Simple Kale Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette and Italian Croutons
This simple kale salad is the perfect vehicle for creative toppings, homemade croutons, and can be used as a side dish or as sandwich filling! I love to make a bunch of it and eat on it throughout the week.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Total Time15 minutesmins
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Keyword: best kale salad recipe, easy kale recipe, kale salad
Servings: 4Serving
Calories: 251kcal
Ingredients
For the croutons:
2teaspoonsunsalted butter
1tablespoonextra virgin olive oil
4slicesdryold bread (I typically use 5-7 day old French, wheat, or sourdough), cut into ½’’ cubes
1teaspoondried Italian seasoning
½teaspooncoarse ground Kosher salt
For the salad:
7cupsof green kaleabout 2 bunches, washed, stems removed, and torn into bite-sized pieces (I cheat and buy the bag of pre-chopped kale and just pick the little stem pieces out)
3tablespoonsfreshly squeezed lemon juice
1tablespoonreduced sodium soy sauce
¼cupextra virgin olive oil
¼cupfreshly grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly cracked black pepperto taste
Instructions
Making the croutons:
Place a medium-size skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the butter and olive oil. When the butter has melted, add the bread cubes and toss to coat them.
Toast the bread in the pan for 2-3 minutes before stirring. Toast an additional 3 minutes until the cubes are golden brown and crunchy. Remove from heat and sprinkle with Italian seasoning and salt. Set aside until you are ready to serve the salad (do not make more than 1 hour before serving the salad).
For the salad
Place the kale in a large serving bowl or a large airtight container that you plan to store it in.
In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, soy sauce, and olive oil by stirring slightly with a whisk. Pour the entire mixture over the kale leaves.
Using clean hands, massage the liquid into the kale leaves, rubbing the leaves between your fingers. Do this for 2-3 minutes. The kale will become a little darker in color, shrink in volume by about ?, and have a nice sheen to it. Place in the refrigerator until ready to serve and up to 2 days for use on salads, sandwiches, pizza, etc.
When ready to serve, top with Parmesan cheese and croutons. Serve right away.