Immune-boosting kale, squash, purple cabbage, arugula, almonds, basil and pears are all tossed in a tangy-sweet dressing. To add more protein, you could add grilled shrimp or salmon.
Kale and Butternut Squash Salad
Kale and Butternut Squash SaladThis healthy vegetarian main dish salad is inspired by Sweetgreen’s Winter Squash Salad loaded with lots of nourishing, colorful fruits and veggies. Yesterday I shared this Warm Curry Roasted Butternut Squash and Veggie Salad. Today’s salad is enjoyed cold with hearty vegetables that last a while in the refrigerator. If you want to make the butternut squash in the air fryer, check out this Air Fryer Butternut Squash recipe.
Hi Everyone, I’m Heather K. Jones. I’m a dietitian, the nutrition expert for the Skinnytaste cookbooks, and the founder of Feel Better Eat Better, an online weight loss program for women who struggle with emotional eating, overeating or body image issues.
In this time of uncertainty, being kind, loving and nurturing to ourselves and each other is more important than ever.
And if your emotional eating is especially off balance right now, I want to remind you to please be easy with yourself. We often use food in a conscious or unconscious attempt to suppress or soothe uncomfortable emotions, or to try to feel grounded and safe.
Right now in my free Feel Better Eat Better Facebook group I’m sharing videos with tools for dealing with anxiety and emotional eating. And right here you’ll find lots of free resources to love yourself healthy.
It’s also more important than ever to be MINDFUL about what we are choosing to consume. For me this means less news, less social media and less technology… and more importantly more meditation, more reading, more creativity and more vegetables!
This delicious and satisfying kale and butternut squash salad was inspired by a salad from Sweetgreen, a fast-casual restaurant chain with “simple, seasonal, healthy salads and grain bowls.” Immune-boosting kale, squash, purple cabbage, arugula, almonds, basil and pears are all tossed in a tangy-sweet dressing. To make it even more filling, you can also add grilled shrimp, chicken or even salmon, especially if you’re looking more protein.
Variations:
Even if you don’t have all ingredients, use whatever you have on hand and swap out what you don’t!
- Cheese – Swap out the blue cheese for gorgonzola or leave it out to make it dairy-free.
- Pears – you can also replace with red or green apples.
- Arugula – swap it out for any mixed baby greens.
More Hearty Salad Recipes:
- Mixed Baby Greens with Pomegranate, Gorgonzola and Pecans
- Kale Salad with Quinoa and Cranberries
- Southwestern Black Bean, Quinoa and Mango Salad
- Salmon Avocado Salad
- Spicy Thai Shrimp Salad
Kale and Squash Salad
Ingredients
For the salad:
- Olive oil spray
- 10 ounces from 1 small butternut squash, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 10 medium Lacinato kale leaves, stems removed, thinly sliced
- 2 cups baby arugula
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil
- 1 small pear, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces (I used D’anjou)
- 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted
- 1 ounce crumbled bleu cheese
For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon water
- Pinch kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a medium sheet pan with oil, add the squash, oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat.
- Roast for 20-25 minutes, tossing halfway through, until fork tender and browned on the edges.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients until emulsified and combined. Set aside.
- In 2 shallow bowls, combine the squash, kale, arugula and basil. Toss to combine.
- Top each with ½ the pear, ½ cup cabbage, 1 tablespoon almonds and ½ ounce bleu cheese.
- Top each with 2 tablespoons dressing and serve.
This was delicious!! I ate it 3-4x in the same week and was happy with it every time. My boyfriend also raved about it. Will definitely make again!
Is there any reason that you couldn’t meal prep this in mason jars?
Great recipe!
I had a large bunch of kale that I didn’t know what to do with. Found this recipe.
I ended up with alot of substitutions due to lacking ingredients.
I didn’t have arugula or cabbage, so I omitted them.
I massaged the kale with lemon juice, olive oil and a little salt to soften it before adding it.
