pinches of salt. Use your hands to massage the leaves until they become soft and wilted and reduce in the bowl by about half.
- Add the carrot, beet, watermelon radish, half of the cubed avocado, cranberries, pepitas, a few more good pinches of salt and a few grinds of pepper, and toss. Drizzle generously with the carrot ginger dressing. Top with the remaining avocado, more dressing, the roasted chickpeas and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Season to taste and serve.
Notes
Very tasty.
I used rice vinegar, but then added a bit of white wine vinegar which gave it more of a tang.
You could also chuck a bit of paprika/cumin etc on the carrots/chickpeas for a gentle kick.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hello, do you have an advice on how to prepare this salad a day before? I am new to cooking and I have a gathering and it would help to prepare it a day before. Thank you 🙂
I have made this recipe several times and just love it. I was looking for a recipe last summer for the kale I got in my CSA and found this one.
I got kale again this week in my CSA and am looking forward to making this salad again. It does take a bit of work to make. I usually make the dressing the day before so it doesn’t seem so time intensive. It also allows the flavours to blend well. My modification to the dressing is to add a few cloves of garlic for a nice garlicky taste. I also used white wine vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar because I couldn’t find it in the stores and I already had the white wine vinegar in my cupboard.
Sometimes I use roasted chickpeas, sometimes I don’t. I have never used the sesame seeds or the watermelon radish. I have never seen watermelon radish here in Canada.
I’m so glad you’ve loved it so much!
Just made this again today and to add to my previous comment, I also always add feta cheese because I love feta cheese and I always roast the beets instead of grating.
This salad is perfect with a thick slice or two of slightly toasted, buttered sourdough bread. It is so filling and such a satisfying meal. Yum. One of my favorite meals.
Made it, my wife really didn’t like it, and I only thought it was ok. In particular the dressing didn’t seem flavorful enough -the flavors that were there worked together, but it didn’t seem strong enough. Too much effort in the recipe for not enough result for me :\
I love the salad! The second time I made it with 2/3 of the olive oil and I liked it even better; for me it was lighter and focused more on the delicious roasted carrot flavors.
Has anyone tried to freeze the dressing? I liked it so much and thought with kale and whatever else I had on hand I would have an instant meal.
I’m so glad you loved it! I’m not sure if the dressing will separate after it’s frozen and thawed.
Hi. I made the Ginger Carrot dressing but substituted 1/2 orange juice for the water. I put it in my Vitamix and blended it like I would a smoothie. For some reason, the dressing had a bitter aftertaste. Would you have an idea of why that would have occured? I had to add honey to make it sweeter but there was still a bit of a bitter aftertaste. Thanks for your help
Hi Lauren, hmm, I’m not sure. I haven’t tried it with orange juice so I’m not sure how that would affect the taste. If the vinegar flavor is too sharp or tart, I would balance it with more honey.
It may have been your carrots. Carrot peels especially can have a bitter flavor.
It’s probably bitter BECAUSE you added orange juice. You already have an acid, which is the vinegar. You don’t need to add anything else acidic.
I’m about to make this, but just wondering if it will keep ok in the fridge overnight for a couple of work lunch boxes tomorrow??
also, I made your brocoli salad yesterday. omg yum!! and have some tamari almond pepita mixture left over. Can I use this instead of plain pepitas in this salad or would it taste funky do you think?
Hi Alison, yes! This salad keeps well for a few days in the fridge. I think the tamari almonds and pepitas would be amazing here!
What’s a good substitution for watermelon radish? Thanks!
Hi Michelle, any other type of radish is a great sub. Red radishes, daikon, etc!
Any suggestions for replacing rice vinegar. I can’t have anything with yeast do no non-distilled vinegars no soy no wine
I’d suggest going with a different dressing. We love this lemon vinaigrette on this salad!
I use white wine vinegar. I couldn’t find the rice wine vinegar and searched online for an alternative and found white wine vinegar. Garlic is a good addition too if you like garlic. I like to throw a few garlic cloves into the dressing.
this is a favorite recipe of mine and I made a triple batch for my family’s thanksgiving this year! It was the perfect compliment to a starchy, heavy meal. Also super easy to prep in advance—i make all the elements and then toss together when it’s time to serve.
Hi Katharine, I’m so glad you’ve loved this one so much!
This was a show stopper at tonight’s thanksgiving dinner. Truly a (great) restaurant quality salad.
Tip: if you find that your dressing starts to taste a little bit bitter/carrot-y (as mine did as I blended and added more oil). You can balance it out beautifully by adding a little bit of maple syrup.
In fact, when I make this in the future I’m almost definitely going to add a little bit of maple syrup. It contrasted the flavors perfectly.
I’m so glad it was a hit at Thanksgiving!
This was SO SO good! A great way to use all the kale I’m getting in my CSA…will definitely be making this again! Thank you!
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you loved it!
Can you use white wine vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar?
Hi Maya, I think it would be fine, I’d start with less since rice vinegar is more mild.
I have made this salad twice and I love it, but for some reason I can’t get the dressing creamy. No matter how long I blend it it is still lumpy. This time I roasted the carrots longer to make sure they were soft but that didn’t seem to make a difference.
Hi Marcia, oh no, I think it might depend on your blender. If you’re making a lot of these types of creamy vegan recipes a vitamix is a terrific investment.
Puree all ingredients except oil. While still running in the blender slowly pour the olive oil in, this will aid in the emulsification of the dressing for a creamier texture.
Loved the flavours very delish
Such a beautiful salad. Thank you very much for the instructions on how to make the kale softer. This really added to the recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hello, is the beet cooked or raw?
Hi Denise, it’s raw here.
How long does it take for the kale to wilt enough?
Hi Andrea, just a few minutes.
Made this salad for Christmas lunch and it was a huge hit. Didn’t have rice vinegar and substituted apple cider vinegar. Added some more liquid to the dressing and coated the baked chickpeas in curry powder. It was all a perfect combination of flavours and a great way to use kale. Will definitely be checking out more of your recipes!!! Thank you
Hi Carolyn, I’m so glad the salad was a hit!
That’s it! I trust Love & Lemons with my life.
Ha, I’m glad you loved the recipe!