Tuscan Kale Salad filled with lots of savoury, light and fresh Italian flavours has so much goodness in every bite! It’s a healthy and crowd pleasing Italian-style salad perfect for lunch or entertaining.
This easy chopped kale salad with an Italian twist is the best salad recipe. It’s hearty, full of vitamins, antioxidants and fibre. Kale salad features fresh ingredients like chopped lacinato kale, protein rich chickpeas, red peppers, carrots and red onions. The salad is drizzled with a simple lemon dressing with garlic and thyme, then finished with Parmesan cheese petals and pine nuts. Clearly everything in this kale salad recipe is meant to be together.
Lacinato kale (also know as dinosaur or Tuscan kale) is a superfood. Eating raw kale, as in this easy Tuscan kale salad, is a tasty way to add more plants to your diet and to stay on a healthy track. Give this hearty vegetarian salad a chance; it’s so delicious and will turn anyone into a kale lover! Enjoy this best kale salad with your family and guests as a main entrée, as a side or for lunch.
Why You’ll Love This Tuscan Kale Salad Recipe
- Healthy - Packed with plenty of low calorie nutrient-dense ingredients that are good for you.
- Good for Many Diets - Naturally vegetarian and gluten free and can be made vegan and nut free.
- Quick and Easy – Assembles fast with zero cooking required.
- Meal Prep Friendly – Can be made ahead and assembled when needed.
- Stores Well - Robust enough to stay crisp and crunchy for hours even after it’s tossed together.
Ingredients Needed to Make Kale Salad
(Ingredient amounts are listed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post).
- Garlic – Infuses the vinaigrette with sharp garlic flavour.
- Lemon – Gives the vinaigrette a nice zing.
- Dijon Mustard – Helps emulsify the vinaigrette and adds sharpness.
- Salt, Pepper – To season the vinaigrette.
- Thyme – Ideally use fresh to season the vinaigrette, but dried thyme works too.
- Olive Oil – A little to massage the kale and the rest brings the vinaigrette together.
- Lacinato / Dinosaur / Tuscan Kale – You will need at least two bunches.
- Chickpeas – Adds lots of substance and protein.
- Red Bell Pepper – Adds nutrition, crisp freshness and colour.
- Carrots – Adds nutrition, flavour and colour.
- Red Onion – Adds some sharp flavour.
- Parmesan Cheese – Shaved into petals and adds a nice salty, nutty flavour.
- Pine Nuts – Toasted lightly which adds a little crunch and buttery texture.
How to Make Chopped Kale Salad With Parmesan
- Make the garlic-infused lemon dressing by whisking together garlic, lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil.
- Wash and dry the kale leaves, strip the tough stems, chop or tear the leaves into approximately 1” pieces and add them to a large bowl. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil and gently massage the kale with your fingers.
- Add chickpeas, red peppers, carrots and red onion and toss to combine with the kale.
- Pour in the lemon vinaigrette and toss to combine. Top with Parmesan cheese petals and toasted pine nuts and toss again lightly. This can be done 30 minutes before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
When looking for Tuscan kale it goes by many names; lacinato kale, dinosaur kale, Italian kale, black kale and cavolo nero. They are all the same!
Tuscan (lacinato or dinosaur) kale has longer spear-like leaves with a pebbled appearance and darker green colour than regular kale. It’s also sweeter and more tender than regular curly kale. The two kales are often interchangeable in many recipes. Lacinato kale is a traditional ingredient in classic Italian dishes both raw and cooked and is definitely an awesome choice for this Tuscan kale chopped salad.
Whether you are using lacinato kale or curly kale, the process is the same. First wash and dry the kale. De- stem the kale as the stalks are tough and not edible. Hold one piece at a time by the bottom stem with one hand. Start at the bottom of each stem, run your middle finger and thumb of the other hand up along the stem to tear off the leaves. Alternatively, you can run the tip of a knife along the stalks to remove the leaves. Chop or tear the leaves into roughly 1” pieces, or smaller if you wish.