I also put curry powder on the squash before I roasted it.
Finally, I added a clove of pressed garlic to the dressing. It tasted great and I will use it for regular salads going forward.
I mixed everything together, including dressing, in a large bowl. Used feta because it was what I had.
Very adaptable recipe and it was so delicious with the blend of all the flavors.
Next time I might double the amount of dressing and add quinoa.
This salad was amazing! Quick question-Does the nutritional information take into account the 2 tablespoons of the dressing as well?
Yes.
I made this tonight and truly enjoyed it! The only change I made was adding a little extra – maybe a lot extra – of the blue cheese. The ingredients all went together wonderfully. I’m glad I didn’t skip the almonds. I served it with baked chicken breasts.
Funny thing, I’m VERY allergic to Kale so we used spinach instead.
Husband, teen girl and I give this an A+, delicious dressing and great flavors.
Boys couldn’t deal with “SO MUCH SALAD MY JAW HURTS FROM CHEWING”. Smaller portions next time for them, more for me:-)
Would be better with grilled protein.
amazing, soo good. I’m making again this week. Even my boyfriend was satisfied with this meal and didn’t need anything else to eat.
This salad was so delicious and felt so good to eat! All of these healthy & fresh ingredients when it’s so cold outside! I cut the recipe in half so my fiance and I could have roasted salmon and wild/brown rice on the side. I used a spinach arugula blend mixed with some romaine along with the other ingredients, substituted hazelnuts for the almonds since it’s what I had, and since I don’t like blue cheese or gorgonzola I grated fresh parmesan on top. I added a little minced garlic to the dressing. Thank you so much for this – definitely a keeper!
I am surprised there are so many points in this salad.
Surprised there are so many points in this salad.
This was really delicious! My arugula went brown before I could use it, so I just used more kale and red cabbage. It seems like an adaptable recipe if you’re missing an ingredient or two, but I thought the combination of flavors was spectacular. I can’t wait to make it again, this time with the arugula included.
This was amazing. I did not use the cabbage or arugula and only used kale. I add feta instead of blue cheese and added grilled chicken. Perfect lunch meal!
This salad is to die for! Restaurant quality. I forgot the basil so I didn’t have that but didn’t miss it. I massaged my kale with a little EVOO before adding the other ingredients. I also used a bag of almonds mixed with dried cranberries. So delicious. I knew I could count on you to help me use up my kale!
Made this tonight for dinner. I used Feta instead of bleu cheese. It was bursting with flavor. I will definitely be making this again!
This recipe was amazing. I used sweet potatoes instead of butternut squash because that’s what I had on hand and oddly our stir was out of kale so I subbed in another green but otherwise followed the recipe. So so delicious.!!!!
Delicious salad!. I used feta instead of blue cheese and pre-cut butternut squash which came with an herb seasoning.
Really enjoyed this salad! Used green apples and goat cheese d/t availability and added a few butternut squash ravioli and grilled chicken to make a heartier dinner.. it was excellent will definitely make again
This salad was delicious! The combination of the sweetness of the pear and savory ness of the butternut squash, with the crunchy aspect of the cabbage and almond slices all tied together with a delicious dressing. Could not be a better combination of flavors! Light and healthy and full of flavor. Highly recommend. The squash for me took about 35 minutes to roast.
Very pretty, really like that purple cabbage. We had it for lunch and I didn’t use the dressing, just a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar. I had a box of baby kale, Didn’t have blue cheese so used fat free feta crumbles. We liked it. Would be nice with a sprinkle of beans too if want additions.
Could you use frozen butternut squash? I’ve had trouble finding fresh in the stores lately.
I used frozen butternut squash. Baked in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Once warmed in the oven, I separated the squash cubes, sprayed with olive oil. Seasoned with salt and pepper. It worked out fine. The salad was very enjoyable!
So precious to have these days to boost our system. Thank you for the suggestion !