Kale Crunch Salad has flavors of garlic, shallots, pine nuts, sweet red peppers, and curly kale–with a lemon and Parmesan cheese dressing!

serving of Kale Crunch Salad

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Our homemade version of Kale Crunch Salad is well worth the steps. Don’t skimp on the sautéing the garlic with the shallots and onion becausse this makes this kale salad so good. We love healthy kale salads so much, in the Fall we serve a great kale salad with beets.

Kale Crunch Salad

For the recipe, it’s super easy. Make the dressing first and massage it into the curly kale leaves, which leaves the kale more tender, easier to chew, and less bitter.

Allow to soak into the leaves for at least 30 mintues before serving!

a fork bite of Kale Crunch Salad

Why we love this Kale Crunch Salad

This healthy kale salad originated from our friend, Esther, and inspired by a restaurant in Seattle, called Serious Pie. We had many wonderful meals at Jon and Esther’s, and this salad was always a family favorite. Esther made it … just right :)

  • The flavor is out of this world, and it makes a great dinner party salad.
  • It’s healthy and vibrant.
  • The leftovers are just as good (if not better!)

a bite of kale salad

What are Pepperazzi Peppers?

DeLallo Pepperazzi Peppers are short little red peppers from Peru, with a hot and tangy flavor. But wait, what I love about these peppers is the sweet vinegar marinade. What do you do with Pepperazzi peppers? We love to add them to salads, but they are also perfect for stuffing with creamy cheeses, crabmeat or tuna, or try them on pizzas, pasta, and more. Yum!

ingredients for Kale Crunch Salad

Gather these ingredients:

  • Curly kale
  • Olive oil
  • Onion
  • Shallot
  • Garlic
  • Lemon juice
  • Pepperazzi Spicy Sweet Red Peppers: I use Delallo brand
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Pine nuts
  • Roasted almonds

how to make a kale crunchy salad

How do you make a tender kale salad?

  1. Prepare the kale into small pieces and place in a large bowl; set aside.
  2. Simmer onion, shallots, garlic mixture in oil over very low heat. Do not brown. Add chopped peppers and cook some more. Cool the mixture.
  3. To the large bowl of prepared kale, add the oil and onion mixture. Drizzle in the lemon juice and mix with hands until coated. Let the salad sit!
  4. Sprinkle in the pine nuts, almonds and shaved Parmesan and toss; serve.

pinenuts and parmesan cheese

Why do you massage the kale?

Massaging the kale is what makes this salad tender, and the kale not bitter. Massage dressing into the leaves with your hands, until kale is no longer firm.

The only kind of kale that doesn’t require this is baby kale.

massaging kale with hands

Tips and substitutions:

  • We use curly kale in this salad (the most popular kale), but it’s optional to use lacinato kale or red kale.
  • Rememeber massaging the kale breaks the leaves down and makes the salad more tender.
  • You can omit the onions and shallots, but we think this is what really makes the dressing.
  • Swap out the pine nuts and the almonds for roasted pecans or walnuts.

stirring kale salad

What pairs well with kale salad?

Serving this Kale Crunch Salad along with this salmon, and this bread? The perfect dinner party menu!

Enjoy!

a Kale Crunch Salad

More delicious salad recipes to try:

Easy Pad Thai Salad {RE}

Pimiento-Stuffed Three Bean Salad {RE}

Layered Holiday Kale Berry Salad

Cheeseburger Salad {Skinnytaste}

Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad {RecipeGirl}

Kale Sald with Sweet Red Peppers

serving of Kale Crunch Salad
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Kale Crunch Salad

Adapted from Serious Pie. Optional to just use garlic (with no onions or shallots). We use Dellalo brand Red Pepperazzi peppers.
Kale Crunch Salad has flavors of garlic, shallots, pine nuts, sweet red peppers, and curly kale--with a lemon and Parmesan cheese dressing!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
standing time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 6
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Ingredients
 

  • 1 large bunch curly kale, or 2 small bunches, chopped
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ½ cup onion, finely chopped
  • 1 large shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped
  • cup lemon juice
  • ¾ cup Red Pepperazzi sweet peppers, quartered
  • ½ cup shaved parmesan cheese
  • ½ cup pinenuts
  • ½ cup roasted almonds, finely chopped

Instructions
 

  • Prepare the kale into small pieces and place in a large bowl; set aside.
  • Simmer onion, shallots, garlic mixture in oil for 30 minutes over very low heat. Do not brown. Add chopped peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Cool the mixture.
  • Add the oil and onion mixture to the large bowl of prepared kale. Add lemon juice and mix with hands until coated. Let the salad sit for 30 minutes.
  • Add pine nuts, almonds and shaved Parmesan and toss; serve.

Notes

Reposted from March 2014.
Cuisine: American
Course: Salad
Did you make this recipe?Tag @reluctantentertainer on Instagram and hashtag it #reluctantentertainer!

kale salad with pine nuts