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I love the flavors in this beautiful Apple, Kale and Cabbage Salad. Crunchy carrots, raw kale and red cabbage mixed alongside sweet apples, slivered almonds and sweet dried blueberries, then topped with a sweet and tangy apple cider vinaigrette.
This beautiful apple, kale and cabbage salad is inspired by a salad I enjoyed when my husband and I were in Sonoma County, California.
At one of the restaurants we stopped at – in between wine tastings, I had a fantastic vegetarian salad packed with plenty of fresh vegetables, raw kale, crunchy nuts and topped with a flavorful sweet and tangy vinaigrette.
It was a hearty and healthy bowl of color that I could have honestly eaten every single day of our trip.
Why This Recipe Works
- The flavors in this colorful salad come together perfectly, each complimenting the other.
- It’s hearty, healthy, and absolutely delicious!
- This salad is easily customizable. You can add in other ingredients to your liking.
Ingredient Notes
See recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Apple cider vinegar
- Olive oil
- Honey
- Salt and pepper
- Carrots
- Red cabbage
- Kale
- Apple
- Lemon juice
- Almonds
- Dried blueberries
How To Make This Recipe
- In a small bowl, whisk together the apple cider vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Place the carrots, cabbage, kale, and apples in a large bowl.
- Mix in the lemon juice.
- Add the almonds and dried blueberries.
- Pour the vinaigrette over the top and toss.
Expert Tips
- You can really alter the ingredients in this salad very easily. I threw in dried blueberries because that’s what I had on hand. You could add dried cranberries, walnuts and feta cheese or some chopped red peppers and a few cucumber pieces.
- I add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the salad and mixed it well to keep the apples from turning brown.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Store Apple, Kale and Cabbage Salad?
I find it keeps well in the refrigerator for a day or so and actually flavors intensify.
How Do I Clean Kale?
Actually, this tip works for cleaning most vegetables. I first rinse the vegetable or fruit under running water, then I place it into a large bowl, cover it with water and add a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
The vinegar and water combination is a great cleaning solution and best of all, it’s chemical free.
I mix it around a little in the water, then I let the kale or other produce soak for about 10 minutes. After I drain it and rinse it well, the fruit, vegetable or in this case, the kale is ready to be eaten.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this salad recipe, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
- Apple cider vinegar: Pickled Onions, Ranch Dressing, Potato Salad
- Honey: Honey Lemon Custard, Peanut Butter Bars, Watermelon Sorbet with Strawberries
- Carrots: Carrot Cake, Curried Carrot Soup, Citrus Glazed Carrots
- Kale: Lentil Stew, Green Smoothie, Zuppa Toscana
- Apple: Apple Dutch Baby, Apple Butter, Fried Apples
- Lemon juice: Pesto, Cherry Pie Filling, Lemon Blueberry Muffin
- Almonds: Sautéed Green Beans, Butter Pecan Granola
But, seriously…look at the colors! Beautiful aren’t they?
Enjoy!
Apple, Kale and Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- pinch black pepper
- 2 large carrots , scrubbed, peeled and coarsely grated
- 1/2 head red cabbage , finely chopped (about 2 cups)
- 2 cups kale , finely chopped
- 1 large apple , peeled, cored and diced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup dried blueberries (or other dried fruit)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the apple cider vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Place the carrots, cabbage, kale and apples in a large bowl.
- Mix in the lemon juice.
- Add the almonds and dried blueberries.
- Pour the vinaigrette over the top and toss.
I think I saw your recipe on a link someone had posted in Clean Food Dirty Girl. I had a red cabbage I had bought to make my favourite coleslaw with vinaigrette dressing. But I didn’t get around to it, so when I saw your recipe I decided to get right on it. I bought a bunch of kale (that was very wilty but all they had at the second store I went to). I soaked it in veggie wash and it revived….yay! I didn’t really measure the quantities of cabbage, kale and carrot, so I doubled the dressing ingredients. I didn’t have honey, slivered almonds or dried blueberries, so I used maple syrup, salted sunflower seeds and dried cranberries instead. I just ate a bowl of this beautiful salad as soon as it was assembled and it is SO SO SO GOOD! It went in the fridge because I prefer all salads cold, but I probably won’t be able to wait before I have a second bowl….it is JUST SO GOOD! I can see that this salad is going to become one of my go-tos! So colourful, So healthy!
Thank you so much Joanie, it’s amazing!
I made this twice last week, my new favorite!
I want to make this salad for my friends today… its look so delicious but I wonder if i could use fresh blueberries instead? Or rather some raisins?
I bet blueberries or raisins would be great additions! Please let me know which you use and how you enjoyed the salad.
I made this salad a few years ago for my family’s large Christmas Eve dinner and everyone could not stop gushing about how delicious it was. Everyone wanted the recipe. I love this salad so much, that this year for Thanksgiving I’ll be making it again here in Korea where I now live. I can’t wait to hear how much all my friends enjoy it. It’s the perfect holiday salad!
Thank you so much for letting me know!
Hope they all enjoyed it.
Best,
Joanie
Looks delicious! Can I substitute green cabbage for red cabbage?
Yes, you can.
Seriously the best salad I've ever eaten. I now make it all the time for parties and everyone requests it now. Definitely time consuming to put together but soooooo worth it. Thanks!
Katrina, thank you so much for letting me know how much you like the recipe. You totally made my day! Happy New Year!
The purple color from cabbage made your dish looks so nice and delicious. Great dish for salad lovers!
This looks sooo good and the colors make it even more appealing. I love simple and tasty salads 🙂
Thank you, Stephanie!
This is gorgeous! I am in the middle of making it right now, but it’s just so darn pretty that I wanted to leave a comment before I forgot. I make a similar kale, carrot, cabbage, and scallion salad with a honey lemon tahini dressing. It’s always a winner. Your addition of the apples and blueberries, though, add a nice sweet counterbalance to the bitter kale and update the ingredients with more fall flair. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much,Shelli. I love the vibrant colors in this salad too. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Have a great week!
I love all that color and crunch! What a great salad! And exactly what we are craving after this winter!
Thanks Laura!