Kale Quinoa Salad

This kale quinoa salad is so good because it combines nutrient-dense kale with protein-packed quinoa, creating a delicious and satisfying dish that’s perfect for any meal. The fresh, vibrant ingredients and tangy orange miso ginger dressing make it a flavorful and healthy choice.

We have other amazing kale recipes on this website like my massaged vegan kale salad, this PCRM Mexican Kale Salad, and our easy oil-free braised kale.

Reasons I love this kale salad recipe

• Nutrient-Packed: This veggie-loaded kale quinoa salad is bursting with vitamins, minerals, and protein from a variety of fresh vegetables and quinoa, making it a powerhouse of nutrition.
• Flavorful and Fresh: With a mix of crisp vegetables and a tangy dressing, this salad offers a refreshing and satisfying taste that’s perfect for any meal.
• Easy to Prepare: Simple to assemble with minimal cooking required, this salad is a convenient and quick option for healthy eating.

Ingredients needed

• Kale- Fresh crispy mild kale is loaded with protein and massaging makes it soft and delicious.
• Quinoa- Other grains can be substituted such as brown rice, bulgur wheat, or others.
• Broccoli slaw- Precut and bagged broccoli slaw is delicious and perfect for this recipe.
• Carrots- Shredded carrots are sweet and have the perfect texture for this crunchy salad.
• Cabbage- Purple cabbage makes this salad even more colorful and beautiful, and other options include green cabbage or Asian napa cabbage.
• Edamame beans- These are young green soybeans that are delicious to snack on or add to salads like this one. We even make edamame hummus as a veggie dip and sandwich spread.
• Mandarin oranges- For a zesty sweet flavor.
• Dried fruit- Raisins and dried cranberries are my favorite combination because of the sweetness of raisins paired with the tangy flavor of cranberries.
• Seeds- The recipe calls for sunflower seeds, and other options include pumpkin seeds, crushed peanuts, or another nut or seed.
• Dressing- The orange miso ginger oil-free dressing is the perfect complement to this salad.

How to make kale quinoa salad

The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.

STEP #1: Cook quinoa according to package directions. This usually takes about 15 minutes. While it is cooking go ahead and make the dressing and prep the kale.

STEP #2: Make the dressing by placing all of the dressing ingredients into a small mixing bowl and whisking them together. Set the dressing to the side. See notes below.

• I like to use the jar of minced garlic in this recipe because it is milder. Fresh works well too.
• This is probably more dressing than you will want to pour over this kale salad, so don’t add it all at one time. You only want enough to coat your salad well. Save any leftovers to use as a salad dressing for garden salads.

STEP #3: Kale has been called the angry lettuce, because is it much more fibrous and less delicate than other greens such as baby spinach, and romaine. The good news is that you can eat kale raw in a salad with one easy trick.

STEP #3.5: You will need to de-stem it by holding the stalk at the end and running your hand up removing the leaves. There is even a kitchen tool called Loose Leaf Kale Stripper to make it very simple.

One thing I’ve noticed with the pre-cut kale in bags is that the leaves are sliced horizontally which causes the stems to be included in them. The stems are so fibrous that it’s best to take them out for most recipes.

Those bags of kale are great for things like smoothies, but not so much for raw kale massaged salad. I always buy the whole leaf kale and de-stem it, because it only takes a few minutes to prep.

STEP #4: Tear the kale into bite-sized pieces and place it in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup orange juice and 1/2 tsp salt to the bowl with kale and begin to massage for 2-3 minutes. This makes it much more tender and flavorful. And who can blame it? We all could use a little massage to soften our attitude every now and then! It only takes about 2-3 minutes of massaging for it to become tender.

STEP #5: Once the kale is tender, add other salad ingredients and dressing to the large bowl and stir thoroughly, making sure the dressing is mixed throughout.

Frequently Asked Questions