Are you a fan of Chick-fil-A's kale crunch salad? If you are, we've got you covered. You'll love this combination of curly kale, green cabbage, sweet-tangy apple Dijon vinaigrette, and crunchy roasted almonds. You'll be coming back to this recipe on repeat, because it's tastier than the original and is ready to eat in just 30 minutes!
If you love Chick-fil-A's salads, you'll want to check out our copycat market salad and our copycat Southwest salad.
Quick Look: Chick-fil-A Kale Crunch Salad
- ⏲️ Prep Time: 20 minutes
- ⏲️ Cook Time: 10 minutes
- ⏲️ Total Time: 30 minutes
- 🍽️ Yield: 9 cups
- 🥕 Dietary Info: Vegan, Gluten Free
- ⚡ Calories: 227 calories per 1 cup (based on nutrition facts in recipe card)
- 🥗 14 Ingredients: maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, white wine, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, extra virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, kale, green cabbage, almonds, and coconut oil.
- 🥣 Method: Shaking the dressing and tossing the salad.
- ⌛ Time-Saving Hack: Buy already-washed and chopped kale to speed up the process.
- 🔪 Equipment: mason jar with lid and a large bowl.
- ⭐ Expert Tip: For the best flavor, allow the salad to marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.
- 🥬 Flavor & Texture: This salad has a wonderful tangy-sweet flavor from the apple Dijon dressing, which goes perfectly with the tender kale.
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Why We Love This Recipe
- Massaging the Kale: Take the 5 minutes that is needed to massage the kale with the dressing. This will soften it, reduce the bitterness, and darken the color.
- Make Ahead Friendly: Make up a big batch for the whole week on Sunday. Add the dressing at least 30 minutes before eating.
- Texture and Variety: The crunch comes from the cabbage and the roasted almonds. The curly kale has a satisfying texture and a different mouthfeel than iceberg or Romaine lettuce.
- Versatility: This salad is great to eat on it's own or as a side dish. You can easily make it a main course by adding grilled chicken. It is wonderful wholesome menu option when you want to eat healthy.
Featured Comment
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Simply fabulous!! Better than other copycat recipes I have tried. Highly recommend. 🙂"
- Laureli
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Ingredients
Chick-fil-A's kale crunch salad takes only a few healthy ingredients. Once you see how easy this is to meal prep, you'll want to eat this salad weekly.
- Curly Kale: Any variety of curly kale tastes delicious in this recipe. The massage process that we use with the dressing tenderizes it and make it far less bitter.
- Green Cabbage: Add shredded green cabbage for crunch (hence the salad's name!).
- Nuts: We used coconut oil-roasted and salted whole almonds. It's definitely best to toast the almonds, as it adds an incredible flavor and extra crunch.
- Dressing: We used our copycat recipe for CFA's apple Dijon dressing. It's super simple to make, and tastes even better than the original!
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Can't have nuts? Try roasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
- Don't want to use green cabbage? Swap it out with red cabbage; it's more colorful.
- Need more fat? Add avocado chunks.
- Want some grains? Add cooked and cooled quinoa.
How to Make Chick-fil-A Kale Crunch Salad
- To make the apple Dijon dressing, pour the apple cider vinegar on top of the pure maple syrup.
- Add the distilled vinegar, lemon juice, white wine, Dijon mustard, and the spices (sea salt and black pepper). Whisk until well mixed, then add the olive oil, and slowly pour it in while whisking.
- If you find that the dressing isn't emulsifying with a whisk, pour it into a mason jar and give it a good shake. There should be 1¼ cups of dressing.
- To assemble the salad, mix the kale and cabbage together.
- If you're planning on eating this within 30 minutes, add most of the chopped almonds. (Save some for a garnish.) Pour on the dressing. If you are making this ahead of time, only pour the dressing on what you plan to eat that day or within 24 hours.
- Massage the kale with your hands for roughly 5 minutes. The kale should get softer, change color, and shrink down a little.
- Toss and cover and let it rest for 30 minutes on the counter or in the fridge.
- When ready to serve, toss it again and adjust any seasonings (vinegar, lemon juice, salt, or pepper). Garnish with the reserved almonds. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Chick-fil-A Kale Crunch Salad FAQs
Chick-fil-A uses an apple Dijon dressing on their kale crunch salad. Our easy copycat dressing recipe is sweetened with maple syrup and can be made in minutes in a mason jar.
The Chick-fil-A salad apple Dijon dressing tastes slightly sweet and is subtle and mild. The curly kale is chewy, but not soggy. The crunch in the title comes from the green cabbage and the roasted salted almonds. Our copycat version tries to mimic the CFA original, but feel free to adjust the seasonings to your personal taste if you like a salad with a bit more bite.
Yes, please do! This salad tastes better if it can rest with the dressing on it for at least 30 minutes to 3 hours for maximum results. We have also had it 24 hours later and it is still good. If you are planning on making a big batch, we suggest that you portion out what you want to eat in the next 24 hours before pouring on the dressing. Add the salty roasted almonds just before serving to have the maximum crunch.
