This superfood Kale Blueberry Salad with Quinoa is a refreshing summer meal and a beautiful side dish to take to a potluck or serve at a dinner party.
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A Kale Blueberry Quinoa Salad – with Tons of Flavor and Texture!
This might be my favorite kale salad yet! It’s loaded with flavors and textures, and is pleasing to the eye. I bring this Kale Blueberry Quinoa Salad to family dinners, always with rave reviews.
I have a few secrets for making delicious kale salads!
The first secret is to plan ahead. Kale gets a bad rap for being too dense or “scratchy” to eat raw. Drenching it in a delicious and healthy vinegar based dressing is the key to getting the fibers to soften. I usually chop my kale and massage dressing into it in the morning so that it’s softened and soaked in the flavor by dinnertime.
The second secret is to use lots of flavorful toppings. I adore salads. I have tons of salad recipes on Sunkissed Kitchen because they are my favorite thing to make (and eat & photograph!).
A variety of colorful fruits and veggies, grains and nuts, adds texture, flavor, and a wide nutrient profile. This salad is an excellent example of how to build the perfect loaded salad.
As with all my recipes, make it your own! You can lower the carbs by omitting the quinoa, or sub your favorite berry in for the blueberries. Good recipes are like that — a canvas for creating the perfect meal for YOU!
What You’ll Need:
Kale Salad
- Lacinato Kale (also called Dinosaur or Tuscan kale)
- Quinoa (steamed and cooled)
- Avocado
- Blueberries
- Beets
- Cucumber
Basil Balsamic Vinaigette
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Olive Oil
- Lemon Juice
- Basil
- Sea Salt & Black Pepper
How to Massage Kale
Kale is a dense and fibrous vegetable, and for some people difficult to chew when raw.
This is easy to address when making fabulous kale salads! The secret to softening the vegetable and making it more palatable is to massage the kale in an acidic salad dressing 4-5 hours before serving (longer is okay!).
Some people also feel massaging the kale, which breaks down the tough cell structure, softens it’s earthy flavor.
- Chop the kale in bite size pieces. This can be shredded or cut in small chunks (like squares). Add the kale to a bowl that’s easy to cover and refrigerate.
- Prepare a dressing that has a lot of acid, like vinegar or lemon juice. The Basil vinaigrette in this recipe uses both. Pour the dressing over the kale, and use your hands to gently “squeeze” the kale and work the dressing into all the leaves.
- Cover the salad bowl and refrigerate the kale for a few hours (or up to overnight) to allow the dressing to soak into the leaves. This will not leave you with soggy greens. The kale softens, but stays firm and has a wonderful texture in salads!
How to Make a Quinoa Kale Salad
Step 1: In a blender, add all the ingredients for the dressing, and process to break up the basil.
Step 2: Chop the kale in bite sized pieces, and coat with the dressing. Gently massage the dressing into the kale, and then cover the salad. Refrigerate and allow the kale to soften for at least an hour, but optimally 4-6 hours.
Step 3: When ready to serve, top the salad with cooked (and cooled) quinoa, avocado, spiralized beets, cucumber, and blueberries. Toss the salad to serve.
Tips for the BEST Kale Salads
How to Store: Store leftovers in an air tight container for up to 3 days. The kale will retain texture even after dressed and possibly just get better over the next couple of days!
If you know you won’t be eating the whole salad and plan on keeping it for meals later on, keep the avocado out of the salad and add it to serve to prevent it from browning or getting too soft.
- Sub the fruit: I’ve also made this salad with cherries instead of blueberries. I imagine strawberries or raspberries would be just as delicious as well!
- Make it Paleo/Whole30: Omit the quinoa, or sub cooked and cooled cauliflower rice.
Other Summery Kale Salad Recipes:
- Peach and Avocado Kale Salad, by Sunkissed Kitchen
- Summer Superfood Kale Salad, by Sunkissed Kitchen
- Blood Orange Kale Salad, by Sunkissed Kitchen
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Kale Salad with Quinoa and Blueberries
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale lacinato or Tuscan
- 1 cup quinoa cooked (from 1/2 cup of dry quinoa) and cooled
- 2 cups blueberries
- 1 English cucumber sliced
- 1 avocado
- 2 beets spiralized
Basil Balsamic Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups fresh basil
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add all dressing ingredients to a blender and pulse until basil is chopped fine.