Yes. Massaging kale after it has been cut helps break down its tough texture and reduces the bitterness by releasing the bitter compounds. It’s simple to tenderize chopped kale and transform it into a super tender and delicious salad green by drizzling it with some olive oil and gently massaging it with your fingers.
Absolutely! Kale can be eaten raw and Tuscan kale in particular is less bitter than the curly variety making it ideal to use in this Tuscan kale chopped salad. The benefit of using raw massaged kale is that it retains its vitamins, minerals and nutrients which typically escape during cooking.
Simply take of chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano and grate petals with a vegetable peeler or for small petals grate the cheese on the large holes of a box grater.
Make Ahead and Storage Tips for Tuscan Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing
- Make Ahead: Make the lemon garlic vinaigrette up to 3 days ahead. Prepare all other ingredients early in the day or one day ahead; massage the kale, chop the vegetables, drain the chickpeas, toast the pine nuts and shave the cheese. Pack all components separately and store in the refrigerator. Bring the vinaigrette to room temperature before using. Assemble the salad when needed.
- Store: Leftover kale salad that has been tossed with the dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days. The kale and other ingredients in the salad hold up well to the lemony vinaigrette. The texture will change slightly but the salad will still be just as nutritious and delicious.
Recipe Variations
- Change up the Greens: Use curly kale instead of lacinato / dinosaur /Tuscan kale.
- Try different nuts: Replace pine nuts with sliced almonds or chopped pecans.
- Make it nut free: For a nut free salad use pumpkin seeds instead.
- Make it vegan: For a vegan salad replace Parmesan with nutritional yeast which has a naturally cheesy and nutty flavour.
More green salads to try:
Mixed Greens Orange Salad with Goat Cheese
Recipe
Tuscan Kale Salad
A healthy, crowd pleasing Italian-style Tuscan kale salad featuring chopped lacinato kale, chickpeas, peppers, carrots and red onions. It’s finished with Parmesan cheese petals, pine nuts and a simple garlic lemon dressing.
Ingredients
Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette
- 2 small garlic cloves crushed
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ cup olive oil
Salad Ingredients
- 1 bunch lacinato / dinosaur / Tuscan kale
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 540 ml tin chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 2 medium red bell peppers diced
- 2 medium carrots shredded on the large holes of a box grater
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese petals see recipe note 5 below
- ⅓ cup pine nuts see recipe note 6 below
Instructions
Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette
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In a small bowl or in a jar, add the garlic, lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil. Whisk well or shake well if using a jar. Set aside at room temperature.
Salad Ingredients and Assembly
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Wash and dry the kale completely. Strip leaves from the tough stems of the kale and chop or tear the leaves into roughly small 1” pieces to get 6 packed cups. Place the kale leaves in a large bowl and add 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Gently massage the kale with your fingers. Let the massaged kale sit for 10 – 15 minutes while preparing the other ingredients. This will tenderize the kale and improve the flavour.
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Add chickpeas, red peppers, carrots and red onion to the massaged kale and toss to combine. The salad can be made ahead to this point then dressed and garnished when ready to serve.
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About 30 minutes before serving, pour in the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Add the Parmesan petals and toasted pine nuts and toss again very lightly.
Recipe Notes
- Lacinato / dinosaur / Tuscan kale are all the same type of kale just with different names.
- Strip the thick stems from the kale leaves before chopping or tearing it.
- Massage the kale gently – do not over massage or the leaves will become limp.
- Bring the lemon vinaigrette to room temperature before using and toss the salad about 30 minutes before serving.
- Make Parmesan petals with a chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano by grating it with a vegetable peeler or on the large holes of a box grater.
- Toast pine nuts in a small skillet over medium high heat while tossing, just until lightly golden then
immediately transfer nuts to a plate to cool.
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