Serving Suggestions
Round out your meal by serving kale crunch salad with a main course of Creamy Lemon Chicken, poached chicken, or Panda Express teriyaki chicken. If you are looking for a healthy soup to compliment this salad, try our Moroccan Lentil Stew.
Our Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cranberries is a wonderful healthy side dish. If you are looking for a homemade bread recipe to serve with this salad, try our Hearty Multigrain Bread.
Expert Tips
- If you're not using pre-washed and chopped kale, be sure to wash it, remove the tough ribs, and tear or chop the kale before massaging it with the dressing.
- Massage the kale for 5 minutes. It will darken in color and soften.
- For the best flavor, allow the salad to marinate in the dressing for 30 minutes to 3 hours.
- Additional Add-Ins: chopped apple, dried cranberries, avocado chunks, sliced Brussels sprouts, julienned carrots, broccoli matchsticks, spring onion, Parmesan shards, roasted sunflower seeds, grilled chicken, grilled salmon, and quinoa.
Other Chick-fil-A Copycat Recipes You'll Love
Recipe
Copycat Chick-fil-A Kale Crunch Salad
Ingredients
Apple Dijon Dressing
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons distilled vinegar
- 1 tablespoon white wine
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Kale Crunch Salad
- 9 cups chopped kale, packed
- 2½ cups green cabbage, shredded
- ½ cup whole almonds
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- ½ teaspoon salt, optional
Instructions
Making the Apple Dijon Dressing
- Pour the maple syrup and apple cider vinegar into a medium bowl or large mason jar.
- Add the distilled vinegar, white wine, and the Dijon mustard. Whisk if using a bowl, or shake together if using a mason jar.
- Next add the freshly squeezed lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper. Whisk or shake together.
- Slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking, or put the lid on the mason jar and shake well. This recipe makes 1¼ cups of dressing.
Assembling the Kale Crunch Salad
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toss the whole almonds in the coconut oil and salt. Spread them on a small baking tray and roast for 10-15 minutes. Allow them to cool before cutting into smaller pieces with a large chef's knife.
- Remove any ribs from the chopped kale, then add the shredded green cabbage and toss with your hands.
- Pour on the apple Dijon dressing and massage the kale with your hands for roughly 5 minutes. You will notice the kale softening and turning a darker shade of green.
- Cover the salad and let it sit for 30 minutes (or up to overnight) in the fridge. This gives the kale time to soften, and for the cabbage and kale to marinate in the dressing.
- When ready to serve, add the roasted almonds and toss. Adjust seasonings, adding a bit more vinegar, lemon juice, salt or pepper if desired. You should have about 9 cups of salad.
Video
Notes
- Massage the kale for 5 minutes. It will darken in color and soften.
- For the best flavor, allow the salad to marinate for 30 minutes to 3 hours.
- Additional add-ins: chopped apple, dried cranberries, avocado chunks, sliced Brussels sprouts, julienned carrots, broccoli matchsticks, spring onion, Parmesan shards, roasted sunflower seeds, grilled chicken, grilled salmon and quinoa.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Laureli B.
Simply fabulous!! Better than other copycat recipes I have tried. Highly recommend. 🙂
Emma Fajcz
Thanks so much! We're so glad that you enjoyed the salad!
Laureli B.
Hi Emma,
Just wanted to share something with you; I have been using baby kale leaves for this and had wondered if it was still necessary to massage the kale. After chopping the leaves and massaging them with olive oil, the leaves became kind of flattened, and it looked like I had a lot less kale to work with (strange). My husband looked online and found out that when using baby kale, the leaves are tender enough that they really don't need to be massaged. Just wanted to let you know what I learned.
Have a great day and thanks again for the recipe. 🙂
Emma Fajcz
It's totally up to you, Laureli! Baby kale would work well here; we just haven't tested it yet. Thanks for making our recipe!
Christine Reese
I found this recipe to be absolutely delicious! Massaging the kale was key to making it more palatable to me. So much flavor in the dressing, even my finicky husband enjoyed this salad. Definitely on our weekly rotation.
Emma Fajcz
That's wonderful to hear, Christine! We're really pleased to hear that both you and your husband enjoyed the salad so much!
Lindsay
EXACT. MATCH. For the chick fil a salad. So good! Thank you a million, this will def help me get more veggies into my routine.
Emma Fajcz
You're very welcome, Lindsay! We're so happy that you enjoyed the salad so much.
Tiffany Romero
Question I have made other dressings with olive oil and when I put it in the refrigerator the oil hardens in the dressing. Will this happen if I store the dressing for individual lunch portions adding the dressing the morning of? I'm worried making the whole thing at once as it might be soggy come later days for lunch.
Emma Fajcz
Tiffany, Yes olive oil hardens when it reaches temperatures of 47 F or below. To make it liquid again, place the olive oil or dressing in a bowl of warm water and swirl it to speed up the process.
It's best to massage the dressing into the kale salad at least 30 minutes to 24 hours before eating. I hope this helps.