Kale Salad Recipe with Honey Lemon Dressing
You will love this Autumn-inspired Kale Salad Recipe with apples, pears, cranberries, and toasted pecans with honey lemon dressing. It’s so easy to prepare and it’s one of the few green salads that can be made ahead.
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Kale Salad Recipe
We love this seasonal Kale Salad in the cooler months because it is loaded with all of our favorite Fall ingredients: crisp apples, pears, pecans, and kale of course! The simple honey-lemon dressing coats every bite of this kale salad and makes it completely fresh, healthy, and delicious!
This salad and a bowl of Creamy Sweet Potato Soup are all we need for the perfect Fall meal.
Is Kale Healthy?
Kale is considered a superfood. It is packed with Vitamin K, Vitamin A and Vitamin C and is considered one of the most nutritious foods. It also offers antioxidants and has so many health benefits. See the nutrition label below for details on this salad.
Kale is more versatile than you think. It’s also great in soups like Zuppa Toscana and our Sausage Kale Soup.
How to Make Kale Salad Dressing:
Combine lemon juice, olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper in a measuring cup and stir until dissolved.
Pro Tip: If your honey doesn’t dissolve readily, you can place the bottom of your dressing container into a bowl of hot water to warm it slightly, which should do the trick!
How to Prepare Kale:
Strip kale leaves (hold the stem in one hand and pull the leaves off with the other). Discard the stems as they are fibrous and tough.
Chop leaves into bite-sized pieces and double rinse the chopped leaves to catch any trapped dust in the curly leaves then thoroughly dry in a salad spinner.
Why Should You Massage Kale?
Raw kale is naturally a tough green and massaging it helps to soften it up so you can enjoy it without having to cook it. Be sure not to over-massage it so you don’t end up with mushy kale. Rub the kale and dressing together just until the kale starts to wilt.
How to Make Autumn Kale Salad:
1. Place kale in a salad bowl, add cranberries, and drizzle with all of the dressing. Use your hands to massage the dressing into the kale, just until the kale starts to wilt. This will help to soften it. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
2. Before serving, top with sliced apples, sliced pears, thinly sliced onions, and toasted pecans. Toss to combine.
Can I Make Kale Salad Ahead?
We completely LOVE that this Autumn Kale Salad is a make-ahead salad. Most green leaf salads like our Autumn Chicken Salad must be eaten soon after they are made but this one just gets better with time! I recommend letting the kale marinate with the dressing for 4 hours or overnight. We’ve enjoyed this salad after 2 hours but the leaves are softer and just right after marinating 4 hours.
PS. The lemon dressing preserves the fruit so leftovers of this kale salad are still very tasty the next day – perfect for a work or school lunch! 🙂
This kale salad is loaded with the good stuff. Every bite is so satisfying! The make-ahead option makes it perfect for serving up at your next party.
What to Serve with Kale Salad:
There are some recipes that end up on the regular rotation during the cooler months. These are the dishes we love to cozy up with and they pair perfectly with Kale Salad. Check out more of our favorite Fall Recipes Here.
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes – the best potatoes of your life!
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken – use the pan drippings for gravy
- Smashed Potatoes – crisp and an excellent side with salad
- Loaded Potato Soup – you’ll love the toppings
Kale Salad Recipe with Honey Lemon Dressing
Ingredients
Ingredients for Salad Dressing:
- 4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp honey, or sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Ingredients for Kale Salad:
- 1 bunch kale, (8 cups loosely packed) well rinsed
- 1 cup craisins, dried cranberries
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 apple, (I used a crisp fuji apple)
- 1 pear, (firm)
- 1 cup pecans, toasted on a dry skillet
Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients and stir together until honey dissolves then set aside.
- Rinse and strip kale leaves. Chop in bite-sized pieces. I rinse the chopped leaves a second time to ensure there isn't any dust hidden in the curly leaves then dry in a salad spinner.
