Make your own version of the popular 10 minute Chick Fil A kale salad recipe, aka superfood salad at home. It's easy, flavorful, single serving, and there are endless simple toppings that taste so delicious!
[This recipe was originally posted in March 2022. It has been updated with cooking instructions, expert tips, FAQ, related recipes and ways to repurpose/use up ingredients]
First of all, making your own Chick Fil A kale salad recipe at home is the only option since it's no longer available. So there's that. And making it at home is so much less expensive! That tiny side salad was pricy.
Second of all, I often (do you too?) think that the only way to make a good salad is to chop lots of vegetables, make a complicated dressing, and top it with lots of toppings.
This salad doesn't require lots of chopping or a complicated dressing. Here's what you need:
- 2 vegetables to chop
- Pantry staples for the dressing + a lemon
- Dried cherries and nuts
- Or substitute with lots of delicious options.
And the best part, as somewhat said in The Good Place, "There's this great sandwich in America, but if you buy it, it means you hate gay people."
So here's to making your own side from that sandwich restaurant and butchering great TV lines.
Ingredients
Scroll down to the Chick Fil A kale salad recipe recipe card for the amounts of each ingredient, but here's a quick visual + description of what's in this recipe.
- Kale: Well massaged kale adds lots of texture to this Chick Fil A kale salad recipe
- Broccoli: There's broccolini in the original salad, but this is less expensive, easier to find, and just as delicious. Stick with regular broccoli if you'd like.
- Dried Cherries: You can use regular dried sweet cherries or dried tart cherries.
- Cashews: Lots of nuts or seeds would be good on this salad, but cashews are salty with a creamy crunchy texture.
- Lemon Juice/Zest: This combination adds lots of bright flavor, the zest especially
- Olive Oil: Good quality olive oil adds nice flavor to this dressing
- Maple Syrup: It adds a nice sweet flavor with fall maple flavor
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Adds an apple tart flavor
- Dijon Mustard: Helps blend the dressing together and add a sharp peppery flavor.
Instructions
Scroll down to the Chick Fil A kale salad recipe card for more detailed instructions. Here's a quick overview + photos to see how to make this recipe in general.
1. Wash kale, then remove kale leaves by holding the stalk and gently running your fingers along the stalk, slicing between the leaves and stalk.
2. Massage kale by rubbing leaves between your hands, until they soften up. This step is a must. Chop.
3. Chop broccoli into bite sized pieces. Transfer both kale and broccoli to serving bowl.
4. Whisk together the vinaigrette dressing ingredients: olive oil, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, lemon zest, lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
5. Dress and toss your Chick Fil A kale salad recipe about 10-15 minutes before serving, if possible. It'll help the flavors meld and smooth out the bitterness of the kale.
6. Add dried cherries and salted cashews to this Chick Fil A kale salad recipe right before serving.
Storage Tips
You can store this Chick Fil A kale salad recipe in an airtight container for a day or two, I recommend adding the nuts and dried cherries just prior to serving though.
For best results, store ingredients separately and dress salad about 10-30 minutes before serving.
Substitutions/Tips
- Meal Prep tip: You can prep the Chick Fil A kale salad recipe, just make the dressing and chop the vegetables, but don't massage kale it until you're ready to eat it; store vegetables and dressing in air tight containers.
- Tossing vegetables in dressing 10-15 minutes before eating will make the kale softer and more flavorful. I highly recommend this step, but it's not absolutely essential.
- The traditional Superfoods/Chick Fil A kale salad recipe has broccolini, dried cherries, and mixed nuts on top.
- Look for dried cherries in your grocery store's bulk section, you can get a small amount and it's probably less expensive than a bag of them.
- Substitute dried cherries for dried cranberries.
- Substitute salted cashews for your favorite nuts.
- Substitute broccoli for the traditional broccolini, but I think the broccoli is really good, plus it's more widely available and less expensive.
- Other great add-ins: grated parmesan cheese, sunflower seeds, thin cucumber slices, dried cranberries are all great additions to this Chick Fil A kale salad recipe.
FAQ
Salted nuts, sunflower seeds, dried fruit (like cranberries), and parmesan cheese are great toppings for this Chick Fil A kale salad recipe.
It's delicious and packed with a variety of vegetables, nuts, and dried fruit. The superfood salad, that this kale salad is based off isn't sold anymore, but it's so easy to make at home, and is very tasty.
Yes, it's full of nutrient dense vegetables. Although it's not available any more, you can make your own kale salad with dried cherries. It's so tasty and has lots of vegetables in it, which is good to add, if you can.
Repurpose this salad?
First of all, only dress the salad you plan on eating right away. This Chick Fil A kale salad recipe with added chicken, pork, or tofu would be great as a lunch wrap.
What to do with leftover ingredients
When you're cooking for one, you often have leftover produce, cans of whatever ingredient, etc. Here are a couple ideas on how to use up the leftover ingredients. It'll help you save money by wasting fewer ingredients.
- Kale: Warm Kale Salad and Pork Chops with Apple Kale Salad.
- Broccoli: Roasted Broccoli & Mushrooms, Beef & Broccoli, Chicken and Broccoli Casserole, and Broccoli Salad with Grapes.
- Dried Cherries: Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls.
- Lemon: Lemon Herb Couscous, Lemony Carbonara, and Starbucks Copycat Passion Tea Lemonade.
Did you make this Chick Fil A kale salad recipe? Leave me a comment & rating to share how it turned out!
Copycat Chick Fil A Kale Salad Recipe
Equipment
- 1 small mixing bowl
- 1 small whisk/fork
- cutting board
- knife
- serving bowl
Ingredients
Salad
- 2-3 stalks kale to make 1 heaping cup chopped, massaged kale
- ½ cup chopped broccoli cut into bite sized pieces
- 1-2 Tablespoons dried cherries
- 1-2 Tablespoons chopped salted cashews
Dressing
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon Maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Pinch of salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash, and then remove kale leaves from 2-3 stalks. To remove leaves: hold bottom of stalk with one hand, and then place other hand above that hand, creating a ring around stalk. Run hand up stalk, gently sliding leaves off of the stalk.
- Grab all leaves and rub between hands until softened. Chop into bite sized pieces. Add to serving bowl or another bowl that's big enough to toss salad in.
- Chop broccoli into bite sized pieces to make ½ cup. Add to kale.
- Make dressing by zesting ½ teaspoon of lemon zest into a small mixing bowl. Add 1 ½ teaspoon of lemon juice from that lemon to zest. Then add 1 Tablespoon maple syrup, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard, and salt/pepper to taste. Whisk together.
- Pour dressing over salad ingredients about 10-15 minutes before eating. Toss. Right before eating, add 1-2 Tablespoons dried cherries and 1-2 Tablespoons chopped salted cashews.
Notes
- Prep the Chick Fil A kale salad recipe ahead of time, just make the dressing and chop the vegetables, but don't massage kale it until you're ready to eat it; store vegetables and dressing in air tight containers.
- Substitute dried cherries for dried cranberries.
- Substitute salted cashews for walnuts, pecans, or almonds.
- Other great add-ins: grated parmesan cheese, sunflower seeds, thin cucumber slices, dried cranberries.
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Nell Curtis says
Thanks for the ingredient list. Added chopped honeycrisp apples to mine since I can’t eat nuts. Great salad!
Rebecca Clyde MS, RDN, CD says
oh great substitution! I'll have to try it too. thanks for sharing
Ned says
The recipe was absolutely delicious and a definite winner! Cannot wait to make this again! Thank you!
Holley says
This salad is so simple and easy to make! Much better homemade than the restaurant!