This roasted beet kale salad is so light, colorful and a delicious combination of roasted veggies, leafy greens and optional fresh cheese. It's so easy to make for a summer BBQ side dish, potluck or as picnic food!
Just like my beetroot broccoli salad, this beet kale salad makes the most of roasted beets for their unique earthy flavor and delicious taste. We pair with massaged kale for some leafy greens and a good crunch from pumpkin seeds.
To make sure that we have tons of flavor, this easy salad side dish has a fun maple ginger vinaigrette - it has so much zing! Move aside boring salads . . .
Love a beet salad? Have a peek at my butternut beet salad and sweet potato beet salad for more fun ideas!
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Perfect for summer or winter! This kale salad with beets combines light leafy greens with more earthy beetroot, making it equally fun for summer BBQs or holiday meals.
Minimal ingredients. Just grab your fresh produce, and some pantry staples!
Easy to make. Cooking the beets is so simple, and then we combine with wilted kale and a quick-to-make vinaigrette dressing.
🥬 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Beets - we use fresh beets and roast them in the oven for that delicious, slightly sweet and earthy flavor. Beetroot scores 0 on the SIGHI list, so as well tolerated, but please note that it is high in oxalates (Web MD).
- Kale - I suggest to use curly kale, but you could other types of kale also such as lacinato kale.
- Shallots - these are optional, but give a lot of flavor. My low histamine readers could swap for diced white onion (and soak in ice water first, if you wish).
- Root ginger - I love the beet and ginger combo, and fresh ginger has a lovely zingy flavor.
📖 Swaps and variations
Add fresh cheese. It's easy to make this a vegan beet kale salad by leaving out the cheese, but you can also add cubes of mozzarella or goat cheese (the latter isn't rated on the SIGHI list).
🔪 How to make beet kale salad
It's so easy to make this roasted beetroot and kale salad, with minimal ingredients and all simple recipe steps.
The full instructions are set out in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Roast the beets
After washing the beets, slice off the stalks and the root. Lightly coat in olive oil and wrap (fully!) in aluminium foil (image 1). Roast for 45-60 minutes, until fork tender. Once cool enough to handle, peel the skin off the beets.
Step 2: Massage the kale
Remove the hard stems and ribs from the kale, dice and add to a large bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt. Use your hands to massage the kale, so it wilts, softens and becomes a bright green color (image 2).
Step 3: Make the dressing
Whisk together extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, minced garlic, minced ginger, maple syrup, salt and black pepper (optional) so that it emulsifies. Taste test, and adjust with more vinegar or garlic to preference (image 3).
Step 4: Make the salad!
Add the roasted beets, pumpkin seeds, shallots and dressing to the kale (image 4). Toss to combine so the ingredients are mixed, and the dressing evenly coats the greens. If adding cheese, I suggest to do so just before serving otherwise the beets will turn it pink!
💭 Expert recipe tips and notes
- Wear an apron! Beets love to make everything pink, so handle with care and don't wear your favorite white dress while doing so . . .
- Make sure to massage the kale! Raw kale is tough, a little bitter and not too nice to taste, but transforms when massaged with a little oil and salt.
- Add the cheese when serving. I suggest not to mix in with the beets, but to add right before serving so it doesn't turn pink.
- Please note that beets are high in oxalates, and that kale and apple vinegar score 1 on the SIGHI list.
📋 Frequently asked questions
Curly kale is my go-to for making a kale salad as it easy to find in stores and softens nicely when massaged with oil and salt. You can also use lacinato kale (also known as Tuscan kale) for salads.
You can use beets that you get in a vacuum-pack in a pinch, but I suggest my low histamine readers would prefer to use fresh beets that they roast. I also think that roasted beets have a better flavor!
🍽 How to serve
Whether you enjoy as a light lunch, BBQ side dish or as a holiday salad, there are lots of variations to this beet kale salad to try out:
- Add some cooked quinoa to make it more hearty.
- Serve as the topping for my cottage cheese bowl for a light summer lunch!
- Add some cheese, such as crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese (these may not work for low histamine readers), or perhaps ricotta, mozzarella or my cottage cheese tzatziki.
- Serve as a side with a protein, or stir through some of my air fryer shredded chicken.
🥗 More salads
You'll find so many refreshing salad recipes here to choose from including my popular fennel cucumber salad and cucumber pomegranate salad, as well as these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Roasted Beet Kale Salad
Ingredients
- 5 cups kale loosely packed, I suggest curly kale
- 3 small beets
- 2 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 1 shallot diced, optional
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- pinch salt
- ½ mozzarella ball optional, or goat cheese*
Maple ginger dressing
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 teaspoon maple syrup
- 2 teaspoon root ginger minced or grated
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F / 200C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Wash the beets, and slice off the tops and bottom. Lightly coat the beets with olive oil and wrap in aluminium foil. Roast for 45-60 minutes until fork tender. Cook time will vary depending upon the size of the beets.
- Allow the beets to cool, then peel off the skin. Dice into small pieces.
- Remove the hard stems from the kale and add to a large bowl. Drizzle with 2 teaspoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Use your hands to massage the kale for a minute or so. It will soften and turn a darker green color.
- Whisk together extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, minced garlic, maple syrup, minced ginger, salt and black pepper (optional) to make a vinaigrette. Taste test, and adjust to personal preference.
- Add the diced beets, shallot and pumpkin seeds to the kale. Drizzle over the vinaigrette dressing and toss to combine the ingredients and coat the leaves.
- Spoon the salad onto your serving plate, and add the cheese (if using).
Notes
- Roast the beets until they are fork tender. Cook time will vary slightly depending upon their size.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- Beets (beetroot) scores 0 on SIGHI, but is high in oxalates.
- Kale, apple cider vinegar, ginger and garlic, which score 1.
- Shallots are not rated. White onion can be used as a swap.
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