• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • meet the team
  • blogger resources
  • Contact Me
My Account
Member Dashboard
40 Aprons Premium (Ad Free!)

40 Aprons

Delicious, Healthy-ish Meals for the Whole Family

  • All Recipes
  • Most Popular
    • Cheryl’s Favorite Recipes
    • 30-Minute Recipes
    • Creamy Soups
    • Copycat Recipes
    • Casseroles
    • One-Dish Wonders
  • Method
    • Air Fryer
    • Baking
    • Crockpot
    • Grilling
    • Instant Pot
    • Sous Vide
  • Course
    • Appetizers
    • Cooking Basics
    • Breakfast
    • Condiments
    • Dips & Salsas
    • Dessert
    • Main Course
    • Meal Prep
    • Salads
    • Side Dishes
    • Soups
  • Cuisine
    • American
    • Asian
    • Indian
    • Italian
    • Mediterranean
    • Mexican & Latin
    • Southern
Home Blog Cuisine American

Kale Salad with Cranberries

Cheryl Malik
Cheryl Malik Posted: 11/22/14 Updated: 09/12/23
5
/5
27 Comments
Jump to Recipe
GF Gluten Free V Vegan VG Vegetarian

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

A bright and light raw kale salad tossed in a lemony honey vinaigrette and dotted with sweet, tart dried cranberries. The perfect side dish for a heavy holiday feast!Do you have a Whole Foods near you? Like…dangerously close? Walking distance?

Because if you do, you probably spend approximately $50 a week on their prepared foods. O and I can pretty much always agree on their buffet bar as a quick and relatively healthy lunch or weeknight dinner out, and O has this impressive obsession with their chicken-fried tofu nuggets… oh, and we may or may not have bought our house based on its proximity to Whole Foods (leaning towards “may not”, but it was certainly a draw..)

A bright and light raw kale salad tossed in a lemony honey vinaigrette and dotted with sweet, tart dried cranberries. The perfect side dish for a heavy holiday feast!One of the dishes we always, always load up on is their raw kale salad with cranberries. It’s light and bright but packed nutritionally, and the sweet, tart cranberries balance the bitter, earthy kale beautifully.

So this year, planning Thanksgiving and knowing I can stray a bit from the typical menu without a total revolt from my family, I had planned on making a creamed kale. You might remember this from my Thanksgiving menu! I wasn’t totally sure how I’d make yet another hot dish on the big day, but figured it’d be a nice, actual vegetable option for the more balanced of my guests. And then it hit me.. the Whole Foods kale salad with cranberries!

A bright and light raw kale salad tossed in a lemony honey vinaigrette and dotted with sweet, tart dried cranberries. The perfect side dish for a heavy holiday feast!This kale salad is perfect for Thanksgiving because you can make it one or two days in advance and keep it in the frigo, just waiting to be set out on the table when it comes time. The raw kale is such a glorious treat next to the super heavy key players on Thanksgiving, and the cranberries are not only a beautifully vibrant pop of color and flavor, but a sweet seasonal addition that echoes your traditional cranberry sauce (with rosemary!) perfectly.

A bright and light raw kale salad tossed in a lemony honey vinaigrette and dotted with sweet, tart dried cranberries. The perfect side dish for a heavy holiday feast!Even my dear mother asked, a few weeks ago, what my menu would be, and I mentioned the cream kale. “Oh,” she added. “…”, she concluded. But when I told her I was making the switch to the raw kale salad with cranberries, she was far more enthused. “I’ll actually eat that!”, she said. Good to know, ma. Good to know.

So make this for Thanksgiving, make it for Christmas Eve, make it for Christmas Day. It’s so easy, it’s make-ahead, and it’s the perfect side dish at these feasts, both gustatorily and nutritionally!

Hey – you’ve made it this far, so now we’re basically best friends! If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a quick review & star rating ★ below. Make sure you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Facebook, too!

A bright and light raw kale salad tossed in a lemony honey vinaigrette and dotted with sweet, tart dried cranberries. The perfect side dish for a heavy holiday feast!
5 from 7 votes

Kale Salad with Cranberries

Prep:10 minutes minutes
Total:10 minutes minutes
A bright and light raw kale salad tossed in a lemony honey vinaigrette and dotted with sweet, tart dried cranberries. The perfect side dish for a heavy holiday feast!
Print Save Saved! Click Here to Remove Ads
8 people

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch organic curly kale
  • 1 whole juice of one lemon
  • 3 tablespoons good olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons raw local honey
  • 1 teaspoon salt , to taste
  • ⅓ cup dried cranberries
  • pine nuts or chopped walnuts , optional, to taste

Instructions 

  • Rip the leaves of the kale from the stems and tear into bite-sized pieces, Place in a large bowl.
  • Make your dressing: whisk together the juice of one lemon, 3 tablespoons good olive oil, 2 teaspoons raw local honey, and salt, to taste. Pour about half over your kale and, with your hands, massage into the leaves until they're a bit wilted (they will look a little less curly but will taste a lot better and will be easier to digest). Add a bit more dressing at a time, to taste, then toss cranberries and nuts, if using. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 8g, Calories: 76kcal, Protein: 1g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 292mg, Potassium: 15mg, Total Carbs: 6g, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 5g, Net Carbs: 5g, Vitamin A: 185IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 3mg, Iron: 1mg

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

 

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

 

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

© Author: Cheryl Malik

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @40aprons on social and be sure to leave a review on the blog post!

