Kale Berry Citrus Salad

↓ Jump to Recipe

Enjoy all the summer berries in this Kale Berry Citrus Salad! It's made with a base of hearty kale, topped with sweet strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and clementines along with salty cashews and briny feta. Then, it's all tossed with a creamy, vibrant and tangy raspberry poppy seed dressing. It's the perfect summer salad to serve on the side with my jalapeno turkey burgers or this air fryer salmon recipe!

Salad in a large bowl with serving spoons and extra toppings and dressing surrounding the bowl.

Want to save this recipe for later?

Enter your email address and I'll send it straight to your inbox. You'll also receive new recipes from me regularly!

Quick Look: Kale Berry Citrus Salad

⏱ Total Time: 20 minutes
🥬 Servings: 6 side salads
⚡ Calories: 367 per serving
🍽 Diet: gluten-free
🔥 Flavor/texture: sweet and salty flavor with juicy berries, creamy feta and crunchy cashews.
👌 Difficulty: easy (but a blender is needed for the dressing).
❤️ Why you'll love: it's a great way to enjoy summer berries and has an irresistible sweet and salty combo.

SUMMARIZE & SAVE THIS CONTENT ON

Add us as a trusted site on Google

Sweet and salty perfection

This recipe was originally published in January 2018! I haven't made it in a few years because, when it comes to summer salads filled with fruit, this stone fruit salad is usually on repeat.

But, since I updated my strawberry kale salad, and added crispy bacon to the recipe, I couldn't get the sweet and salty combo out of my head!

So, I revisited my kale berry citrus salad and made a few tweaks. The original recipe was heavy on sweet berry flavor, but with the addition of crunchy, roasted cashews and briny, tangy feta, it now has the most delicious contrast of taste and texture!

For added texture, you can also throw in some of these crispy air fryer chickpeas or homemade sourdough croutons.

Table of Contents

Quick Look: Kale Berry Citrus Salad
Sweet and salty perfection
Ingredient notes and substitutions
How to make kale berry citrus salad
Expert tips
Kale berry citrus salad FAQs
More fruity summer salad recipes
📖 Recipe

Ingredient notes and substitutions

Ingredients to make kale berry citrus salad arranged individually and labeled.

Kale: I used 8 cups of chopped curly kale for this recipe. You can buy pre-packaged chopped kale, which is what I did here because it's such a time saver. Or, you can buy a bunch of kale leaves and chop them yourself (just be sure to remove the tough stems).
Berries: I used a mix of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. You can use any combination you like. Blackberries would also be a good addition.
Clementines: To add a pop of citrus, I added two clementines to the mix of fresh berries. Clementines are easy to peel and separate and have small slices, perfect for this salad. Feel free to use another type of mandarin orange if you prefer.
Cashews: With all the sweet berries, the salad definitely needed a hit of savory, as well as some added crunch. While I always have raw cashews on hand for my dairy-free chipotle sauce, I decided to pick up a jar of salted, roasted cashews. Honestly, they were the perfect addition to this salad!
Feta: Adds creaminess but also some salty, tangy flavor. You can substitute with goat cheese or blue cheese if you like. (Blue cheese pairs nicely with berries like in my blueberry spinach salad).
Raspberry poppy seed dressing: It's a simple blend of raspberries, extra virgin olive oil, honey, red wine vinegar, red onion, salt and poppy seeds. To build on the citrus flavor in the salad, you can substitute with my orange poppy seed dressing, which is a similar recipe, but made with clementines.

How to make kale berry citrus salad

Raspberry dressing ingredients blended together in a blender cup.

Make the dressing: Add the raspberries, oil, honey, vinegar, red onion and salt to a blender and blend on high until smooth. Stir in the poppy seeds.

Chopped, massaged kale in a large glass bowl.

Massage the kale: Add the chopped kale to a large bowl with a sprinkle of salt. Massage the kale with your fingers until tender and slightly wilted.

Salad ingredients added to a large serving bowl in sections with the dressing being poured over.

Add everything to a bowl: Add the kale, berries, clementines, cashews and feta to a large bowl. Drizzle on some of the dressing.

Salad tossed together with wooden tongs and jar of dressing on the side.

Toss together: Gently toss until combined. Add more dressing to suite your taste.

Expert tips

Massage the kale. Please don't skip this step! As curly kale is tough and chewy, you need to massage it before adding it to a salad to make it tender.
Use a blender. To achieve a smooth and emulsified texture for the dressing, you'll need to use a blender. I just use the small smoothie cup blender I have, but you can also use a full size blender.
Gently toss together. Raspberries can be a bit delicate, so once I add the dressing, I toss everything together carefully as to not break apart the raspberries.
Extra dressing. I prefer to have too much dressing than not enough, so the recipe makes a lot. Just use as much as you like, and store the rest in the fridge for another salad.

Close up of dressing on top of the kale berry salad ingredients.

Kale berry citrus salad FAQs

What's the best type of kale to use for this salad?

For this salad, curly kale or lacinato kale work best. They're the most common types and hold up well to heavy toppings and dressings. You can use baby kale but the leaves are small and tender and I find they don't hold up as well in salads like this.

Can you make this berry citrus salad ahead of time?

Yes! You can prepare the ingredients a day in advance and store separately in the fridge. Just chop and massage the kale, prep the berries and make the dressing. You can even peel and separate the clementines. The dressing will set up a bit in the fridge, but just let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes and stir well before using. Just before serving, combine the prepped ingredients with the cashews and feta and toss with the dressing.

How long will this kale berry salad last?

Once tossed with the dressing, it's best to enjoy this salad within a few hours. While the kale and most other salad ingredients hold up for a few days in the fridge once mixed with the dressing, the cashews will soften and lose their crunch.

What can you serve with this salad to make it a complete meal?

If you want to enjoy it as an entree salad, you can just add a protein like my air fryer chicken cutlets or breaded salmon bites. As a side salad, try it with my air fryer breaded chicken burgers or air fryer tilapia.