Winter Kale Salad with Apples and Pecans
The perfect winter kale salad with apples and pecans, tossed with an orange balsamic vinaigrette dressing and topped with dried cranberries.
Is everyone else still in a food coma from the Super Bowl yesterday? Good. Glad it’s not just me. I watched it with my family, and if you saw how much food we made to snack on you would assume we were hosting 30 people. No, just the 6 of us. We will have leftovers for days.
While we’re not that in to football, we bet $20 a person using one of those Super Bowl Square betting grids. Having some money riding on the game made it much more interesting. After every score we would check to see who was slated to win that quarter. Brother-in-law won one quarter, and my mom won 2 quarters, and my sister won the last quarter. Shawn and I were out of luck.
Between the food and the betting, it was a fun Sunday night.
Knowing how many game day foods we would be eating, I made us a weeks worth of salads in a mason jar to have for lunch. Having healthy lunches for a week negates a plate full of chicken wings, right?
My favorite salad of the moment is this winter kale salad with apples and pecans. This is my go-to starter salad for dinner parties. I made this kale salad for Thanksgiving, and everyone loved it. I even saw people putting a second helping of this salad on their plates when going back for round 2 of Thanksgiving food. That is just about the best compliment you can get when it comes to salads.
I love kale salads because of the crunchy firm leaves. I can’t stand a soggy salad.
For even more crunch, this winter kale salad has broccoli slaw, sliced apples, toasted pecans and sweet dried cranberries. I toss it with a variation of my favorite balsamic vinaigrette, but this time I left out the honey and sweetened it with fresh squeezed orange juice.
This winter kale salad is vegan, paleo and Whole30. If you’re eating dairy, this salad would be great with some goat cheese crumbles too. If I have some leftover chicken, I’ll throw that in for some protein.
Winter Kale Salad with Apples and Pecans
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed (I prefer Tuscan kale, but any will do)
- 1 cup broccoli slaw
- 1 apple, cored and sliced
- 1/4 cup roasted, unsalted pecans
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- juice from half an orange, about 2 tablespoons
- pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a small mason jar (or in the bottom or the serving bowl), make the salad dressing by combining all the ingredients and whisking to combine.
- In a large salad bowl, combine the kale and broccoli slaw, and top with desired amount of dressing. Toss to combine. Divide onto plates, and top with sliced apples, pecans and cranberries. Serve.
56 Comments on “Winter Kale Salad with Apples and Pecans”
I love all the flavors in this kale salad! Delicious and healthy!
Thanks Kelly! I love all the pretty colors too : )
Gorgeous salad gal! You’re making me hungry for some good greens. :-)
Have a great day!
Thanks Melanie!
Yes, I am in a food coma still after all the super bowl food yesterday (hello nacho bar.) lol. This kale salad looks amazing Natalie! Pinned!
A nacho bar? That sounds amazing! I don’t blame you for the food coma. I would probably have one too if there was a nacho bar at my superbowl party. Hope you love this kale salad if you make it Mariah!
This looks divine. I love all the flavors and cat wait to try it!
It is such a great mix of flavors. And healthy too! Hope you love it if you try it Olivia : )
What a pretty salad! Love the pecans, especially. Pinning! :)
Thanks Medha! Nothing like a pretty salad to get you craving some greens : )
I love the mix of apples and pecans with kale! It looks delicious and absolutely perfect since I without a doubt ate way too much yesterday. Bring on all the salads! :-)
Don’t worry, I ate way too much on Sunday too. You’re not alone! But this salad is really hitting the spot after all those salty foods : )
I am such a sucker for a kale salad, and your version looks delicious! And I love your video, I feel like I pick up some new trick every time I watch…I’m going to try and pull my kale leaves off like that next time!
I’m a sucker for kale salads too. They’re my favorite! I just feel so healthy when I’m eating them. And thank you for the compliments on the recipe video! I wish I could take credit for that kale trick, but that is something I saw Martha Stewart do. But it makes taking that hard stem out so easy! You must try it.
Yum!! I’m a huge kale salad lover, and love anything that has pecans in it, so for me this is as close to salad heaven as it gets!
