Kale salad recipe with butternut squash, cranberries, pomegranate, pumpkin seeds, and feta, tossed in a simple balsamic dressing. This kale salad is festive, delicious, and healthy.
Best way to brighten your holiday table is with this big bowl of kale salad recipe. It’s made with roasted butternut squash, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, feta, and balsamic dressing.
It has the perfect blend of crunch, sweetness, and acidity. Basically everything you want in a good kale salad recipe.
Plus you can easily prepare the butternut squash and the salad dressing few days in advance. See extra tips below.
Ingredients for Kale Salad Recipe
- Butternut squash
- Kale
- Pomegranate seeds
- Cranberries – dried
- Pumpkin seeds
- Feta cheese
- Balsamic vinegar
- Honey
- Dijon mustard
- Olive oil
How to Make Kale Salad – Step by Step
First, roast your butternut squash by pre-heating the oven to 450 degrees F. Toss the butternut squash with few generous tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Spread onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and roast for 25-30 minutes or until golden tender. Cool slightly.
While the butternut squash is roasting, prepare the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Next, you’ll want to prepare the kale for the salad.
How to Prepare Kale for a Salad
In a large bowl, toss kale with half of the dressing. You want just enough dressing to lightly coat the leaves. Using your hands massage the dressing evenly into the kale. It helps break down the toughness of the leaves.
Last step of the salad is to transfer the kale to a serving bowl and combine with butternut squash, pomegranate seeds, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and feta cheese.
Drizzle with more dressing as needed. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Extra Tips for Making Kale Salad
- Chop the butternut squash into even pieces and do not crowd the baking sheet, to ensure that the squash evenly roasts.
- Take your time massaging the kale with the dressing. It helps break down the toughness of the kale leaves, resulting in a more tender tasting salad.
- To save on prep time, there are few things you can do. First look for pre-chopped butternut squash, pre-chopped kale, and separated pomegranate seeds. All of those can be found in the produce section of a grocery store. Also, roasted pumpkin seeds is something you can purchase instead of roasting them yourself.
- To make ahead: roast the butternut squash, cool, transfer to a container with a lid, and refrigerate up to 1 day in advance. The salad dressing can also be prepared few days in advance and stored refrigerated.
More Kale Salad Recipes You Might Like
Chopped Kale Salad with Peanut-Chili Vinaigrette
Kale, Avocado, and Grapefruit Salad
If you try Kale Salad with Butternut Squash, don’t forget to leave feedback and a rating.
Kale Salad Recipe with Butternut Squash and Cranberries
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chop
- Cuisine: American
Description
Kale salad recipe with butternut squash, cranberries, pomegranate, pumpkin seeds, and feta, tossed in a simple balsamic dressing. This kale salad is festive, delicious, and healthy.
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 4 cups butternut squash, chopped into about 1-inch pieces
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 10 cups chopped curly kale, leafy parts only, no stems
- 1 cup pomegranate arils (seeds)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
- 4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Balsamic Dressing
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. honey or pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl, toss butternut squash with two generous tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Spread onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and roast for 25-30 minutes or until golden tender. Cool slightly.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- In a large bowl, toss kale with half of the dressing. Using your hands massage the dressing evenly into the kale. It helps break down the toughness of the leaves.
- Transfer the kale to a serving bowl and combine with butternut squash, pomegranate seeds, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and feta cheese. Drizzle with more dressing as needed. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Notes
- To save on prep time, there are few things you can do. First look for pre-chopped butternut squash, pre-chopped kale, and separated pomegranate seeds. All of those can be found in the produce section of a grocery store. Also, roasted pumpkin seeds is something you can purchase instead of roasting them yourself.
- To make ahead: roast the butternut squash, cool, transfer to a container with a lid, and refrigerate up to 1 day in advance. The salad dressing can also be prepared few days in advance and stored refrigerated.
Keywords: kale salad recipe, kale salad with cranberries, kale salad dressing
Lewis Johnson says
Delicious salad.
Katya says
Thank you! I appreciate it.