The Best Kale Salad

Name: The Best Kale Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 salads
Ingredients: 1 bunch lacinato kale, ribs discarded and leaves cut into thin strips; 1 teaspoon olive oil; 2 pinches salt; ¼ cup olive oil; 1 lemon, juiced; 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard; 1 teaspoon maple syrup, or more to taste; ¼ teaspoon ground cumin; 1 pinch garlic powder, or to taste; 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste; salt and ground black pepper to taste; 2 carrots, grated; ½ cup frozen roasted corn (such as Trader Joe's®), thawed; ¼ cup crushed tortilla chips; ¼ cup dry-roasted almonds, coarsely chopped; 2 tablespoons grated smoked white cheese (such as Beecher's® Smoked Flagship); 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

22 Ratings
16 Reviews
6 Photos

Everyone always asks for the recipe when I bring this salad to parties. We all love it so much, my friends and I just refer to it as: 'The Kale Salad'.

By Alli Shircliff

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Recipe Summary test

prep:

20 mins

additional:

10 mins

total:

30 mins

Servings:

Yield:

4 salads

Nutrition Info

Directions

Step 1
Place kale in a large serving bowl; add 1 teaspoon olive oil and 2 pinches salt. Gently massage the oil and salt into kale. Set aside to allow kale to soften, about 10 minutes.

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Step 2
Combine 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper in a plastic or glass container with a lid. Cover container and vigorously shake until dressing is light yellow and evenly combined.
Step 3
Layer carrots, roasted corn, tortilla chips, almonds, and smoked cheese on top of kale. Drizzle dressing over salad. Mix salad using tongs to evenly distribute. Gently stir eggs into salad.

Cook's Notes:

Depending on the size of the lemons, maple syrup may need to be increased if the dressing is too tangy.

I always taste-test the dressing before adding it to the salad. So I recommend tasting and adjusting the maple syrup, salt, pepper, and/or Dijon mustard.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:

338 calories; protein 10.8g; carbohydrates 23.7g; fat 24.4g; cholesterol 110.3mg; sodium 378.4mg. Full Nutrition

alli41385

09/24/2016

delicious! I left out the corn and tortilla strips. still fantastic!

22 Ratings

5 star values: 21
4 star values: 1
3 star values: 0
2 star values: 0
1 star values: 0

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alli41385

09/24/2016

delicious! I left out the corn and tortilla strips. still fantastic!

06/10/2016

Had to buy more kale after I tried this recipe. I shift it up adding cranberries, grated zukes. Awesome!

MMG

01/23/2018

This is the best kale salad! Can mix up the flavor a bit by using different cheeses, otherwise follow directions as they are written and it is delicious!

yvonne marroquin

05/04/2016

This was a great recipe! We left out the eggs and it was still great! Even my kids loved it!

nucwat

07/06/2016

Sooo good! I was tired of my usual kale salad recipe with cranberries and sunflower seeds. This was a very welcome change. I have been sharing it with all my family.

Brenda Estrella

01/07/2018

The kale was on its last legs and I had to find a recipe asap. I tried this one and it was so fantastic, even tho I substituted some of the ingredients. I'm gonna enjoy making different variations of this salad! Thanks very much for sharing.

Lindsay Getz

11/30/2018

Delicious! Prior to this dish, I had only had kale baked in a strata or as a chip and had avoided it raw. Boy, was that a mistake! It's very hearty and satisfying. I thought the vinaigrette was delicious and the corn gave it a great burst of sweetness. I didn't add the eggs, only because I served this as a side to chicken but I'm sure if I did I could be satisfied eating this as a full entree. Thanks for the great recipe!

Bethany Szczepanski

08/23/2020

Very tasty! I made with 2 ears fresh grilled corn instead of canned and omitted eggs but they would’ve been good. You could definitely also add bacon, green onion, fresh mushroom... be sure to thin-slice the kale, or shred and mix with a softer lettuce. Don’t skip the massage technique!

tiggerknit

11/05/2017

I have tried this salad a few times when somehow kale wound up in my shopping. I didn't want to throw it out and didn't know how to prepare it. I got on my favorite food app and found this recipe. The dressing is amazing and I wasn't intimidated by kale any more! as I buy it on purpose now and use whatever veggies I have on hand! Thanks for sharing...

Wuurimala

12/11/2018

Fantastic recipe! I served it as a main course with a side of Italian bread and cheese. My grocery store didn’t have shredded smoked cheese so I cut up a small block of habanero smoked white cheese and it was dandy. Everything else was exactly as listed. My husband and I both went back for seconds and will be finishing it up for lunch tomorrow. The recipe is definitely a keeper.

ldbishop

01/17/2020

My new favorite salad!

BRG

05/09/2017

I used hickory smoked almonds, smoked Gouda, and blue corn tortillas chips. Yum!

dhchow

05/23/2016

The dressing for this salad is incredible. I've been making variants of this salad over and over again for months because it's so good and easy. I usually don't have all the other non-dressing ingredients but I've done it with pomegranate seeds, parmesan, chicken, and pine nuts and it's sooo good. Thank you!