- Place kale in a salad bowl, top with 1 cup craisins and drizzle with dressing. Use hands to stir well and massage lightly until kale just starts to wilt. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
- Before serving, add sliced apples, sliced pears, thinly sliced onions and toasted pecans. Toss to combine.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
My new favourite go-to. Love that I can make it ahead of time!
Hi Liz! Yes, we love this too! 🙂
Loved that salad. Love the dressing even more. Use it on all my salads. Yum!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Iza!
Looks amazing. I am definitely going to try it. I am allergic to apples and pears. Do you think canned mandarin oranges would work?
Hello Sandra, I honestly haven’t tested this recipe with Mandarin oranges yet to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
Have not made it yet.Sliced persimmon would be good and look great.
Hi Natasha! Where is that wooden bowel from? Or do you have one that you really like for mixing salads? Thank you!
Hi Mary, you may find the Wooden Bowl that I used in my Amazon shop and affiliate link. Here is the link.
And of course another delicious fulfilling salad! But I used baby kale blend and walnuts as that’s what I had….but wow what a salad!!!! 👍👍👍👍
Hi Mona, so great to hear that you loved this salad. Thanks for sharing your good feedback with us!
Hi Natasha, I made this salad more than 3 times , I really love it. May i share your recipe in Thai language because they can not read english. Thank you very much .
Hi, unfortunately, the best I can suggest is to try using google translate to translate the recipes. We don’t speak Thai so there is no way for us to do that.
I tried this salad and it was amazing even without cranberry(as I didn’t have at the moment)
Thank you Natasha
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed that Lara!
Easy to make salad and dressing; so crunchy and delicious! Will be on repeat in our home!
So glad to hear that, Kate!
Natasha, I have a bed of kale in the garden but it isn’t curly leaf. Do you think I could use it in this recipe?
Hi Donna, that may work! I would love to know how you like it!
Hi natasha can you do stuffed crust pizza thanks for all the recipes
Hi Malak, thank you so much for that suggestion!
What a wonderfully refreshing salad! I did have to improvise a little with what I had on hand. Because the lemon was really tart, I added a little more honey. Also substituted Trader Joe’s Cruciferious Crunch mixture (has lots of kale in it). Didn’t have time to refrigerate 4 hours so just fixed it and served. It turned out delicious in spite of me!! Thanks Natasha for another great recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Connie!
My husband and I both loved this recipe.
That’s so great! Thank you for sharing that wonderful review!
This salad was so easy to make and tasted delicious, we had it as a side to dinner and it was the first thing gone. So much flavor in a simple side salad.
Isn’t it amazing! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, Lily!
What a wonderful fall salad. All my favorites in one place!
So glad to hear that, Erin!
Delicious and easy! Perfect salad for these autumn evenings. The honey lemon dressing is so bright, light, and yummy!
I’m so happy you enjoeyd that Betsy! Thank you for sharing that wonderful review!
Hi Natasha,
I love kale salad! The recipe that I make is very similar. The direction tells you to massage the chopped kale with your fingers after adding the oil before the lemon juice. It really does help take the bitterness out and tenderize the leaves without having to wait 4 or 24 hrs.
Hello Karen, that’s nice to know. Thanks for the tip, I should try that next time!
Hi Natasha, does it really takes 4 hours to make this salad?
Hi Cindy. It takes about 5 minutes to put together but the time for the flavors to absorb for best taste takes about 4 hours to overnight in the fridge. 🙂
Hi Natasha, can you substitute organic Agave Nectar for the honey? Otherwise I will be trying this for dinner tonight
Hi Manny, I honestly haven’t tried that and can’t really say. Agave and is one and half times sweeter than honey you you’d have to watch the amount you put it. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
We make a slightly different variation of this salad, but same type of honey lemon dressing.
But sweeter. Experimented tonight and ended up with 4 T lemon juice, 3 T honey, 1 T Agave, 2 T oil, + salt and pepper. This is the only way I can eat Kale!
What a wonderful filling salad! the fruit offers a hint of sweetness that makes this salad an absolute favorite to anyone who eats at. Because it keeps for days I like to keep it for a midday meal or whenever I’m on the go.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Bart!
