This simple Kale Salad Dressing is bright, garlicky, and just rich enough to soften kale without drowning it. Only 4 ingredients, with no sugar or heavy add-ins.
As a former personal chef and current recipe blogger, I have made lots of salad dressings over the years. This one, with just lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and parmesan cheese, is one of the very easiest.
But, it’s also the most genius dressing for kale! It turns those tough bitter greens into something tender and crave-worthy. As a result, I’ve used this recipe for weeknight dinners for my family and for elegant client meals. It’s one of my go-tos that I return to again and again. Once you try it, I think you will too.
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Why Make This Recipe
- Designed for Kale: Unlike a basic vinaigrette that works on all kinds of greens, this dressing is particularly good at softening tough leaves and taming the bitterness of the kale.
- Super Easy: Just a few simple ingredients and no blender required.
- Great for Make-Ahead: Kale tossed in this dressing gets better as it sits. One of the only dressed salads that still tastes great the next day!
- Easy to Scale: Double or triple for a crowd.
🥗 Ingredients for Kale Salad Dressing
- Kale: I make this recipe with both traditional curly kale and Tuscan kale (also called dinosaur kale or lacinato kale). Both are great, just remember to slice thinly or shred.
- Lemon Juice: With only a few ingredients in this recipe, using fresh lemon juice really makes a difference.
- Garlic: Grated or finely minced if you don’t want to bite into a chunk of garlic. Avoid using the jarred pre-minced kind.
- Olive Oil: Use a high-quality extra-virgin olive oil—you’ll taste the difference.
- Parmesan Cheese: Go with a high-quality parmesan cheese. Grate it yourself if you can, or choose a quality packaged version. Personally, I love the fresh grated parmesan cheese at Trader Joe’s. Pecorino Romano cheese would make a good substitute.
🥣 How to Make this Dressing Recipe for Kale Salad
Pull 6 ounces of kale leaves (about ½ large bunch) off their thick stems. Put the slicing blade into your food processor. Turn on food processor and feed the kale leaves down the tube opening. Continue until all the kale is finely shredded.
Alternatively, stack the leaves and roll into a cylinder. Then slice very thinly. Add kale to a large bowl while you make the dressing.
Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice to a small bowl. Peel 2 garlic cloves, and use a microplane to grate them over the top of the lemon juice. Whisk to combine.
Slowly pour in 2 tablespoons olive oil, while whisking constantly. Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, while continuing to whisk. Whisk in ¼ teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Drizzle dressing over shredded kale and stir well. Let kale sit for 15-30 minutes to absorb the dressing before serving. Taste and add more lemon juice or salt, as desired. Toss with an additional tablespoon of parmesan cheese right before serving.
Storage Tips
This salad dressing for kale will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I like to use a small mason jar. If you have tossed the dressing with the kale leaves already, the raw kale salad will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Kale Salad Dressing
You don’t, though if you have one, it makes very quick work of slicing up the kale. You can also do it by hand. Just make sure to slice into very thin ribbons. This is somewhat easier if you are using Tuscan kale.
Yes. This is a terrific option for make-ahead. Make in the morning and chill until dinner time. You can even make it the day before if you’d like. (It will last a few days in the fridge but it’s definitely at its best in the first 36 hours after making it.)
You can, but the lemon juice in this is really powerful. This dressing will cause more delicate greens to wilt too quickly, and it may overpower their flavor. But, there’s an easy fix. Just increase the olive oil by a tablespoon, and you’ll have a dressing that will play more nicely with other leafy greens.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
Note that this is a dressing with bold flavors! I happen to think this is the best kale salad dressing around, but if you do not love lemon juice and garlic, this may not be for you.
And on that note, I can’t stress enough that using the highest quality ingredients (fresh lemon juice and garlic, high quality olive oil and parmesan cheese) really make a difference in this recipe!
Once you have this recipe down, I encourage you to make it your own. While I made this a few times in a row to measure the ingredients I was using, typically I make this recipe without measuring anything. I shred my kale, squeeze in a lemon half, grate the garlic cloves, and drizzle some olive oil in and toss it all together. I taste to adjust the balance, then add in my parmesan cheese.
You’ll see lots of recipes for massaged kale salad, as massaging helps tenderize the sturdy kale leaves and lets the dressing flavors soak in. You don’t need to do that with this recipe because of the high acidity of the lemon juice and the shredded kale leaves. But you can if you’d like! And, if you want to serve this in a hurry and don’t have time to let it sit, massage it!
Want to add more flavor? This simple kale salad and dressing makes a great base for additions. Try topping with crunchy toasted nuts, marcona almonds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, or roasted chickpeas. You could also add in chopped apples or pears, or dried fruit like dried cherries or chopped dried apricots or even golden raisins.
Add in some chopped shallots or red onion, or whisk in some dijon mustard. This dressing also pairs well with roasted squash or cauliflower. If you want to add more protein, try stirring in some white beans or topping with a soft-boiled egg.
Serving Suggestions
Want to make this into a meal? The easiest way is just to serve with grilled chicken, crispy baked tofu, or sautéed shrimp. Or serve on the side of a main course like Pasta Alfredo, Stuffed Tomatoes, or Maryland Crab Cakes.
Other Salad Dressing Recipes
Homemade salad dressing beats store-bought dressing every time and ensure you’ll have a truly delicious salad! Here are some of my other favorites:
If you try this Kale Salad Dressing recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I’d love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
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Simple Kale Salad Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 ounces kale about ½ large bunch
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese divided
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Pull kale leaves off their stems.
- Put the slicing blade into your food processor. Turn on food processor and feed the kale leaves down the tube opening. Continue until all the kale is finely shredded. Alternatively, stack the leaves and roll into a cylinder. Then slice very thinly.
- Add kale to a large bowl while you make the dressing.
- Add lemon juice to a small bowl.
- Peel garlic cloves, and use a microplane to grate them over the top of the lemon juice. Whisk to combine.
- Slowly pour in olive oil, while whisking constantly.
- Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, while continuing to whisk. Whisk in salt and pepper.
- Drizzle dressing over shredded kale and stir well. Let kale sit for 15-30 minutes to absorb the dressing before serving.
- Taste and add more lemon juice or salt, as desired.
- Toss with additional tablespoon of parmesan cheese right before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this dressing for kale salad recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I’d love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
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