Are you a fan of Chick-fil-A's kale crunch salad? If you are, we've got you covered. You'll be coming back to this recipe on repeat, because it's quick to assemble and so good for you.
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 at the Recipe
- ⏲️ 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
- Massage the Kale: Take the 5 minutes that is needed to message the kale. 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 ingredients and it's super healthy, so if you're closely watching your calories and carbs, you'll want to eat this salad weekly.
- Vegetables: We used green cabbage and kale.
- Nuts: We used roasted and salted whole almonds.
- Dressing: We used our copycat recipe for their apple Dijon dressing.
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. (Image 1)
- 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. (Image 2)
- 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 1 ¼ cups of dressing. (Image 3)
- To assemble the salad, mix the kale and cabbage together. (Image 4)
- 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. (Image 5)
- Massage the kale with your hands for roughly 5 minutes. The kale should get softer, change color, and shrink down a little. (Image 6)
- Toss and cover and let it rest for 30 minutes on the counter or in the fridge. (Image 7)
- 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. (Image 8)
Recipe FAQs
Their website states it's a good choice for a healthy snack, and we also agree. It's also easy to eat on the go, because there's minimal ingredients and isn't messy.
Chick-fil-A's side salad has 120 calories with 8g of carbs and 9g of fat for 1 cup of salad. Our copycat version has a serving size of 1 cup with 227 calories, 14.3g of carbs, and 18.5g of fat. For more nutritional information, scroll to the end of the recipe card.
Our copycat recipe is higher in calories, fat, and carbs because of the salad dressing. Feel free to reduce the amount of dressing or have a smaller serving size if you're watching your calorie intake.
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 Chick-fil-A Kale Crunch Salad
Round out your meal by serving kale crunch salad with a main course of Creamy Lemon Chicken or Crispy Baked Teriyaki Tofu. 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
- 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.
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
- 2 ½ cups green cabbage, shredded
- ½ cup whole almonds
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- ½ teaspoon salt, optional
Instructions
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 1 ¼ cups of dressing.
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.
Kristin
Curious about the maple syrup, doesn't seem to be listed in chick filet ingredients?
Emma Fajcz
Kristin, Thanks for the question. The 1/3 cup of maple syrup is in the Apple Dijon Dressing. If you can't have maple syrup because of diet restrictions, substitute it with your sweetener of choice. Hope this helps!
Geneva
Spot on. This is my fave salad and I made it today exactly as written. It tastes just like CFA. Indistinguishable. Thank you so much!
Emma Fajcz
You're very welcome, Geneva! We're so happy that you enjoyed this!
Kavya
Thank you for the recipe, can’t wait to try it, how long does the dressing last in refrigerator? Would like to make more and store it
Thanks
Emma
Kavya, Thank you for your comment. Every time I've made this apple Djion dressing, I've poured all 1/1/4 cups of it on the 9 cups of packed kale as our house has 4 people. Like all homemade dressings, it doesn't have any preservatives, so it doesn't keep as long as store bought dressings. When you make this, please let us know how it turned out. Enjoy!
Maria Quiles-Toro
Amazingly easy to make and it tasted just like the restaurants take.
Emma
Thank you so much, Maria!
jacquelyn smith
What kind of white wine it refers to? Is this the same as white wine vinegar?
Emma
Jacquelyn, The 1 tablespoon of white wine in the dressing is white cooking wine. I hope this helps.
Jenna
This looks delicious! I love their kale salad. Do you think it would be okay to leave out the white wine?
Emma
Jenna, The dressing for the kale crunch salad is a copycat recipe of CFA's apple Dijon dressing. Our recipe makes 1 1/4 cup of dressing and has 1 tablespoon of white wine. If you leave it out, it will taste different, but it will still be good. Let us know how it turned out.
Sage
I am so happy I found this recipe. I made it today for dinner, and it was delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Emma
You're welcome, Sage! We're happy you enjoyed the salad.
aub
i love this salad! it tastes just like the chick-fil-a one. i let mine sit overnight before trying it and it was exactly the texture i wanted. i had the left overs again the next day and they were still great. the kale and cabbage stays nicely and the dressing is such a great mix of sweet and sour.
Emma
Aub, Thanks for letting us know you love this salad! We're thrilled to hear, "It tastes just like the chick-fil-a one."
Fadra
Looking forward to trying this recipe. How long does the Kale mixture keep? If I am thinking meal prepping, should I add the dressing the morning of? 🥴
Emma
Fadra, This salad keeps 5 days in the fridge without dressing. For meal prep, add the dressing the morning of. Let us know how you like it!
Valinda
Love this recipe! My made it twice this week and even my husband loved it
Emma
Glad to hear that you and your husband enjoyed this so much, Valinda!
Kerry
I tried a copycat recipe last year, but unfortunately it tasted nothing like the original.
THIS IS IT!!! I made it the other night and turned some people into kale lovers in the process. SO GOOD! I just finished the rest for lunch today.
Thanks for a great recipe!
Emma
You're welcome, Kerry! We're very happy to hear that you and others enjoyed this salad so much!
Renee
This recipe calls for white wine, what exactly do you use for this? I’m assuming not white wine vinegar?
Emma
We used 1 tablespoon of white cooking wine in the dressing. The vinegar used in the dressing is apple cider. Hope this helps.