- Cut the kale in bite sized pieces. Pour dressing on the kale, and massage dressing into the kale. Refrigerate the salad covered for at least 1 hour, but optimally 4-6 hours.
- Add the rest of the ingredients into the salad and serve. The salad is great on days 2 and 3 because the kale and beets stay firm and soak in the flavors of the dressing.
Video
Notes
- Sub the fruit: I’ve also made this salad with cherries instead of blueberries. I imagine strawberries or raspberries would be just as delicious as well!
- Make it Paleo/Whole30: Omit the quinoa, or sub cooked and cooled cauliflower rice.
- Lower the Carbs: Sub cooked and cooled cauliflower rice in place of the quinoa to lower the carbs in this recipe.Â
What a gorgeous and nutritious salad! The dressing is almost exactly what I put on my salads everyday: olive oil, vinegar and salt. No bought salad dressings for my family!
I don’t even like store bought dressings– plus, they are so full of sodium and often sugar as well! Best to spend your money on good quality oils and vinegars 🙂
I think every age would devour this salad. It would be great for huge groups and potlucks. Safe travels!
Thanks Ginny. It’s a great salad — full of all my favorites.
Such a great salad, I would be the same. Taking all the spiralized beets, they are so joyful
What gorgeous colours. They are positively leaping off the screen at me. I’ve not tried spiralling beets, but I’m pretty sure I’d like them.
They are amazing. And so much faster than just grating them for salads!
Such a great and nutritious salad, I love everything about this salad!
Thanks Jagruti! I love everything about it as well 🙂
Love kale and blueberry combination. A perfect summer salad!
This looks delicious! And so healthy. I’m always trying to get my husband to eat like this. Yum yum!
My husband loves salads like this. He isn’t the biggest fan of lettuce, but he love kale and cabbage and tons of mix ins like in this one 🙂
Can a salad be any better for you? Such a pretty dish too.
I just love the pop of blueberries with the kale! Perfect balance!
Thanks Rebecca. I just haven’t been able to get enough berries this summer 🙂 On EVERYTHING!
What a showstopping salad! I love the added blueberries.
Thanks Kate! This salad is beautiful– I’ve taken it to some BBQs and everyone picks the beet “noodles” out of it– such a simple way to elevate a salad!
Do you spiralize the beets cooked or uncooked?
I spiralize them raw! They are so good like that. I hope you enjoy!
This is beautiful!
Thank you! Nourishing and delicious 🙂
I added some toasted sunflower seeds & and handful of raisins too. It was great!
This looks amazing and easy to make; I can’t wait to try it.
Ingredients look so pretty, shall I mix them into the kale or live them on the top. What do you suggest? Eva from Vancouver, Canada
I mix them in! We have been making this salad all summer long — it’s a popular one at parties!
This looks so good! The dressing looks versatile enough to use on lots of other things too!
Thanks for sharing! Does the dressing keep long?
Anything with beets automatically calls my name so I had to try this one! In my biased opinion the beets make this salad. It’s got a great taste that is tangy and yet does not overwhelm the taste buds. Thank you for this one!
Beyond delicious!! Maybe my favorite salad ever! I’d lick this dressing off an old boot if I had too.
Best comment ever 🙂 My family loves this salad. I’ve started hiding some of the beet in the bottom of hte bowl because everyone takes it off the top 🙂
I liked the salad overall, but the avocado just added a weird texture to the salad that didn’t feel like it belonged. Would remake without avocado, and maybe sub in some feta. The funkiness of the cheese might balance the sweetness.
Made this for a luncheon party today , it was excellent and very attractive with so many colors!
So glad you enjoyed this! My family loves it for summer gatherings. Everyone fights over the beets — I’ve started making the salad with about 1/3 of the bowl of spiralized beets 🙂