This kale butternut squash salad combines roasted veggies, leafy greens and sweet fruit with a zingy maple ginger dressing for a flavorful fall salad side dish. It's simple to make, has all easy recipe steps and given how pretty it is, perfect for entertaining!
Much like my butternut beet salad and beet and carrot salad, this recipe is perfect as a vegan fall lunch or as a Thanksgiving side dish! We use seasonal produce of butternut squash and fruits to enjoy the fall flavors and have a nice crunch from the seeds.
But the best bit about this butternut kale salad? It's the pops of sweetness from pomegranate and apple! They're always a reader favorite in my salad recipes.
Jump to:
⭐ Why This Recipe is So Good
Seasonal fruits and veggies. We roast the squash to bring out the natural sweetness, and pair with fall apple and pomegranate seeds.
Versatile. Enjoy as a hearty dairy free fall salad for lunch, or serve to guests as a holiday salad for celebrations.
All easy recipe steps. The oven does the work in roasting the butternut squash, and then it's just a bit of dicing and massaging the kale. All very simple!
🥬 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Butternut squash - choose a ripe squash that has smooth skin (not wrinkled), and then roast it up! Personally I prefer to peel the squash, but you can leave it on if you prefer as the skin is edible.
- Kale - I like to use curly kale, particularly as it's easier to find where I live, but Lacinato kale can also be used.
- Apple - for sweetness, a red apple is best, but if you like a more tart flavor, then pick a Granny Smith apple!
- Pumpkin seeds - if you have time, dry toasting the seeds in a skillet (without oil) for a minute or so brings out their flavor.
🔪 How to Make Butternut Squash and Kale Salad
There's just a little prep to make this kale butternut squash salad, and it's all very easy to do. No need for fancy kitchen equipment, as all you need is some parchment paper to roast the squash and a vegetable peeler.
All the instructions are in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Roast the butternut squash
Peel and dice the squash into small bite-size pieces. Scatter on a lined baking sheet, drizzle on the olive oil, season and toss to coat. Spread the butternut squash cubes into an even layer and roast until lightly browned and fork tender (image 1).
Step 2: Massage the kale
Remove the tough stems from the kale and dice into small pieces. Add to a bowl, and drizzle on a little olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Use your hands to massage the kale for a minute or two so it breaks down, becomes softer and darker green in color (image 2).
Step 3: Make the dressing
Whisk together olive oil, apple cider vinegar, grated fresh ginger, maple syrup, salt and black pepper (if using) in a small bowl (image 3).
Step 4: Mix the salad together
Add the roasted butternut squash cubes, diced apple, pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds, kale and parsley to a bowl. Drizzle over the dressing, and use salads servers to toss the salad (image 4). Spoon onto your serving plate or bowl.
💭 Recipe Tips and Notes
- Massage your kale! Fresh kale is rather tough, fibrous and a little bitter, but if you massage it with a little oil and salt it breaks down to become soft and far more tasty!
- Dice the squash into even pieces. For an even cook time, dice the butternut squash into small cubes of a similar size.
- Toast the seeds. For more flavorful nutty-tasting pumpkin seeds, add to a dry skillet and toast for a few minutes.
- Add cheese for a hearty meal. Add small pieces of fresh mozzarella, spoonfuls of ricotta or, if it works for you (perhaps not low histamine readers) feta cheese or goat's cheese, for some protein.
📋 Frequently Asked Questions
It's down to preference whether to peel butternut squash to make a salad if you are roasting it. The skin is edible, so you don't have to peel it off, but some prefer to do so.
Both curly kale and Lacinato kale (also known as Tuscan kale) work well in salads. If using curly kale, it's best to massage it so that it becomes softer in texture.
🥗 More Salads
There are so many fall salads to choose from here on the site, including my beet kale salad and broccoli and beetroot salad, and 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
Kale Butternut Squash Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 small butternut squash about 1 pound, peeled, seeds removed
- 1.5 tablespoon olive oil divided
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
- 4 cups kale ribs removed, diced
- 1 red apple de-cored, diced
- ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
- 2 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup fresh parsley diced
For the dressing
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh root ginger
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F / 200C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Peel the butternut squash and remove the seeds. Dice into small bite-size pieces. Scatter on the baking sheet, drizzle with oil and sprinkle over salt and black pepper, if using. Toss to coat the squash. Spread out into a single layer with a little room between the cubes of squash so they roast rather than steam. Roast for 30 minutes, so they are fork tender with a little browning on the edges. Set aside to cool.
- Add the diced kale to a bowl and drizzle on 1 teaspoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Massage the kale with your hands so it breaks down and becomes soft and a darker green.
- Whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, grated fresh root ginger, salt and black pepper, if using, in a small bowl.
- Combine the roasted butternut squash, kale, pomegranate seeds, diced apple, pumpkin seeds and parsley in a bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss to coat the vegetables. Spoon into your serving bowl or plate.
Notes
- We all like different amounts of dressing, so you can always add half first, then taste test and add more to preference.
- I suggest to use curly kale, but Lacinato kale is also good.
- If you have time, you can dry toast (without oil) the pumpkin seeds in a small skillet to bring out their flavor.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- kale, apple cider vinegar and ginger, which score 1. White distilled vinegar, which scores 0 on the SIGHI list, can be used as a swap. If vinegar doesn't work for you, I suggest to use less olive oil.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
Comments
No Comments