Rate Recipe Tag Me on Instagram
Cheryl Malik

Meet Cheryl Malik

Cheryl Malik is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind the healthy, flavorful, family friendly recipes at 40 Aprons. She's been a blogger for 10+ years and is known for her delicious recipes and detailed recipe instructions. Cheryl is a mom of three who lives in Memphis, TN.

Read more...

You may also like...

  • A white bowl containing lemon-garlic kale salad with blackberries
    Lemon-Garlic Kale Salad with Blackberries
  • A white bowl containing lemon-garlic kale salad with blackberries
    Lemon-Garlic Kale Salad with Blackberries
  • A white bowl containing lemon-garlic kale salad with blackberries
    Lemon-Garlic Kale Salad with Blackberries

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Have a question? Submit your question or comment below.

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Missy says

    Posted on 7/29/21 at 3:12 pm

    I used to buy the kale salad from Whole Foods all of the time. I have always wanted to try to make it myself and finally did today with your help! It is delicious!!! Thank you so much!5 stars

    Reply
    • Anna Claire | 40 Aprons TeamAnna Claire | 40 Aprons Team says

      Posted on 7/31/21 at 4:30 pm

      These kind of comments make our day! So glad you checked this kale salad off your list.5 stars

      Reply
  2. Emily Dunlap says

    Posted on 10/13/20 at 3:56 pm

    A Tbsp of Kale?? That seems wrong.

    Reply
    • Cheryl MalikCheryl Malik says

      Posted on 10/19/20 at 11:17 am

      Definitely wrong, thanks for catching! We had my old recipes transferred to our newer recipe cards and some of the measurements got messed up. It’s fixed now!5 stars

      Reply
  3. Samantha says

    Posted on 3/5/20 at 3:52 pm

    OMG I’ve been eating the raw kale salad for years at Whole Foods and always bragging about it! As of late though, they’ve used Dino kale which totally changes it (and sometimes too much of one of the ingredients) so basically it has been inconsistent. BUT YOUR RECIPE IS SPOT ON! I’m so excited (if you can’t tell lol!). Thank you for sharing this! Now I’m ready to research what other recipes you have 😉5 stars

    Reply
    • Cheryl MalikCheryl Malik says

      Posted on 3/6/20 at 11:24 am

      Yay, I’m so glad you loved it!

      Reply
  4. Mary Anne says

    Posted on 11/3/19 at 3:37 pm

    I am not a kale fan but always trying to find ways to include in my diet. This salad is amazing good! I pretty much polished it off myself at one sitting and will def make again this week for lunch at work. Love how it can be prepared in advance and sit in the fridge and still tastes like you just made it.5 stars

    Reply
Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

What’s Popular?

A casserole dish, angled on a table, filled with banana stuffed french toast casserole topped with strawberries.

Tonga Toast French Toast Casserole

Overhead view of a cast-iron skillet filled with cream cheese sausage dip surrounded by tortilla chip scoops.

3-Ingredient Sausage Dip (Stovetop or Crockpot)

Top-down view of a large bowl, lined with parchment paper, holding several orange-sauced buffalo chicken wings.

Boneless Chicken Wings

Overhead view of one bowl and one partial bowl of cajun chicken pasta soup on a wooden table.

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta Soup

In Season

Zoomed out photo of two mimosas glasses holding apple cider mimosas rimmed with brown sugar cinnamon sitting in front of a bowl of apples.

Apple Cider Mimosas

Two slices of Whole30 meatloaf plated with green beans and mashed potatoes on a grey-blue plate with silverware on a table.

Whole30 Meatloaf

Close-up, angled view of soft and fluffy air fryer pizza on a white plate.

Air Fryer Pizza

close up image of king ranch casserole being lifted out of the baking dish

Cheesy King Ranch Casserole

As seen on:

More Goodies + NO Ads!

Become a 40 Aprons Premium Member!

All the 40 Aprons content you love - now even better.

  • Member-Exclusive Recipes
  • Meal Plans & Grocery Lists
  • eBooks
  • NO ADS!
Join now

Privacy Policy

Accessibility

Disclaimers

Contact

© 2023 40 Aprons
Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled
Back to Top
60 shares