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!
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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.
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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
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- 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
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.
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.
Add everything to a bowl: Add the kale, berries, clementines, cashews and feta to a large bowl. Drizzle on some of the dressing.
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.
Kale berry citrus salad FAQs
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.
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.
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.
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.
More fruity summer salad recipes
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If you make this recipe, please leave a review and rating below to let me know what you think. If you have a question, drop that below too!
📖 Recipe
Kale Berry Citrus Salad
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- ½ cup fresh raspberries
- ½ cup (120 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup (85 g) honey
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped red onion
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
For the salad:
- 8 cups chopped curly kale
- ¾ cup fresh raspberries
- ¾ cup fresh strawberries, halved
- ¾ cup fresh blueberries
- 2 clementines, peeled and separated
- ½ cup roasted, salted cashews
- ½ cup crumbled feta
Instructions
- 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.
- Prepare 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.
- Assemble the salad: Add the kale, berries, clementines, cashews and feta to a large serving bowl. Drizzle on some of the dressing and gently toss to combine. Add more dressing, if desired.
Notes
- Massage kale. 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.
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Enter your email address and I'll send it straight to your inbox. You'll also receive new recipes from me regularly!
Nutrition Facts per Serving
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is an estimate only and will vary depending on the substitutions made and the brands used.
Did you make this recipe or have any questions?
I love reading your comments and addressing your questions, so please leave your comments and ratings or questions below!
Alia @ Everyday Easy Eats says
Oooo Leanne your Berry Citrus Kale Salad is so lovely! And sounds so tasty, especially with that Raspberry Vinaigrette! Great recipe and photos, I wish I could have a big bowl of this salad for lunch tomorrow!!
Leanne says
Thanks Alia! You're too sweet! This salad has been on repeat in my house for weeks. And I've lost count of how many batches of the vinaigrette I've made. Have a great week!
Deepika|TheLoveOfCakes says
Your salad looks too pretty to eat!! I love that sweet, pink raspberry maple dressing! I could eat salad for lunch everyday, if only it looked so beautiful!
Leanne says
Thanks Deepika! You're too sweet! This salad and the dressing are so easy to whip up. Perfect for weekday lunches!
Stefanija says
never tried berries in kale salad, I am so exited to try it. And that dressing sounds so refreshing and delicious. Your photos are so beautiful as well
Leanne says
Thanks Stefanija! You will love berries with kale! It's a great combo! And the raspberry dressing pairs really well with all the berries. Be sure to let me know if you try it!
Jaclyn says
I love this challenge and how it is all about adding things in rather than restricting! This raspberry vinaigrette looks simply beautiful and I love love love a good kale salad too. Thanks for sharing this, definitely will be trying it soon 🙂
Leanne says
Thanks Jaclyn! I'm definitely not interested in food restrictions. It's all about balance for me! I'm really enjoying kale salads lately, and this vinaigrette has been going on all of them! I hope you get a chance to try it. If you do, be sure to let me know what you think.
marcie says
I love the sound of your challenge and it sounded like you did a good job sticking to it! I love peanut butter toast with banana or jam for breakfast a lot too, so greens at breakfast would be hard sometimes! This salad is SO pretty and is making me miss berry season. This salad makes clean eating easy!
Leanne says
Thanks Marcie! This salad definitely made clean eating easy for me this week! And I'm with you. I totally miss berry season too. Looking forward to the return of locally grown berries this summer!
Christie says
This salad is just sooo pretty and I love the gorgeous pink dressing!
Leanne says
Thanks Christie! I have to admit, it is a lovely pink colour! Perfect for Valentine's Day perhaps! 😉
Neha says
I love all these berries more than anything in my smoothies, over my greek yogurt etc. But incorporating all these berries together in a salad with that wonderful pink dressing on top! Why didn't I think this early. Lovely recipe and such a vibrant salad. 🙂
Leanne says
Thanks Neha! All the berries definitely give this salad some colour. It's brightened up my lunches all week!
Helene says
Love the citrus and delicious dressing idea!
Leanne says
Thanks Helene! Can't beat homemade salad dressings!!
heather (delicious not gorgeous) says
i love putting fruit in my salads!! it feels like such a treat (; i'm that person who gets the salad from chickfila because i like the granola and fruit that they put in.
Leanne says
I totally agree Heather. Lots of fruit and nuts with a sprinkling of cheese makes any salad seem like a treat! Love the idea of granola on salad. Definitely need to try that some time! 😉
Cortney says
Never thought about how easy it is to make your own vinegarette! Looks delicious!
Leanne says
Thanks Cortney! Homemade vinaigrette is super easy and uses minimal ingredients. Once you start making your own, you won't want to buy it again!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
I can live on salads, especially of they look this good! This is almost too pretty to eat, but you know that's not gonna happen, lol. Cara cara oranges are my absolute favourite! Love how easy they are to peel and how juicy they are. And that dressing sounds like the perfect pairing with this salad. Love it!
Leanne says
Thanks Dawn! I can live on salads too! They're just so versatile and filling, and perfect for lunches or suppers. Glad you agree on the Cara Cara oranges. They are just so good!! 😉
Ashika | Gardening Foodie says
This is such a beautiful salad Leanne, so absolutely full of flavour and goodness and I love the rasberry vinaigrette drizzle, it looks amazing 🙂
Leanne says
Thanks Ashika! The raspberry vinaigrette is great with this salad!
Katherine | Love In My Oven says
Your body must be so grateful for all the greens you’ve been incorporating!! I love salad (a lot) and I am a bit of a berry addict. I think this looks incredible Leanne!!
Leanne says
Thanks Katherine! Definitely glad I stuck with the challenge (for the most part!). It definitely forced me to think outside the box in terms of adding 'greens' to meals! Salads will always be my go-to!!
Stacey @ The Sugar Coated Cottage says
I love a good salad, in fact I have one everyday for lunch! This one is special and so is that dressing. I love those berries! Pinned. Take care.
Leanne says
I eat a lot of salads too! This one is definitely a change from my usual mix, but I'm loving all the berries these days. Reminds me of summer! Enjoy the rest of your week Stacey!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen says
I love salads too and I think the only thing that could make me love them more is a beautiful pink salad dressing to drizzle over the top :). This looks SO DANG GOOD, Leanne! You can't go wrong with berries and kale!
Leanne says
Thanks!! You're so right Kelsie. Berries and kale are such a great combo! And I've been adding this salad dressing to all my salads lately!