Delight in the flavors of the season with our Harvest Kale Apple Salad. This vibrant and wholesome 25-minute salad features crisp kale and apples, creamy goat cheese, sweet dried cherries, crunchy pecans, and savory bacon.
This salad is a fall favorite, while Honey Lime Fruit Salad is a summer favorite!
Nothing says fall quite like an apple picking adventure! Enjoying produce at its peak is really the only way to do it.
Whether or not you pick your own, honey crisp apples are the star in this harvest salad recipe. This bright, crisp salad is the perfect pairing for a hearty fall meal such as Braised Beef Short Rib or Chicken Pot Pie Casserole or at the Thanksgiving dinner table!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Harvest Kale Apple Salad is ready in just 25 minutes!
- This salad can be enjoyed as a side dish or main meal.
- You can prep some ingredients in advance (see FAQs below) so that you can toss this together while the main meal cooks in the oven.
- Homemade dressing has so much more flavor than a bottle on the shelf! Try the strawberry dressing from Strawberry Summer Salad.
Recipe Ingredients
- Salad Base: I like to mix curly kale, baby kale and baby spinach together. The flavors mesh well and also help those "kale cautious" be able to dive in and take a bite.
- Apples: Honey crisp apples have a sweet taste paired with a tart crisp bite, and we are aiming for lots of different textures in this dish! I use honey crisp apples in Apple Pie Stuffed Cheesecake too.
- Cheese: Creamy goat cheese with the bite of Romano cheese is a great combo here. I prefer buying a block of Romano cheese to to shred or shave myself.
- Toppings: Candied pecans, dried cherries, and pomegranate arils all add their own texture in this apple kale salad. Buy good quality dried cherries and find the pomegranate seeds in a cup, ready-to-go in the produce aisle of most grocery stores.
- Dressing: I created a fig mustard vinaigrette that coats all parts of the salad well, but doesn't have an overpowering taste.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Play around with your jam options. No fig on hand? Plum preserves, cherry jam or orange marmalade would work well.
- Grilled chicken or turkey bacon could work if you don't consumer pork.
- Other crisp apple options are Pink Lady, SweeTango, Granny Smith and Rave. Check a picking schedule at a local orchard to know what's currently in season. If you have extra, try a Dutch Apple Pie!
- I like kale because it is sturdy for the wealth of ingredients we are adding on top, but if you just don't enjoy it, feel free to use a mix of greens instead.
- Other dressing options include a homemade honey mustard dressing from peach burrata salad or a balsamic vinaigrette. Try swapping balsamic vinegar for the apple cider vinegar!
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
How To Make Kale Apple Salad
Step 1: Add all dressing ingredients to the bowl of a food processor.
Step 2: Process so there are no large chunks then slowly drizzle in olive oil with food processor on low speed.
Step 3: Coat pecans in syrup, pumpkin spice, and cayenne and bake. Cool.
Step 4: Toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl, and add dressing and toss again.
Stay on the fall theme and mix up Bourbon Apple Cider Cocktails for your guests to sip on while they mingle. Don't forget to finish out the apple theme with an Apple Pie Stuffed Cheesecake as an absolute show stopper of a dessert!
Expert Cooking Tips
- Cook the bacon until crisp so that it crumbles nicely. Bacon can be a nice addition to Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad too!
- Not sure you love raw kale? Give it a massage with a little of the dressing before tossing everything else in. This will help soften it some.
- Watch the pecans carefully in the oven, because the sugar can quickly burn. Use up the rest of those pecans in a Pecan Upside Down Cake!
Recipe FAQs
I don't recommend storing leftovers of this baby kale salad recipe as they will quickly turn soggy under the dressing and the wet toppings. However, the salad is still perfectly safe the next day as your own leftovers. Just don't make the dressed salad in advance for guests!
You can make many of the parts ahead of time! Go ahead and bake the pecans and cook the bacon the day before. Purchase pomegranate arils instead of whole fruit. You can also mix the dressing up to five days ahead and store in the fridge. Save the apple slices and dressing the salad until just before serving.
If you can manage it, don't slice the apples until just before dressing and serving the salad. This will allow the apples to taste and look their best. Use a diluted lemon juice to dip the apples in if slicing them more than 20 minutes before serving. This will slow down the browning and won't give them too much of a lemony taste. This is the same method I use for this Arugula Pear Salad recipe!
Yes, this super food can be eaten raw in salad or any other application such as smoothie or as a topping. Kale is frequently eaten cooked as well as raw, while baby kale is almost always eaten raw.
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📖Recipe
Harvest Kale Apple Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Salad
- ½ cup pecans
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 6 slices thick cut bacon
- 3 cups kale shredded
- 3 cups baby kale & spinach mix
- 2 honey crisp apples thinly sliced
- ½ cup dried cherries
- 4 oz goat cheese crumbled
- 2 oz pecorino shaved
- ¼ cup red onion thinly sliced
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
Fig Vinaigrette
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- ¼ cup fig preserves
- 1½ teaspoon fresh thyme stemmed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅔ cup olive oil
Instructions
Candied Pecans
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a sheet tray with parchment paper
- Toss pecans, maple syrup, brown sugar, pumpkin spice seasoning, salt and cayenne pepper in a medium mixing bowl then place on prepared sheet tray and bake 5-8 minutes. Watch carefully as the pecans can burn. Remove and set aside to cool
Kale Salad
- Cook bacon in a large skillet to desired doneness, remove from pain and allow to drain and cool on a paper towel lined plate
- Toss remaining ingredients together in a large salad bowl, top with bacon and dress with vinaigrette before serving
Krista
Crunchy, sweet, and tangy. This salad is quick, easy and delicious!
Sam
Great salad! Helps keep me on my diet goals!