This easy vegan kale salad recipe is packed with tasty, nutritious ingredients. It features a mouth-watering miso and tahini dressing made with orange juice. Together, these flavors create a truly irresistible and satisfying salad.
Make this recipe as a side dish or main meal. It’s also great to meal prep and take for work or school lunches.
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Vegan Kale Salad Ingredients
This simple recipe uses just a few basic ingredients. Since it’s a salad, use whatever vegetables you like, but I can’t get enough of this salad with the veggie combination below!
- Miso-tahini dressing: To start, you’ll need to prepare a batch of my miso-tahini dressing recipe. This creamy dressing has a great umami flavor balanced by sweet orange juice and creamy tahini!
- Kale: Since this is a kale salad recipe, you’ll need a bunch of kale to create the base. Raw kale isn’t always that appealing but I’ve included all my best tips (below) for how to prepare raw kale into something you’ll enjoy and want more of.
- Carrots: Carrots are a delicious vegetable and one I regularly keep on hand. Their bright orange color adds a nice contrast to the dark green kale which makes the salad look better but also packs in a great balance of nutrients. Use pretty much any other vegetable you like in place of the carrots in this recipe if you prefer.
- Edamame: I love adding edamame to just about anything for plant- based protein and satiating healthy fats. By adding edamame to this salad, you’ll take it from a “side salad” to something you can eat as a meal.
- Oranges: Since the dressing features orange juice, I thought adding small bits of orange to the salad would be a nice touch. Adding fruit to salad is a great way to add natural sweetness and healthy carbohydrates. Other fruits could work in place of the oranges.
- Green onion: There’s no onion flavor in my miso dressing so I add thinly sliced green directly to the salad instead. Green onions provide a mild flavor, perfect for eating raw. Any other type of onion could work but will create a stronger, sharper flavor.
- Slivered almonds: To round out the salad and give a great crunch, I love adding slivered almonds. Almost any other type of nut or seed could work instead (except for chia or flax seed).
How to Make this Vegan Kale Salad
This salad is easy to make and doesn’t take long, even when preparing the dressing from scratch. Read my tips below for preparing raw kale in the best way possible!
Step 1: Make Orange-Tahini Dressing
This dressing is simple to make. If you’d like full instructions on how to make it, check out my post for orange-tahini dressing!
You just need to whisk or blend all the ingredients together!
Step 2: Prep Salad Ingredients
Next, prepare your salad ingredients, starting with the kale.
Raw kale can be very tough, chewy and unpleasant to eat. It’s never my first-choice leafy green salad unless I prepare it in a specific way.
After washing your kale, rip leaves off the stems and discard the stems. Slice the kale leaves very, very thinly. The smaller the pieces, the easier and more pleasant it’ll be to chew.
Once all your kale is thinly sliced, place it into a large bowl.
Next, massage the kale. This may sound strange, but you’ll notice the kale turns from a dull green color to a vibrant green when you do this. Massaging raw kale makes it tender enough to truly enjoy; otherwise, it may remain tough and chewy.
After the kale is prepped, peel and grate some carrots. Thinly slice the green onion too.
Cut the peels off your oranges, then chop the fruit into bite sized pieces.
Finally, cook the edamame. I use frozen edamame that I cook in the microwave, but you can also cook it in a small pot on the stove (follow package directions).
Step 3: Toss Salad and Serve
When the salad ingredients and dressing are prepared, toss it all together. You can serve the salad right away.
It also tastes great after “marinating” for an hour or two. Letting the kale rest in a salty dressing helps to further tenderize it.
This means the salad will be best after an hour or so. It also means this is a great salad to meal prep because kale holds up well for a day or two even when coated in dressing.
How to Create a Balanced Vegan Meal
I consider a balanced meal one that contains a good source of plant-based protein, carbohydrates, fats and lots of vegetables or fruits.
This recipe has it all! The edamame, tahini dressing and almonds provide a good amount of plant-based protein and healthy fats.
There’s a great combination of colorful vegetables and some fruit too. The oranges offer healthy carbs, although I consider this a lower-carb recipe as there are no grains or starchy vegetables.
Lower carb meals work for some people, but if you want that extra boost of energy, consider adding a cooked grain, cooked sweet potato or serving alongside some whole grain bread.
This salad is quite satisfying, satiating and makes for a great side dish or main meal.
How to Store Leftover Kale Salad
Refrigerate leftover salad in an airtight container for up to 5 days (it’s best if eaten within 3 days of making).
If you want the salad to last for a full week, store the salad separate from the dressing. Toss the salad with dressing within a day or two of when you’ll eat it.
If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Kale Salad (with Orange-Tahini Dressing)
Ingredients
Salad
- 3 ½ cups kale , packed (about 1 bunch, 105 g)
- 1 cup shelled edamame , cooked (180 g)
- ¾ cup carrot , grated (75 g)
- ¾ cup oranges , peeled and chopped, 2 oranges (130 g)
- ½ cup green onion , thinly sliced (45 g)
- ½ cup slivered almonds (70 g)
Dressing
- ½ cup orange juice , fresh, about 2 large oranges (125 mL/ 115 g)
- 1 tablespoon miso paste (white type) (15 mL/ 22 g)
- ⅓ cup tahini (80 mL/ 90 g)
- 1-2 cloves garlic , pressed or finely minced
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (10 mL)
- salt (to taste)
- water (to thin as needed)
Instructions
Step 1: Make Orange-Tahini Dressing
- Prepare a batch of orange tahini dressing by adding all dressing ingredients to a jar and shake (with a lid secured) or whisk together.½ cup orange juice, 1 tablespoon miso paste, ⅓ cup tahini, 1-2 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, salt, water
Step 2: Prep Salad Ingredients
- Prepare kale by washing it and ripping leaves off the stems.3 ½ cups kale
- Thinly slice the kale and place it into a large bowl. Massage the kale leaves until they turn from a dull green to a bright green color.
- Cook shelled edamame according to package directions, then refrigerate to cool while preparing the rest of the salad.1 cup shelled edamame
- Peel and grate carrots.¾ cup carrot
- Cut peels off oranges, then chop into bite-sized pieces.¾ cup oranges
- Thinly slice green onions.½ cup green onion
- Add edamame, carrot, oranges, green onion and slivered almonds to the prepped kale.½ cup slivered almonds
Step 3: Toss Salad and Serve
- Pour dressing over the kale and other vegetables.
- Toss to combine.
- Serve cold.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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About Nicole Stevens
Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out.
She helps people thrive on a vegan diet with balanced recipes and easy-to-understand nutrition science.
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