After kale’s mega-moment in the spotlight, it didn’t ship out for the land of forgotten food trends. One reason? The kale salad is such a simple, nutrient-dense dish that can be made in about a million different delicious ways.
Once you’ve got your leafy greens good and massaged, you can add endless combinations of vegetables, nuts and seeds, cheeses, and dressings. Add a protein like grilled chicken, salmon, or beans and you’ve got a filling, legit meal.
And no matter how you make it, when you start with that kale base, you’re getting fiber, vitamins, and minerals in every single bite.
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In case you’ve been making the same version for the past 10 years, we rounded up ten of our favorite easy kale salad recipes from our own database and our friends around the web.
With these recipes, we can guarantee kale will never go out of style.
10 Delicious Kale Salad Recipes
1. White Bean Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing
Move over chickpeas; white beans don’t get nearly the attention they deserve. Also, you’re going to want to bookmark this 5-ingredient tahini dressing from Minimalist Baker.
2. Cauliflower Quinoa Kale Salad
Crunchy Radish (AKA Miranda Hammer, MS, RD, NLC) fills the bowl with all kinds of summer produce and adds serious flavor via easy pickled onions.
3. Carrot Kale Salad
Our super simple side salad is all about the greens (with a touch of orange) and antioxidant-rich herbs and spices.
4. “Not Juiced” Kale Salad
Nutritious-Life Certified health coach Erin Parekh turns her favorite green juice (think kale, cucumber, and avocado) into a nutrient-dense salad.
5. Farro Kale Goat Cheese Salad
Ancient grains and goat cheese make for a yummy combo from Cookie and Kate.
6. Sweet Potato Lentil Kale Detox Salad
It’s got the word “detox” in the title, but this salad from Hummusapien is filling and delicious. Plus, it’s got a secret ingredient in the dressing: za’atar.
7. Lemon Garlic Kale Salad
This is the simple, go-to side salad you’ll make over and over, from Julia Moskin at NY Times Cooking.
8. Rainbow Kale Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
If you’re looking for an Instagram-worthy kale salad (that’s also super delicious!), Love and Lemons definitely has you covered.
9. Kale Salad with Butternut Squash Cranberries and Pepitas
Come fall and winter, it still makes sense to eat salad if you mix in warming flavors like butternut squash and cranberries, a la Tara Parker-Pope at NY Times Cooking.
10. Easy Kale Salad with Fresh Lemon Dressing
Spend With Pennies takes the cruciferous veggie factor up a notch by adding lots of broccoli. Plus, sunflower seeds and almonds add more plant-based nutrient power.
(Featured Photo: Shutterstock)