Vegan Kale Salad with Maple Balsamic Dressing

Fall is the perfect time to enjoy leafy green salads packed with seasonal vegetables. This vegan kale salad is one of my favorites – it's easy to make, flavorful, and healthy. The recipe calls for crunchy apples, cranberries, and toasted pecans, making it a delicious and nutritious way to fuel your autumn adventures. Give it a try!

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This fall kale salad is the perfect addition to your holiday nut roast, and pairs very well with heavier main dishes like a sweet potato apple crunch, a vegetable casserole, and gluten-free cornbread, and cornbread stuffing.

We always make big salads, and keep them dressing-free, so we can keep any leftovers in the refrigerator and add more fresh veggies when we are ready to eat them. Then we simply add this homemade salad dressing like our herby balsamic vinaigrette directly to the serving plates.

Jump to:

• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🍶 Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🥡 Storage
• 💡Top tip
• 🥬 More kale recipes
• 📋 Recipe
• 🌡️ Food safety
• 💬 Reviews and Comments

🧾 Ingredients

This kale spinach salad calls for staple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.

For the Maple Balsamic vinaigrette:

• extra virgin olive oil
• freshly squeezed lemon juice
• pure maple syrup
• Dijon mustard
• apple cider vinegar
• balsamic vinegar
• garlic powder

For the Kale Spinach Salad:

• raw kale, stripped of any thick stems
• baby spinach
• red apple
• Raw pecans
• dried cranberries

Optional: extra-firm tofu to make a complete meal instead of a side dish. You can also have it with a grilled tofu marinade or crispy tofu cubes.

🔪 Instructions

To make this kale crunch salad recipe, start by toasting the measuring your ingredients.

Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste, although not necessary.

Hint: save two tablespoons of the dressing if you plan to grill the extra firm tofu for your meal. Add it to the skillet on medium-high heat and stir-fry for two minutes on each side until lightly brown.

🍶 Substitutions

One of the beauties of this salad is its versatility; here are some proven and tried substitutions.

• Curly kale - instead of chopped kale, use lacinato kale (dinosaur kale) or other leafy greens such as chopped Swiss Chard, shredded green cabbage, red cabbage, or even shredded Brussels sprouts.
• Pecans - use walnuts, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), slivered almonds, or toasted almonds. You can also use brown sugar candied nuts.
• Dried cranberries - instead, you can use dried cherries, raisins, or sultanas.
• Red apple - use any kind of apples, strawberries, pears, or fresh peaches.
• Mustard - replace for dijon mustard to make an apple dijon dressing.
• Garlic powder - use one minced fresh garlic instead.
• Lemon juice - feel free to replace it with lime juice to make this citrus balsamic vinaigrette.
• Maple syrup - instead, you can use agave syrup, homemade date paste, or vegan honey (affiliate link).

📖 Variations

• Spicy - add cayenne pepper to the dressing to imbue heat into the vinaigrette, red chili flakes, or more freshly ground pepper.
• Extra flavor - add a slice of finely chopped red onion or shallot to the dressing, just like we do on our go-to homemade vinaigrette.
• Deluxe - add avocado slices, gluten-free croutons, or crispy onions.
• More antioxidants - add freshly shredded avocado, flax, sesame, or sunflower seeds.
• Orange balsamic dressing - use the juice of half an orange instead of lemon.
• Basil balsamic vinaigrette - add a teaspoon of dried basil or vegan basil pesto.

To make this crunch kale salad nut-free, avoid adding pecan nuts or any other nuts to your salad bowl.

🍽 Equipment

For this balsamic maple dressing, we find it super helpful to use a lemon press (affiliate link) whenever we use lemon or lime juice in a recipe.

If you have this kale crunch salad with tofu, make sure you use a non-stick skillet for the best results.

🥡 Storage

This fall kale salad is best consumed fresh since the kale and spinach will wilt after coming in contact with the maple mustard dressing.

Also, the toasted pecans will become mushy after a couple of hours.

Store this maple balsamic vinaigrette recipe leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for no more than two days.

If you plan to make this salad ahead for your Fall Holidays, Thanksgiving, or Christmas Holidays, we recommend making the dressing before and adding it to the salad a couple of minutes before serving.

The maple vinaigrette ingredients and salad recipes generally don't stand up well to freezing.

🥬 More kale recipes

Kale is a big deal; it is considered a superfood, given its vast benefits, so we try to use this friend in as many recipes as possible, such as our simple green juice, post-workout smoothie, and making crispy kale as a healthy snack.

We even make kale pesto or a strawberry dressing to toss into our pasta, vegan poke bowls, or tofu scramble.

If you try this kale apple cranberry salad, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don't forget to tag a photo #ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!

📋 Recipe

🌡️ Food safety

We sometimes take for granted that we have years (or decades) of cooking experience that the average visitor may not. Add to, or remove from, the list below with health and safety tips.

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.