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Strawberry kale salad is the perfect summer salad! When fresh strawberries are at their peak, pair them with this honey poppy seed salad dressing massaged kale, feta cheese, and pistachios for a healthy salad everyone will rave about! A delicious 5 ingredient simple salad that allows summer produce to shine.
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Strawberry kale salad
With the temperatures rising, I’ve found myself making this strawberry salad recipe on repeat. The flavor combo is just SO good!
Sweet strawberries and pistachios are a match made in heaven. Definitely use salted pistachios to get that sweet and salty situation going on.
Once you add in the feta cheese with the sweet massaged kale, and you are left with one flavorful salad!
You may think that just 5 ingredients wouldn’t make a delicious salad that gives you such an extra summery feel, but it does!
Serve as a side salad, or add grilled chicken, baked salmon, or barbecued shrimp onto it and make it a main dish.
Can you prep this salad in advance?
I’m a big fan of prepping what I can ahead, and here’s how you can prep this healthy salad ahead of time.
Make the honey poppy seed dressing recipe up to 1 week in advance.
Chop the fresh kale, slice the strawberries and chop the pistachios. If the feta that you purchase is not already crumbled, go ahead and crumble that too and store in an airtight container.
Once you have everything prepped, the salad comes together in minutes.
While you can massage the kale with the dressing up to 3 days ahead of time, I wouldn’t add the strawberries, pistachios and feta cheese until right before you serve the salad.
The pistachios will get a softer texture, instead of a great crunch after a day, and the juicy strawberries stay more fresh when you add them in right before serving.
Helpful Article: How to prep and store fresh strawberries to make them last longer
What you need for strawberry kale salad
- fresh curly kale
- honey poppy seed dressing
- sliced strawberries
- feta cheese
- pistachios
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions.
- On a large cutting board, chop the kale into small pieces and place kale into a large bowl. Add the dressing and with clean hands, massage the kale until softened.
- Add the remaining ingredients in, and toss to combine. You can add more dressing if you’d like. Serve into a small bowl for a side dish, or onto a plate for a great salad as a main with your favorite protein on top.
Watch me make strawberry kale salad
The full how to video can be watched below or on my YouTube channel!
More fun additions to this fresh salad
If you have more fresh produce around and want to add some extra additions to this, go for it! Healthy eating doesn’t mean you have to stick with only what’s listed.
There is so much fresh produce to add into summer salads, go ahead and use what you have!
Here are some good ideas that would go well in this salad:
- herbs like fresh mint and fresh basil
- creamy avocado diced into bite-size pieces
- other fresh berries like raspberries and blueberries
- onions like red onion, green onion, chives, or shallot
Substitutions
Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this strawberry kale salad recipe.
If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!
Curly kale – Lacinato kale, or baby kale will make a good kale salad if you’re looking for a curly chopped kale substitute. For a non-kale option, try spinach or other tender greens in place of the tough green kale.
Feta cheese – You can substitute goat cheese or cojita for the creamy feta cheese. For a bolder flavor, try blue cheese crumbles.
Pistachios – Try chopping raw almonds, pecans, walnuts for the perfect amount of crunch. You could also opt for seeds like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or even hemp seeds.
Poppy seed dressing – A super simple substitute is olive oil and lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. You could use a balsamic vinaigrette too. The salad will not have the sweet aspect if you use one of those options, unless you add a touch of maple syrup or agave nectar, but it will still be delicious.
More kale salad recipes you’ll love
Strawberry Kale Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 bunch fresh curly kale
- 1/4 cup honey poppy seed dressing recipe
- 1.5 cups strawberries, sliced
- 1/4 cup pistachios
- 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- On a large cutting board, chop the kale into small pieces and place kale into a large bowl. Add the dressing and with clean hands, massage the kale until softened.
- Add the remaining ingredients in, and toss to combine. You can add more dressing if you’d like. Serve into a small bowl for a side dish, or onto a plate for a great salad as a main with your favorite protein on top.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you try this delicious strawberry kale salad recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
