33 Kale Recipes

Fig and Kale Salad — The Spruce / Emily Hawkes

Kale is everyone's favorite leafy green. It's a nutritional powerhouse, packed with vitamins A and C, high in fiber, and it tastes great raw or cooked. And while it makes a great salad, there's more to kale than standing in for lettuce in a salad. These recipes show just how versatile kale can be.

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Kale Salad (With Variations)

PoppyB / Getty Images

This kale salad calls for Tuscan kale, also known as black or dinosaur kale. The simple recipe offers loads of variations, so you can make the recipe a number of different ways. If you find raw kale too tough, try massaging the chopped leaves with the dressing to tenderize the greens a bit.
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Lemon, Kale, and Lentil Soup

The Spruce

Filling yet light, lemon, kale, and lentil soup makes a delicious lunch or dinner paired with crusty bread and salad. If you're a meat eater, add extra flavor with crumbled, cooked spicy sausage.
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Green Pear Smoothie

The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

For a refreshing green smoothie, combine naturally sweet pear and banana with fresh ginger, kale, and almond milk. Add ice for a chilly treat.
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Vegan Kale and Basil Pesto

Westend61 / Getty Images

Add a little twist to your pesto by swapping out half of the fresh basil for kale. This kale pesto recipe is also vegan, using nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese. It still has all of the flavors you want from pesto and tastes great as a spread, sauce, or dip.

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Creamed Kale

The Spruce / Laura Agra

Any leafy green can be "creamed," and kale pairs deliciously with heavy cream, garlic, and parmesan. Creamed kale has a little more texture than the traditional, delicate spinach, and is the perfect companions to steak.
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Homemade Kale Chips

The Spruce

Kale chips tend to be high priced at the grocery store, but they're easy to make in your home oven. Crispy and airy, your whole family will love munching the healthy snack like popcorn.
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Raw Kale Salad With Grated Cheese and Lemon Dressing

The Spruce / Jennifer Meier

This simple raw kale salad is light and bright thanks to the lemon dressing, and is a crunchy accompaniment to most any meal. Make it a main dish for lunch by topping with grilled chicken and croutons or a few more veggies.
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Hamburger Soup With Black-Eyed Peas and Kale

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

Ground beef, black-eyed peas, tomatoes, corn, and kale come together to make a delicious hamburger soup. It's an ideal cold weather lunch, perfect for packing away and taking to work.

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Chicken, Kale, and Pasta Casserole With Cheese

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

Adding kale to a chicken and pasta casserole makes it a complete meal. You can even make the dish ahead of time, omitting the breadcrumb topping, and store it in the fridge for up to a day before baking. Add the topping just before baking to keep it crisp.
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Fig and Kale Salad

The Spruce / Emily Hawkes

This vibrant fig and kale salad is a summertime treat. Ripe, fresh figs add sweetness and texture to the light and crunchy dish. Arugula adds a peppery bite and avocado adds mild creaminess.
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Raw Food Green Kale Smoothie

The Spruce / Cara Cormack

Green smoothies are beloved for their vibrant color, good nutrition, and balance of flavor. This recipe combines raw kale with fresh herbs like mint and parsley and naturally sweet banana and orange juice for a real treat.
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Green Shakshuka

The Spruce / Anita Schecter

Use kale as the greens in the vibrant shakshuka recipe. Cooked with onions and garlic and topped with eggs, it's a healthy breakfast, brunch, or lunch dish. Serve with warm pita.

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Kale and Cabbage Slaw With Mustard Vinaigrette

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

This kale and cabbage salad is light and oh-so-crunchy. A simple mustard vinaigrette and a topping of walnuts give the dish lots of flavor. It's ideal served with anything off the grill and only takes minutes to toss together.
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Kale With Garlic and Peppers

StockFood / Getty Images

For a hot side dish, boil kale until tender and toss it with sautéed onion, peppers, and garlic. Vinegar adds a nice tang, and fresh tomato lightens everything up. Serve alongside fish or chicken.
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Blueberry Kale Smoothie

Cantavero Jr., Agostino P. / Getty Images

A simple combination of fresh kale, blueberries (fresh or frozen), and orange juice makes a simply delicious smoothie. Try it for breakfast or an afternoon snack.
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Collard Greens and Kale

The Spruce / Maxwell Cozzi

A quick stir fry of collard greens and kale makes a delicious side. Serve with any kind of meat and mashed potatoes, and add a splash of hot sauce for a bit of spice.

