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Kale Caprese Salad

Caprese salad gets a minor facelift as a kale salad. The basics of Caprese, merged with a flavorful and tangy chimichurri dressing.

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Sometimes you just have random ingredients that you need to throw together, and you hope it makes a good meal. This kale Caprese salad is one of those for me.

Kale Caprese Salad with wooden table in the background.

This is one of those salads that I thoroughly enjoyed, and it’s only a few ingredients.

I made this Kale Caprese Salad on a whim because it’s what I had in the fridge.

It resulted in me making this one again and again – both because of simplicity and flavor.

Ingredients for Kale Caprese Salad

  • 4 cups Kale
  • 16 oz Mozzarella balls (or mozzarella pearls)
  • 16 oz Grape, or other small tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup chopped basil
  • Kosher salt
  • Olive oil

You’ll also be making a chimichurri dressing to go over this salad.

  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 1 bunch parsley
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • Juice of 1 lime

What is Caprese Salad?

Mozarella, tomatoes and basil together.

Caprese salad is honestly one of the easiest salads to make. 

I really love it because you can make it with three or four simple ingredients or you can jazz it up and make it something a little more hearty.

That’s what I did here.

Caprese salad is an Italian dish typically made with basil, tomato, mozzarella, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

Like Margherita pizza, it features the colors of the Italian flag: green, white, and red.

I took those basic ingredients and twisted them a little to make a hearty or salad with a lot more fiber and use one of my favorite ingredients. 

Another sauce that I really love is chimichurri sauce.

I use it on just about everything.

Instead of a balsamic vinaigrette or reduced balsamic for this Caprese salad recipe, I decided to toss my veggies and cheese in chimichurri. 

I love the strong bite and flavor that comes from chimichurri. 

It seasons all of the ingredients really well and does provide nice flavor to what is typically a delicious but basic dish.

How to make my Caprese salad

Start out by rinsing your kale and patting it dry then massage it with olive oil seasoned with salt and place it aside.

Then take grape tomatoes, mozzarella pearls (mozarella balls), and chopped, fresh basil, and combine.

Season those ingredients with salt.

Then make your chimichurri by combining all of your ingredients in a food processor and pulsing until it becomes a chunky consistency.

Chimichurri in a chunky food processor.

What to serve with this salad

This salad is filling enough to eat it by itself, but if you’d like to have an extra dish alongside it you can use any one of these recipes.

Other enjoyable kale and salad recipes:

Mozzarella basil and tomato covered in chimichurri on a fork above kale caprese salad

Get the recipe below, or pin it for later if you can’t make it today.

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Kale Caprese Salad


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 13 reviews

Description

An easy salad recipe for dinner in under 15 minutes 


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 4 cups Kale
  • 16 oz Mozzarella balls (or mozzarella pearls)
  • 16 oz Grape, or other small tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup Basil. chopped
  • Salt
  • Olive oil (or avocado oil)

For the chimichurri:

  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 1 bunch parsley
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • Juice of 1 lime
Instacart Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Start out by rinsing your kale and patting it dry then massage it with olive oil seasoned with salt and place it aside.
  2. Then take grape tomatoes, mozzarella pearls (mozzarella balls, they should be drained of water), and chopped, fresh basil, and combine.
  3. Season those ingredients with salt.

  4. Then make your chimichurri by combining all of your ingredients in a food processor and pulsing until it becomes a chunky consistency
  5. Put all of the ingredients together in a salad bowl. Serve cold, and enjoy! 

Notes

  • With chimichurri, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Feel free to play around with a consistency that works best for you by adding more oil, or acid. It’s up to you!
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Method: Chopping
  • Cuisine: Italian

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 4 salads
  • Calories: 295
  • Sugar: 5.3 g
  • Sodium: 1757.8 mg
  • Fat: 11.1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 12.2 g
  • Fiber: 4.9 g
  • Protein: 38.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 20.4 mg

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13 Responses

  1. First of all, caprese salad is my absolute fave. Then pair it with that kale, this was such an amazing salad recipe. I’ll definitely be making this again soon.

  2. I did spinach instead of kale because that’s all we had on hand and it turned out really good. I am a sucker for tomatoes, basil, and mozz. This recipe is perfect, ever for people who aren’t “salad people” like my husband. He paired it with a steak and now it’s his favorite.

  3. I love caprese salad, and I LOVE chimichurri, and never would have thought to bring them together! The result is SO good. And this salad is so simple to make. I have a new go-to!

  4. My husband ALWAYS complains about how he misses the caprese salad he had in Italy. I made this for him and his eyes rolled back in his head. I guess we’ve found a great replacement.

  5. I made this for lunch yesterday and this is an awesome recipe. I really love how healthy, but flavorful the chimichurri is. Can’t wait to make this again!

  6. This salad tastes amazing. The chimichurri is truly delightful with the mozzarella. I’m looking forward to making this again next week. Thank you for sharing!

  7. This sounds incredible! have some kale and cilantro in the refrigerator, just need the mozzarella. I am going to make this for dinner tonight.

  8. I am a Caprese fanatic and I love that this recipe packs in the veg with kale and the herby delicious dressing. Such a great twist on a classic favorite.

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Kale Caprese Salad

Caprese salad gets a minor facelift as a kale salad. The basics of Caprese, merged with a flavorful and tangy chimichurri dressing.
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Mila Clarke, MS, NBC-HWC

Mila Clarke is a Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, an author, self-taught cook, nutritionist and Integrative Nutrition Diabetes Health Coach, diabetes advocate and founder of Hangry Woman and The Glucose Guide App. Hangry Woman aims to take away the shame and stigma that comes with a diabetes diagnosis and covers topics like diabetes management, cooking, and self-care from the perspective of someone living with the chronic condition. Her book –– The Diabetes Food Journal –– Is one of the most sought after diabetes self-management tools for patients. Her online community – Glucose Guide – offers affordable health coaching, hundreds of diabetes-friendly recipes and community peer support. Mila has been featured by CNN, The New York Times, Eat This Not That, USA Today, Good Housekeeping and WebMD. She contributes to Healthline, The Washington Post, DiaTribe, and EatingWell Magazine. Mila lives in Houston, Texas with her Miniature Poodle, Noodle.

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