Kale and Spinach Salad with Wild Blueberry Vinaigrette
Take your superfood salad game to the next level with this Kale and Spinach Salad. It features a mesclun of leafy greens topped with crumbled goat cheese and almonds, dressed in wild blueberry vinaigrette. You can serve it as a side salad or bulk it up with your pick of protein to make it a meal!
So this Kale Crunch Salad was my go-to superfood salad, but this kale and spinach salad has quickly become my new favorite. Each bite delivers pleasantly sweet and earthy leafy greens complemented by rich goat cheese and crunchy almonds.
It’s the wild blueberry vinaigrette, however, that elevates this salad above the rest. Making this DELICIOUS dressing is as simple as throwing the ingredients in a blender, pushing a button, and VOILA!
I encourage you to double (or triple!) up on the blueberry vinaigrette. It keeps well in the fridge for a week and is excellent on all sorts of salads, including this Prosciutto Fig Salad, this Winter Fruit Salad, and this Salmon Salad. Can I get a KALE YEAH?!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Made with SO many superfoods! This one has plenty of nutrients, from the kale to the spinach to the almonds to the wild blueberries.
- Super quick and easy. It requires minimal prep work as the leafy greens are typically sold pre-washed, chopped, and ready to eat.
- The blueberry dressing! You’ll want to pour the stuff on everything!
- The dimensional fresh flavors and textures. It’s a party for your taste buds.
- Serving options. It’s an elegant starter salad for dinner parties and entertaining, but you can also plop your favorite protein on top and enjoy it as the main course.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Baby kale or baby kale blend – This mix of small salad greens is picked before maturity, so they’re sweeter and more flavorful. If you can’t find it, substitute mixed dark leafy greens or any fresh mesclun mix.
- Baby spinach – The kale blend may already have baby spinach, but I like adding extra because it’s a nutritional powerhouse packed with vitamin K, folate, and vitamin A.
- Extra virgin olive oil – You’ll need a small amount to massage and tenderize the greens.
- Coarse salt – To season the greens.
- Crumbled goat cheese – The soft, almost spreadable texture and rich, tangy taste takes this salad over the top! See the ‘variations’ below if goat cheese isn’t your thing.
- Almonds – Whether raw, toasted, or roasted, almonds deliver a healthy dose of antioxidants, vitamin E, protein, and fiber. You can use slivered, sliced, or chopped almonds.
For the blueberry vinaigrette
- Frozen WILD blueberries – I recommend using frozen wild blueberries because they’re smaller than regular blueberries and contain less water, so they have a much bolder blueberry flavor. However, you can use regular frozen blueberries in a pinch. Either way, you must thaw the berries beforehand.
- Extra virgin olive oil – As with any good homemade salad dressing, the quality of each ingredient matters, so use a fruity and flavorful EVOO here.
- Balsamic vinegar – Again, quality matters, so use a good one!
- Apple cider vinegar – To build on the sweet and tangy tones without overpowering the blueberries and balsamic. If you need a substitute, stick with vinegar with a similar acidity level, such as white wine or champagne vinegar.
- Raw sugar – To help balance flavors, you can use regular sugar, but raw sugar, AKA turbinado sugar, is less processed with a richer flavor. If you don’t have raw sugar, use light brown sugar or coconut sugar here.
- Fresh lemon juice – The acidity brightens up the blueberry and other flavors.
A Quick Note About the Original Recipe – When I first shared this kale superfood salad, it called for “kalettes” instead of baby kale, which is a kale and brussels sprouts hybrid vegetable. Unfortunately, this is a tricky veggie to find in the U.S., but if you’re on the other side of the pond and can get your hands on this stuff, by all means, use it! For European store locations, please visit the official Kalettes website.
How to make kale and spinach salad with blueberry vinaigrette
Step 1: Massage the greens. Add the baby kale and spinach to a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and gently massage the leaves until coated. Then, sprinkle the leaves with coarse salt and set aside while you make the dressing.
Step 2: Make the vinaigrette. Add the thawed wild blueberries, EVOO, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and lemon juice to a high-powered blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Step 3: Toss salad and add toppings. Pour the vinaigrette over the leafy greens and gently toss, then scatter the almonds and goat cheese crumbles on top and enjoy!