Hi! Great recipe. I added a little extra honey as I like this style of salad a little sweeter, used one salad topper package of cranberries and glazed walnuts for time’s sake, and added feta cheese. I loved the results
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe Sophie! Thank you for that awesome feedback.
The dressing was delicious! I did a no oil version and blended raw cashew to thicken. Yum!!
I’m glad you like it Carol! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Wow this was incredible. Left out the onions just because I don’t like onions. But wow <3
I’m glad you love the recipe Katie! Thanks for sharing!
Just made this for dinner. ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! I did not put the onion in as my husband will not eat them. I have kale growing in my garden so will definitely make this again and again!
That’s great to hear Jo! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
Just made the salad and loved it. It was not bitter at all I left it in the fridge overnight and added the rest of the ingredients in the morning. So easy to make and so good. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear you enjoy the salad! 🙂
Loved the recipe! Will make it frequently, thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome Sara! I’m happy to hear you loved the salad!
Can I use walnuts instead of pecans? And yellow onion? Would it make a bug difference?
I made this tonight with spinach/red lettuce instead of kale cause I didn’t have the time to marinade the kale. This recipe is fantastic!!!!!!!!!
Angela, thank you for the great review!
Was wondering if i could subsititue the Kale with another type of lettuce/salad? Which would be the best?
Hi Tina, I think it could work ok to use a different type of green as a base. As I mentioned to another reader, I think spinach would be ok but add dressing to taste and you don’t want to marinate the salad in advance since spinach wilts much quicker. Also, you might use less craisins so they don’t overwhelm the salad.
Thanx for wonderful recipe. I was surprised but my hubby really liked it but the only thing is he wants to substitute kale with spinach or something else( he thinks that kale has bitter taste). Have you tryed substituting it? Thanx
Hi Tanya, I think spinach would be ok but add dressing to taste and you don’t want to marinate the salad in advance since spinach wilts much quicker. Also, you might use less craisins so they don’t overwhelm the salad. P.S. Once kale has had time to marinate, I haven’t noticed a bitterness when using fresh kale.
I made this to use up left over kale from Zuppe Tuscana. Wow, I was surprised how good it tasted!, even my husband liked it. Definitely will make a batch for Thanksgiving.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it!!! You’ll have to try the kale and blueberry one as well – it’s a little different but also very good!
Wow mmmmm yummmm another really great awesome hot salad recipe must try
You won’t be dissapointed Tzivia 😄. I would love to hear your review.
Making for Thanksgiving
Great choice!! 🙂
I made this for a gathering with friends. I was nervous when I tasted the dressing on a piece of Kale pre-marination…but after 4 hours, as you recommended, YUM!
We had little leftovers and the party host said they were keeping it for the next day😀
Love your recipes!!!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Kristen!
I appreciate that kale holds up so well, and I’m planning this for my volunteers serving the homeless to have something to eat also. I wonder if shallots would work, since sometimes red onion can be strong. Yours is my FAVORITE blog. I love your family updates included.
Thank you Ellen, yes shallots would work great! 🙂
Had everything in the house to make this for dinner except the kale. Going to substitute spring mix as I have a big Costco container of it. I have the dressing ready to go and its super yum! Thanks for the inspiration to eat more greens!
You are very welcome Joanne 😁. There is no need to marinate the salad if using spring mix. Let me know how it turns out 😁.
Hi,Natasha. Sure looks good. Kale is very healthy for you and if u have low irion it helps too. What if I don’t have pears,what other fruit will work?
Hi Olga, that is a great point about iron in kale! Thank you for sharing that with us! 🙂 You can use 2 apples instead and it will be just as delicious 🙂
This looks so healthy and delicious!
Thank you so much Sara! 🙂
First Comment! This lookes really healthy and delish! Will make this when I have a day off! Perfect for my lunch.
I hope you LOVE it!! 🙂 Thanks for the first comment! You’re awesome 🙂
Interesting dressing, oil to acid ratio exactly opposite from what you would normally expect. Kale has been doused and in the fridge since last night and I’ll be look forward to the end result tonight.
Bill