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Northern German Kale and Sausage (Grünkohl und Pinkel)

schlauschnacker / pixabay

Slow-cooked kale is flavored with bacon and topped with sausage for a classic German dish. The greens soak up all the flavors of the meat, making German kale and sausage delicious comfort food.
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Japanese Kale Kobachi

The Spruce / Judy Ung

Kobachi means "small bowl" in Japanese and is a common term for side dishes. Stir-fry dinosaur kale, olive oil, soy sauce, and mirin (Japanese sweet cooking sake) for a quick and tasty dish.
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Fruit and Kale Salad

The Spruce / Allyson Kramer

For a salad that's bright and fresh, combine raw kale, avocado, various fruits, tomato, and a coconut-lime dressing. A fruit and kale salad is ideal served alongside egg dishes at brunch.
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Dehydrated Kale Chips

The Spruce

Light and crispy kale chips are a guilt-free, addictive snack, and they're especially easy to make with a dehydrator. Add nutritional yeast for a cheesy umami boost, and a dash of cayenne pepper for a little heat.

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Crispy Quinoa With Kale

The Spruce / Jennifer Meier

This fragrant side dish is cooked much like fried rice, with the quinoa crisping in the pan after cooking. The kale adds a nice touch of green and textural contrast. Top the crispy quinoa with Parmesan or grated cheese of your choice.
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Sausage and Potato Soup With Kale

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

This creamy soup is basically a potato chowder with the addition of sausage and kale. It's a hearty meal in a bowl, perfect for cold winter nights. Frozen kale works just fine for this recipe.
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Kale Pesto

The Spruce / Katie Workman

Turn your pesto into something new by replacing the basil with kale. Use kale pesto to top pasta, toast, risotto, and more. It's a milder-flavored pesto—toss in a little basil for that familiar flavor.
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Lentils With Sweet Potatoes and Kale

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

Looking for a hearty side dish? Tender lentils, sweet potato, and kale is a simple and filling dish that goes well with a variety of meats and grains.

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Kale and Golden Beet Salad With Tahini-Lemon Dressing

Alanna Taylor Tobin / Getty Images

This kale salad is an explosion of flavor with roasted golden beets, raisins, walnuts, and a lemon-tahini dressing. To make it a main dish, try topping it with grilled or broiled fish.
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Kale and White Bean Soup With Spicy Sausage

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

Kale and white bean soup is a quick and easy one-bowl meal, especially when served with crusty bread. Andouille sausage adds plenty of flavor to the hearty dish.
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Raw Lemon Garlic Marinated Kale Salad

Lindsay Upson / Getty Images

If you need a bit of green for your dinner plate, this marinated kale salad only takes a few ingredients and is fresh and crunchy. Letting the kale marinate in the vinaigrette tenderizes the leaves while still tasting fresh.
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Ribollita, A Classic Tuscan Winter Soup

leonori / Getty Images

Ribollita is a traditional Tuscan soup of white beans, potatoes, beet greens, and kale. It's served with alternating layers of soup and day-old bread, turning it into a warming stew.

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Traditional Irish Colcannon

The Spruce

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish of mashed potatoes, cooked greens like kale, onions, and butter. It's delicious served with a stew, especially on St. Patrick's Day.
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Apple Kiwi Superpower Green Smoothie

The Spruce / Preethi Venkatram

Fresh apple, kiwi, kale, cilantro, and ginger make this green smoothie a tasty and flavor-filled drink. Use a sweet and flavorful apple for this recipe.
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Kale and Sweet Potato Soup

Ruth and Dave / Flickr

This simple kale and sweet potato soup is a nice light lunch, first course, or main dish. Swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth and pair it with crusty bread and a salad for a vegetarian dinner.
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Lentil Quinoa Bowl With Kale

The Spruce / Marian Blazes

Red quinoa has a fun texture and is high in protein. Paired with lentils and kale, this quinoa bowl is a nutritional powerhouse. Sun-dried tomatoes and a flavorful sauce make it a tasty meal.

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Oven-Baked "Cheese-y" Kale Chips

Redphotographer / Getty Images

These kale chips have a similar flavor profile to many store-bought varieties, but for a fraction of the price. Tahini, nutritional yeast, and apple cider vinegar give the greens a cheesy flavor without using actual cheese.