Farro Salad with Kale and Butternut Squash
Published 11/21/2022 • Updated 11/5/2024
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Make this farro salad with kale and butternut squash for a healthy, delicious dinner that’s made with whole grains and tons of veggies.
This yummy kale salad is nutrient-packed and vegetarian and one of the best high-protein vegetarian meals out there.
Farro Salad with Kale and Butternut Squash
Get ready for the fall kale salad of your dreams ladies and gents. This hubba hubba massaged kale salad is made with roasted butternut squash, roasted chickpeas, yummy farro, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, and all of the goat cheese you could ever imagine.
why you’ll love this farro salad
- It’s a whole meal, not just a salad.
- The flavors are amazing.
- You get so many textures in one salad.
- This farro salad is packed with nutrients.
Featured Ingredients
- farro: whole grain, vegan, and high-fiber
- pumpkin seeds: great texture and healthy fats
- dried cherries: whole food, no-added-sugar, all-natural sweetness
- goat cheese: super creamy and healthy fats
- butternut squash: creamy, flavorful, and a great fall vegetable.
If you’d like to keep this meal vegan, no worries! You can substitute the goat cheese for vegan cheese or no cheese at all. Easy peasy.
how to
massage kale
Never skip the step of massaging your kale before tossing it in this farro salad. Trust us.
How to Roast Butternut Squash
Let’s chat about all things butternut squash. Butternut squash is a super intimidating vegetable (actually fruit!). Since it has seeds, it’s actually considered a fruit (WHATTT?). It’s just so large and hard and difficult to cut. So? What does that mean for you? No fear! We actually have an excellent, in-depth guide that teaches you…
- how to cut butternut squash
- how to cook butternut squash
What I’m trying to say is, if you are also intimidated by butternut squash like I once was, it’s not so bad. You just need to give it a little extra TLC in order to make it scrumptious and perfect for this kale salad.
Kale Salad Dressing
The last thing you need for this vegetarian meal is an easy kale salad dressing! Since there are already so many amazing parts of this salad, we wanted to keep things pretty simple.
- olive oil
- red onion
- garlic
- dijon
- maple syrup
- balsamic vinegar
- lemon
If you would like to mix things up and make a different dressing, check out all of our dressings. We have lots of different options.
how to
roast butternut squash
Dig into how to prepare butternut squash for many different recipes.
FAQ
This farro salad is made with massaged kale, butternut squash, pepitas, goat cheese, and a balsamic dressing.
Yes, you can eat farro cold or warm.
For this recipe, we peel the butternut squash before we cook it. However, you can cook butternut squash with the skin on.
This salad would be delicious with other roasted vegetables like sweet potato, asparagus, green beans, or carrots. Feel free to get creative and add whatever ingredients you’d like.
Storage
Store this salad in an air-tight container for up to 7 days. Generally, we would not recommend dressing the salad before storing it in the refrigerator, but his salad keeps well with the dressing.
Farro Salad with Kale and Butternut Squash
Ingredients
Butternut Squash + Garbanzo Beans
Farro
- 1 cup farro, rinsed
- 2 cups broth or water
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Squash + Garbanzo Beans
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Peel and chop your butternut squash using this tutorial.
- Then, place chopped squash on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss. Place in the oven and bake at 375ºF for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and add garbanzo beans to the pan. Toss to make sure garbanzo beans are coated with olive oil and spices.
- Place back in the oven at 375ºF and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Once cooked, remove from oven and set aside.
Farro
- While squash and beans are baking, bring broth to a boil over high heat and then add farro to the broth.
- Lower heat to low and cover. Let farro simmer for 20-30 minutes or until farro has expanded and become al dente.
- Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and set aside.
Dressing
- Heat a medium skillet over medium/high heat. Add olive oil.
- When olive oil is fragrant add onion and garlic. Let saute in olive oil for 1-2 minutes.
- Turn heat to low heat and let olive oil, garlic, and onion simmer for 10-15 minutes. Then remove from heat and let cool.
- Add all ingredients for the dressing into a mason jar, close tightly, and shake until all ingredients are combined.
Salad
- Add chopped kale to a large mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. Massage kale with your hands for 2-4 minutes to break down the kale until it becomes tender.
- Prepare salad by adding the rest of the salad ingredients to the kale along with the butternut squash mixture and farro.
- Top with salad dressing, toss, and enjoy!
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Great recipe; love the textures and flavors, but farro is not gluten free!
Hi! I think this looks scrumptious! However, I am wondering if barley would work instead of the farro? Thanks so much!
Delicious and healthy! I substituted dried cranberries for dried cherries. Going to make this again!
SO GOOD, right?!
I just made a version of this salad. It was delightful. The dressing is nice and the ingredients all compliment each other well, even subbing feta for goat.
Made it without the cheese, absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Thank you for the recipe!
Woohoo! Glad you loved it!
Hi lovely,
Salad sounds amazing and beautiful photos! But, I just wanted to mention that farro is not gluten free xx
Just made this as work lunch meal prep for the week, and added sliced oven-roasted chicken breast for more protein. I haven’t tasted it all together yet but the individual ingredients are delicious- and the carmelized onion/garlic dressing is ridiculous. I’ll be using that dressing recipe for other salads. Thanks!
I love love love this recipe!
I love the idea of kale and butternut squash. Do you think cauliflower rice could be a good sub for the farro?
Hi! You could totally try to use cauliflower rice. It’ll have a different bite, but definitely lower cal!
So I’ve never cooked with butternut squash, goat cheese, or farro… lol. Maybe this will be the recipe that changes all that 😀 finally catching up on FFF!!
WOHHHHHHH Leigh Leigh.
I saw farro on the menu at a restaurant the other day and thought it was a herb- spastic here. This looks epic dude, and the goat cheese and butternut? Winner.