Recipe tips
- Baby kale vs. regular kale. This recipe calls for a baby kale mix and NOT a bag of chopped green kale. The latter is full of fibrous stems that can be difficult to chew and digest when eaten raw. If you use the bagged stuff, you’ll have to pick out the hard stem pieces, which is not fun.
- How to use green kale. You can use green kale, but I highly recommend using a bundle of loose kale instead of bagged, chopped kale. To prep green kale for salads, you’ll need to wash and dry it, cut away the stalks, and chop the leaves into bite-size pieces before using it. Also, massaging the kale is critical!
- Serve the dressing on the side. If you’re anticipating leftovers or making this for meal prep purposes, serving the dressing on the side is best, so the greens don’t turn soggy during storage.
- Toast your almonds. This is optional but worth the extra step. It intensifies the nutty flavor and makes them extra crunchy. To do so, place the almonds in a dry skillet and toast over medium heat, shaking the pan often until fragrant and golden.
Variations
What I love most about this spinach and kale salad recipe is that it leaves plenty of room for customizing. Here are some of the many add-in options:
- Add more veggies – Try tossing in shredded carrot, red cabbage, diced cucumber, red bell pepper, and/or sliced shallots or red onion.
- Add fresh or dried fruit – Adding fresh or dried blueberries is a no-brainer, but you could also add fresh blackberries, sliced strawberries, sliced apples, or dried cranberries to the mix.
- Switch up the nuts – Use pecans, walnuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds instead of almonds.
- Swap out the cheese – If you’re not a fan of goat cheese, blue cheese crumbles, feta, or parmesan also pair well with the blueberry vinaigrette.
- Give it a protein boost – Add grilled chicken (as seen in the photos!), steak, or salmon to make this kale superfood salad a meal. This simple kale salad is also great with mayo-based protein salads like tuna, egg, and chicken.
Storing
Refrigerate leftover spinach and kale salad in an airtight container and try to eat it within a day or two. You can keep the undressed salad in the fridge for 3-4 days and the dressing for up to a week.
Recipe FAQs
As written, this recipe yields four side salad-sized servings. When tossed with the blueberry vinaigrette, each serving has about 300 calories.
Possibly! With the dressing, one serving has 14 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of dietary fiber, totaling 11 net carbs. If that’s too much for your macronutrient goals, you can cut it down to 10 total carbs (7 net carbs) by substituting the sugar in the dressing with your favorite keto-friendly sweetener.
More superfood salad recipes
- Raspberry Spinach Salad
- Beetroot and Feta Salad
- Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Spicy Tuna Salad over Lemony Kale Greens
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Kale and Spinach Salad with Wild Blueberry Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- For the salad:
- 5 oz baby kale or baby kale blend works here too
- 5 oz baby spinach
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- coarse salt to taste
- 2 oz crumbled goat cheese
- 3 tbsp slivered almonds
- For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup wild frozen blueberries thawed
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 tsp raw sugar
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash the baby kale and spinach, spin dry, and place into a large bowl.
- Add 2 tsp olive oil to the leaves and massage leaves to thoroughly coat
- Sprinkle leaves with coarse salt and set aside while you prepare the dressing.
- Pour all dressing ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Toss greens with dressing (or serve on the side) and top with almonds and goat cheese.
- I like to add a protein to make this a complete meal *see variations in post
Notes
- Baby kale vs. regular kale. This recipe calls for a baby kale mix and NOT a bag of chopped green kale. The latter is full of fibrous stems that can be difficult to chew and digest when eaten raw. If you use the bagged stuff, you’ll have to pick out the hard stem pieces, which is not fun.
- How to use green kale. You can use green kale, but I highly recommend using a bundle of loose kale instead of bagged, chopped kale. To prep green kale for salads, you’ll need to wash and dry it, cut away the stalks, and chop the leaves into bite-size pieces before using it. Also, massaging the kale is critical!
- Serve the dressing on the side. If you’re anticipating leftovers or making this for meal prep purposes, serving the dressing on the side is best, so the greens don’t turn soggy during storage.
- Toast your almonds. This is optional but worth the extra step. It intensifies the nutty flavor and makes them extra crunchy. To do so, place the almonds in a dry skillet and toast over medium heat, shaking the pan often until fragrant and golden.
Nutrition
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kalettes! what! I need to check these out
Pretty cool, right?!! 🙂