Massaged Kale Fennel Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Published 4/9/2018 • Updated 4/29/2024
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This massaged fennel and kale salad with lemon vinaigrette is the absolute perfect salad. All you have to do is massage your kale, chop your ingredients, and toss it with your vinaigrette! It is a great salad for meal prep throughout the week. Trust me, you’ll never look at kale the same way again!
Featured Comment
“Delightful mix of ingredients. We doubled the kale as we had a large apple and fennel bulb. We had to sub in macadamia nuts. Served it with air fryer chicken thighs. Great, healthy-ish dinner. I’m not usually a big fan of salad, but I had seconds of this one.” – Julie Bernard
We posted this massaged kale fennel salad before massaging your kale was cool 😎 But really, enough of the raw kale salads; it only takes a few minutes to massage your kale, and it tastes 100% better. This salad is one of our go-to salads when we are tasked to bring a salad to a get-together, this is what we bring.
First and foremost, don’t be scared of kale salad. Yes, it’s roughage, and it is very hard to enjoy raw. Once you mix it with a little oil and salt and give it a nice massage for 2-3 minutes, you’re golden. This massaged kale salad is going to seriously change your life.
What is in this kale fennel salad?
Let’s talk about everything that is in this salad. Fennel is the star of the show. If you aren’t familiar with fennel, it is part of the carrot family and you will most likely see it in the grocery store under the name ‘fennel bulb’. It looks kind of crazy, as it has a bulb, stalks, and flowery herbs at the top. Guess what, you can eat the whole dang thing and we definitely use every part of the fennel bulb in this salad!
Along with your fennel and kale, you’ve got apples, dried apricots, onion, cashews, and a super simple lemon vinaigrette! The key to this salad is chopping everything the same size! I love that this salad is not a bowl of lettuce with some toppings. This salad is a perfect mixture of crunchy, sweet, and savory with a nice tartness from the lemon vinaigrette. It’s as easy as 1-2-3.
Substitutions for Massaged Kale Salad
- Fennel Substitutes: If you can’t find fennel, you can use thinly sliced celery, radishes, cabbage, or shredded carrots for a similar flavor and crunch.
- Kale substitutions: If you don’t have kale, you can use arugula instead.
- Apple Substitutes: If you don’t have apples, pears or chopped grapes would be good substitutes.
- Goat Cheese Substitutes: If you don’t like goat cheese, you can use crumbled feta cheese, ricotta cheese, or even a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese.
- Lemon Vinaigrette Substitutes: If you don’t have the ingredients for the lemon vinaigrette, you can use a simple olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing or a store-bought Italian vinaigrette.
- Apricot Substitutions: If you don’t have apricots, use raisins.
FAQ
Massaging kale is easy! All you have to do is drizzle your kale with an oil of your choice (we use olive oil) and sprinkle your kale with a pinch of salt. Then, you massage the kale with your hands for 2-3 minutes until your kale breaks down. You’ll know when it’s done because it will be smaller and easier to eat.
After you remove the kale stock from your kale, you can prepare your kale salad in many different ways. Two favorite ways to prepare kale are to massage the kale or saute the kale. We rarely eat kale raw.
YES, kale salad is delicious!
Yes, raw kale can be good for you. Life is all about balance, and you need to listen to your body. With that in mind, you should never eat too much of anything all the time. If raw kale makes your stomach hurt, don’t eat it! If you get sick from eating kale, you should chat with a doctor.
Does this salad keep well in the fridge?
Yes! It should keep for around 2-3 days, but we recommend eating it fresh for the best texture and flavor.
Serving Suggestions
- Easy Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe
- Baked Lemon Chicken
- Juicy Pan Seared Chicken Breast
- Seared Beef Tenderloin Roast
- Tender Instant Pot Pulled Pork
- Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder
Massaged Kale and Fennel Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Salad
- 4 cups kale, chopped
- 1 fennel bulb, sliced (~1 cup)
- 3 fennel stalks, chopped
- 1/4 cup fennel fronds, chopped
- 1 apple, finely sliced
- 1/2 purple onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
- 1/2 cup cashews, chopped
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese*
Lemon Vinegarette
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons dill, chopped
- 2.5 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 tablespoon honey, or 1 depending on sweetness level
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prepare your salad dressing by adding all of the lemon vinegarette ingredients into a mason jar. Tightly close the jar and shake it until all ingredients are well combined. Set aside.
- Next, place chopped kale into a large bowl and drizzle two tablespoons of dressing onto the kale. Massage the kale with your hands for 2-3 minutes. When kale is ready it will have reduced by half and will be soft, rather than tough.
- Add the rest of your salad ingredients to the kale and toss salad. Add your dressing and mix until all salad ingredients are coated in dressing.
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Love the fennel! Never know what to add it to but this was great!
That is a Linley classic 😀 Glad you loved this!
Good recipe. Could do without all the yappity yap. Just the recipe, please.
LOL to you.
In the picture it looks like there are chopped apples…am I making that up? 😂 Thanks!
It calls for 1 apple and you can cut it however you want!
Loved this salad and the dressing!
I cannot day enough about this recipe!! It is honestly the most delicious combination of flavors and textures I could dream of being able to create in my own kitchen. I’m allergic to nuts so I use pumpkin seeds instead of cashews. And I’m a big fan of the goat cheese so I encourage it if it fits into your diet. Thank you for this game-changing salad!
This looks like such a fresh and vibrant salad! Beets, kale, fennel, cashews, and red onions are my favorite salad toppings. I never forget to add lots of lemon juice and chili flakes on top as well!
YES! Beets, you just can’t go wrong! I’ve actually never sprinkled chili flakes on my salads. Adding it to the list!
When meal prepping, do you add all ingredients and actually dress the salad? I’m all about meal prep and getting all my lunches ready on Sunday! I curious how much of the salad can be done ahead of time. Thanks!
Hi Jasmine! The beautiful thing about kale is that it keeps a bit longer than other greens. This salad lasts for about 3 days in the fridge before it starts to go limp!
This will probably stay good for 2 to 3 days. So it all depends on how many people you’re serving! I like to eat it dressed as fresh as possible!
Looking amazing! I will definitely try to cook this dish
I’m sure you mean well and I loved the recipe, but I legitimately don’t have time or even care about your massage history. Nothing irritates me more than looking up a recipe and having to sift through endless paragraphs of nonesense.
Find a way to jump to recipe and I would follow your amazing tips! They are well thought and relevant.
HI Gina! Thank you for your feedback. Next time, feel free to go right to the recipe by clicking “jump to the recipe” right below our post title! Let me know if you need help locating it. Thanks!
Yum, Lind! The dried apricots sold me.
*Lin (there ain’t no d in your name)
Ha! Yes, apricots are my jam! AND my name would be kinda cool with a d in it!