Entrees
Salad
Harvest Kale Salad
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Why you’ll love this recipe
- Harvest Kale Salad comes together in just about 20 minutes.
- It’s made with simple ingredients and is full of flavor.
- A salad that will actually leave you feeling full and satisfied.
- Great recipe to enjoy for lunch or dinner.
- The kale is massaged with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper making it soft and tender.
- The perfect recipe for holiday’s or dinner parties.
- It’s topped with a homemade honey mustard dressing.
- Check out this Peach and Goat Cheese Salad for another great fall inspired recipe.

Ingredients and Substitutions
These are the main ingredients and substitutions for Harvest Kale Salad. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this page for a full list of ingredients and instructions.
In order to make kale taste amazing, you absolutely must massage it with extra virgin olive oil and a touch of salt and pepper. This softens the leaves making them really tender and edible.
Sweet potato adds some heartiness to this salad without adding too much savory flavor. You can use any type of sweet potato you prefer such as a orange, yellow or Japanese.
Use a red apple for best results, I prefer honey crisp because they are crisp, sweet and full of sweet flavor. Any red apple will work in replace, using a green apple will add more of a tart/tangy flavor.
Pecans are crunchy and have a lovely sweet and buttery flavor, you can also use walnuts instead.
Use red grapes instead of green for a sweeter flavor.
Dried cranberries add a great chewy texture to this salad while bringing out those Fall flavors.
I personally love using goat cheese because it’s creamy, sweet but not overpowering. In replace I’d recommend ricotta, feta or blue cheese.
I love adding on a touch of hemp hearts (seeds) as you don’t taste them, but instead it adds a great source of healthy fats like omega-3 and 6’s.
The dressing is made with a blend of extra virgin olive oil, dijon mustard, Manuka honey, red wine vinegar and lemon juice.

How To Make
ONE: Start by peeling and dicing the sweet potatoes into bite sized pieces. Then, add them into an air fryer basket and lightly coat with non-stick spray or your favorite cooking oil. Season with salt and pepper and give it a good toss before air frying at 350F for 20 minutes, shaking halfway through.


TWO: When ready, add the kale to a large bowl with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Then, with your hands, massage the leaves for roughly 30 seconds or until they are soft and tender.

THREE: Assemble the rest of your salad with thinly sliced apples, halved red grapes, dried cranberries, pecan halves, hemp hearts and goat cheese.

FOUR: To make the dressing, add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour over salad and enjoy!

Tips and Tricks
It’s so important to massage the kale leaves! This is going to make them really soft and tender and taste amazing! Otherwise, you will have a very tough and hard kale leaf.
Air fry the sweet potatoes before starting on the rest of the salad.
Only massage the kale that you’re planning to enjoy right away, otherwise it will get soggy.
Thinly slice the red apples so they are crisp and delicate.
How to serve and store
Serve this Harvest Kale Salad as is with a glass of red or white wine. Feel free to add on your favorite protein as well, I would recommend a grilled chicken.
This salad is best served immediately. Leftovers won’t last. You can however store all the toppings separately and then massage the kale leaves when you are ready to enjoy.
Taste and Texture
This Fall Harvest Kale Salad is full of flavor! It’s crisp, crunchy and jam packed with bursting juices from the grapes and honey crisp apples.
The texture of the kale leaves are soft and tender, and then you have a few different textures from the juicy grapes to the tender sweet potatoes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes totally! They save great in the fridge for 4-5 days.
No, I wouldn’t recommend meal prepping this salad. The massaged kale leave will get soggy after storing them in the fridge.
Totally! I’d recommend grilled chicken.
Other recipes you may like:
- Peach and Goat Cheese Salad
- Vegan Kale Caesar Salad
- Buffalo Chickpea Caesar Salad
- Panera Bread Greek Goddess Salad
- Carrot Cucumber Salad
If you make this Harvest Kale Salad, I would really appreciate a comment and rating down below, under the recipe card. Don’t forget to take a picture and tag me over on Instagram, Tiktok or Pinterest!
This was seriously delicious!! Thank you for making me give salads a chance again. This will be in my weekly rotation for sure.
Hi Chantelle! I’m so happy to hear that. I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for leaving a comment and rating!