Kale Apple Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette
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This simple kale apple salad recipe is full of crunchy sweet apples and veggies and topped with a tangy lemon vinaigrette. Beautiful enough for parties, but delicious enough just for lunch, your whole family will love this healthy kale salad.
If you’re looking for a fresh, vibrant, and nutrient-packed salad to add to your meal rotation, this Kale Apple Salad with pomegranate, apples, and carrots will hit the spot. This crunchy salad is topped with a Lemon Vinaigrette to make the perfect combination of sweet, savory, and tangy, with a colorful mix of ingredients that will leave your taste buds dancing.
Whether you’re enjoying it as a light lunch, a side dish for dinner, or bringing it to a gathering, this salad is a crowd-pleaser.
Kale is one of my favorite things to grow and preserve here on the farm (learn how to freeze kale). It is so easy and healthy and grows abundantly for me. Plus, here in Oregon, it grows all year long.
But, the best part about growing kale is eating it, of course!
I love adding it to fresh salads, sausage potato soup, tropical oatmeal smoothies, pasta dishes, and more.
It is a great way to add a healthy boost to meals and sneak in those extra veggies.
Well, it’s hard to “sneak” since it’s bright green, but you get what I’m saying.
This delicious and simple kale salad recipe is bursting with fresh flavors. There is the sweetness and crunch from the fruits and a yummy tang from the lemon vinaigrette, with all of the flavors working together to make a refreshing and healthy salad.
Why You Will Love This Recipe:
- Nutrient-packed: Kale is rich in vitamins A, C, and K, as well as fiber, making it a hearty and healthy base.
- Crisp and refreshing: Crunchy apple and tangy pomegranate add a sweet, juicy crunch that complements the other ingredients perfectly.
- Texture variety: Carrots provide an earthy sweetness and extra crunch, enhancing the salad’s overall texture.
- Seasonal & versatile: Perfect for any season, with ingredients that are available year-round.
- Quick & easy: Ready in under 20 minutes, making it a simple and delicious option for any meal. It’s also great for meal prep!
Ingredients You Will Need
For the salad:
Kale: I like curly kale over dinosaur kale. But whatever variety is your favorite will work.
Fresh apples: I like to choose Pink Lady or Honeycrisp apples as they are super crunchy and sweet. Granny Smith, or really any of your favorite apple varieties, will work.
Carrots: I cheated a little and used pre-shredded carrots.
Pomegranate seeds: You could also substitute these for dried cranberries, but watch out for added sugar if you’re trying to avoid that.
Seeds: Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or hemp hearts – just to name a few.
Cheese: Totally optional, but salty feta cheese would be amazing on this salad or even the tangy flavor of goat cheese.
Dressing ingredients:
Lemon juice – Fresh is always preferred for the best flavor.
Garlic – Use a garlic press to mince the garlic really thoroughly.
Dijon mustard
Honey – Or you could substitute maple syrup.
Extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil: These are healthier, less refined oils.
Tools you may need:
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Immersion blender – This is the best took to make homemade salad dressings hands down.
How to Make Kale Apple Salad
Step 1: Wash and dry raw kale. Remove the tough stems, chop kale into bite-sized pieces, and place in a large bowl. Add about 1/2 tbsp to 1 tbsp of oil and massage the chopped kale leaves. Massaging helps break down the tough leaves, creating more tender kale, making it easier to eat, and bringing out the flavor.
Step 2: Chop or slice apples and carrots and add to the bowl. If you are making this ahead of time, toss a little bit of lemon juice with the apples to prevent them from browning. Sprinkle sunflower seeds (or other seeds and nuts) and pomegranate into the bowl.
Step 3: In a separate small bowl, make lemon vinaigrette dressing by adding the garlic, mustard, honey, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and whisking until well-mixed. It will be a nice, pale yellow color.
Step 4: Add olive oil and whisk until completely combined. Or use an immersion blender to bring it together in seconds.
Step 5: Pour the desired amount of vinaigrette over the kale salad. This is your personal preference.