{Teffy’s Perks} X
Thanks Teffy! I’m a huge kale salad lover too. And I recently decided pecans are my very favorite nut, they’re just so good!
Some how pecans and cranberries give many dishes a new meaning. Your dressing seems so balanced. Thanks for such a healthy and delicious recipe.
I love the combo of pecans and dried cranberries together. And I just love the dressing! Hope you love it if you try it Amira!
Love this!! I have been making a similar kale salad with apples and pecans recently, but your dressing sounds amazing. Alsooo in love with your video!!
Thanks Rachel! I love the addition of the orange juice to the dressing. There’s just something about orange and cranberry together. So good! And thank you for the compliments on the video! Means a lot : )
This is the perfect winter salad . . and you’re right . . this is perfect after all the crazy eating I did last night. LOVE the video and I totally need a salad spinner!!!
Glad I wasn’t the only one who ate ALL THE THINGS during the Super Bowl. Probably because I’m not that in to football, so I found myself snacking to keep from getting bored. And I really appreciate your compliments on my recipe videos Alice! I hope they’re helpful, especially for novice cooks who need a little more visual reassurance on how the recipe should turn out. And you must get a salad spinner! I got that one from Oxo, and it gets the leaves bone dry. Amazing!
I’m always looking for a good kale recipe and this salad looks delicious! I think it would be a great grab and go because the leaves won’t get soggy from the dressing. Gorgeous pics. :)
Kale salads are my favorite right now. So crunchy and delicious! And the longer the dressing sits, the better the salad is! Sometimes I’ll put the dressing on and let it sit for a half hour. Only gets better : )
I’m going to try this salad very soon! I love kale salads, and the orange-dijon-balsamic dressing sounds incredible! What a great, healthy way to start off the week! Pinned!
The orange dijon balsamic salad dressing is my favorite right now! Such a good mix of flavors. You’re going to love it!
That sounds like the perfect Superbowl Sunday to me! We’re not very serious football watchers either. This salad looks like the perfect Monday recovery food!
Just finished eating this salad for lunch, and am already feeling much better. I definitely had one too many cheesy appetizers yesterday!
I’m in love with kale salads, Natalie, and have been living off of my own version for the past 3-4 weeks! I love the apples and pecans and that balsamic dressing with the orange sounds incredible! Pinned. :)
Aren’t kale salads the best? I can’t get enough of them. Hope you like this if you try it Marcie!
Oooh this looks like my kind of salad! There’s a place at home that makes a salad super similar to this with the cranberries and apples and pecans and I LOVE it, so I need to try your version so I can eat it all the time :) Pinned!
The flavors are such a great combination. I just know you’ll love it when you make it Rachel : )
I missed superbowl food! It didn’t come on until 12:30am here, so I was in bed. I managed to eat a ton of junk yesterday to make up for not getting to go to a superbowl party lol. I might need this salad to reset today! Looks great.
12:30 is much too late to start watching the game! But even though I watched it, I didn’t really “watch” it. Except for the commercials, watched all of those. Ha!
I absolutely LOOOVE winter salads and I adore kale! This looks so refreshing with the apples and that balsamic vinaigrette and just what I need after all the indulging yesterday!
I really needed this healthy salad after everything I ate yesterday too. I had queso dip, pizza roll ups, chicken wings, you name it. I just ate this for lunch and am already feeling much better : )
Funny thing – I posted a salad today, too! I’m not into football at all, but I always watch the super bowl purely for the snacks. My food coma is real today! I love that you used kale as the base and I love the citrus addition in the dressing – can’t wait to give it a try!
Salad twins! Guess we both knew we would want something healthy today after all the junk we ate yesterday. And the orange juice in the dressing is so good! I know you’ll love it if you make it Keri : )
I love the looks of this salad, Natalie! You’re totally convincing me to try kale (I have yet to do so, crazy, right?)! I love the flavors in here, sounds healthy and refreshing, especially after yesterday’s snacking festivities! Love this!
Ok, you must try kale Gayle! But maybe start off with a cooked kale first. Fresh is really heavy duty. Takes a lot more crunching than romaine. I love it, but had to get used to it. But it is so healthy! And has a great flavor.