Kale Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

This kale salad with poppy seed dressing is inspired by the sweet kale salad kit from Costco. The earthy taste from the vegetables pairs well with the sweet and tangy poppy seed dressing. And all the textures are so satisfying! If you like crunchy salad, this one is for you!

It is a great salad to serve at a dinner party because the vegetables are so hearty that they won’t give way to wilting. Plus it is a gorgeous salad! If you want to make it in advance you can combine the salad ingredients together and simply mix the creamy dressing in with the salad when you are ready to serve it. 

Sometimes I like to make a batch as meal prep and eat it throughout the week with some soup or a sandwich. 

My favorite thing about this salad is the variety of veggies! It has kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, and purple cabbage. I always love finding delicious ways to get all the good stuff in, ya know? 

INGREDIENTS

Kale-I like to use curly kale and chop it up pretty small. You could also use dinosaur kale and it would still be a delicious salad! You could also use baby kale, but I haven’t personally tried it this way. 

Shredded Brussels Sprouts-My method of choice for this is usually a knife, mostly because I enjoy it. But if I am running short on time I will use a food processor to shred the Brussels sprouts. You can also use a mandoline or buy it pre-shredded. 

Broccoli Slaw-You can usually find pre-packaged broccoli slaw in the salad section at most grocery stores. The kind at my store doesn’t have purple cabbage so I usually add it in. You can also make your own broccoli slaw. All you need to do is julienne some carrots and broccoli stems, and shred some purple cabbage. And you can also add some of the broccoli heads if you like. 

Poppy Seed Dressing-The dressing is based on my vegan poppy seed dressing recipe. I used yogurt as the base of the salad dressing instead of cashews but you can make it either way. 

Pepitas (also known as pumpkin seeds) - These are delicious if they have been roasted and salted but I enjoy them raw as well. If you don’t have any pepitas you could also use sunflower seeds. 

Dried Cranberries - These are a star player in this salad! If you like you can look for some that are dried with apple juice instead of sugar.

HOW TO MAKE KALE SALAD WITH POPPY SEED DRESSING

Prep your veggies. This includes chopping your kale and shredding your Brussels sprouts. If you are making your broccoli slaw from scratch then julienne the broccoli and carrots and shred the red cabbage in equal amounts. 

Toss your salad ingredients together in a large bowl. 

In a separate small bowl, mix your dressing ingredients with a whisk. 

Pour a little dressing at a time over your salad and mix it in. Once you have reached your desired amount of dressing, you are ready to serve!

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TIPS

You can make this salad ahead of time. Mix the salad ingredients together and the dressing. Store the salad and dressing separately in the fridge and mix them together when you are ready to serve. 

If you have leftovers don’t worry, you can still store them. Because the veggies in the salad are so hearty, they can be stored for 1-2 days after being mixed with the dressing and still be delicious!

A great way to use the leftover dressing is to add it to other green salads or try it over a fruit salad! It will last 4.5 days in the fridge. 

FAQ

If you like salad, check out these other easy recipes!

Grapefruit Pomegranate Kale Salad

Orange Cranberry Brussels Sprouts Salad

Italian Pasta Salad

And if you like this homemade poppyseed dressing, check out these other homemade dressings!

Vegan Ranch Dressing

Tahini Chipotle Ranch