Step 6: Toss until combined, or serve with the dressing on the side. Enjoy!
Tips for Making the Perfect Kale Salad
- Use pre-shredded kale to make this recipe even faster. Just make sure to pick out any little stems.
- Swap out the homemade lemon vinaigrette for your favorite store-bought or homemade dressing. A creamy avocado salad dressing, apple cider vinaigrette, or a tangy tahini dressing (green goddess is my favorite) would be delicious.
- Since we have a nut allergy in this house, I used sunflower seeds to give it an extra crunch. If you don’t have allergies, you could also use sliced almonds, pecans, or crunchy walnuts. Go nuts – pun intended.
- If you plan to make this ahead of time, sprinkle the apples with lemon juice, and wait to add the sunflower seeds or nuts and lemon dressing until right before serving.
- While I typically serve this as a side dish, you can make it your main dish by adding grilled steak or chicken for protein and some wild rice for a healthy carb.
FAQ
Baby, Dinosaur, and Red Russian work best for salads. Curly kale would also work, but part of it depends on preference. If you don’t like chewing tough kale, then you may want to pick a softer one, like baby kale or Red Russian.
Oh yeah. It is bursting with healthy, fresh ingredients. Kale, apples, pomegranates, and carrots contain tons of nutrients.
Massaging kale not only breaks it down to make it more enjoyable to eat, but it also can help make it less bitter.
Yes, you can substitute other leafy greens like spinach, arugula, or mixed greens if you prefer a lighter, more delicate base. However, keep in mind that kale holds up better in salads and doesn’t wilt as quickly. If you do use other types of greens, don’t massage them like you would kale.
Add protein such as grilled chicken, roasted chickpeas, quinoa, or even a soft-boiled egg to make this salad a more substantial meal. Add more healthy fat by including blue cheese, feta, or a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
You can prep the individual components (chop the kale, slice the apple, and shred the carrots) ahead of time, but it’s best to assemble the salad and add the dressing just before serving to avoid the kale wilting.
More healthy recipes:
- Healthy Chicken Salad Recipe With Veggies
- Chicken And Bacon Chopped Salad With Honey Mustard Dressing
- Steak Rice Salad Recipe: Easy Weeknight Meal
- Classic Minestrone Soup Recipe With Bacon
- Burrata Caprese Salad
- Mashed Butternut Squash Recipe
- White Bean Salad
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back, comment on the post, and give it 5 stars! Please and thank you.
Apple Kale Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette
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Equipment
Ingredients
Kale Salad
- 5 cups kale – packed de-stemmed and chopped
- 1/2 tbs olive oil or avocado oil
- 2 tbs sunflower seeds or sliced almonds
- 3/4 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1/3 cup shredded carrots
Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- zest one lemon
- 2 tbs lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 tbs honey
- 1/8 tsp salt
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- De-stem and chop kale and place in a large bowl.
- Add about 1/2 tbsp to 1 tbsp of oil and massage kale. Massaging kale helps break down the tough leaves, making it easier to eat and bringing out the flavor.
- Chop apples and carrots and add to the bowl. If you are making this ahead of time, toss a little bit of lemon juice with the apples to prevent them from browning.
- Sprinkle sunflower seeds and pomegranate into the bowl.
- In a separate bowl, make lemon vinaigrette dressing by adding the minced garlic, mustard, honey, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and whisking until well-mixed. It will be a nice, pale yellow color.
- Add olive oil and whisk until completely combined.
- Pour desired amount of vinaigrette over kale salad, and toss until combined well. Or, serve the dressing on the side.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Use pre-shredded kale to make this recipe even faster. Just make sure to pick out any little stems.
- Swap out the homemade lemon vinaigrette for your favorite dressing.
- I used sunflower seeds to give it an extra crunch. If you don’t have allergies, you could also use sliced almonds or pecans.
- Sprinkle the apples with lemon juice if you plan to make this ahead of time and wait to add the sunflower seeds or nuts and lemon dressing until right before serving. That way everything stays nice and fresh rather than soggy.
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