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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.
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?
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.
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.
- Chicken Carbonara
- Lemon Sriracha Chicken
- Rigatoni and meat sauce
- One-pot gnocchi in truffle cream sauce
Other enjoyable kale and salad recipes:
Get the recipe below, or pin it for later if you can’t make it today.
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Kale Caprese Salad
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
An easy salad recipe for dinner in under 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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 (mozzarella balls, they should be drained of water), 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
- Put all of the ingredients together in a salad bowl. Serve cold, and enjoy!
Equipment
Buy Now → 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
13 Responses
The salad itself was already amazing but the chimicurri dressing has my heart. Easy to make and tasty!
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.
Oh my! Talk about refreshing and delightful! Quick and easy and a perfect platter for an afternoon snack or weekend treat.
The chimichurri makes this a really stunning dish. My whole family was impressed and I was just thankful for how easy it was to make!
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.
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!
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.
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!
This Caprese salad is delicious! I absolutely love the dressing!
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!
This sounds incredible! have some kale and cilantro in the refrigerator, just need the mozzarella. I am going to make this for dinner tonight.
Loved the twist in making this a hearty and flavourful salad! So delicious I definitely need to make it again!
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.