This Winter Kale Brussels Sprouts Salad will brighten up any cold day. Filled with sweet fruit, warm roasted veggies, and crunchy nuts, the salad bowl will be empty after dinner.
Also try this Asian Cabbage Salad or this Kale Blueberry Quinoa Salad!
Contents
A Delicious Whole30 Salad
This salad not only is beautiful and full of nutritious ingredients, it’s delicious!
Shredded kale and brussels sprouts add tons of green power, and all the toppings add a burst of flavor and texture.
The dressing is super simple — oil, vinegar, and citrus juices. The key to making a flavorful kale salad is to massage the dressing ingredients into the greens, and then allow it to sit. The kale and brussels sprouts will soften in the acidic dressing and soak in all the flavor.
You’ll Love this Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad Because:
- Toppings! The array of winter additions to this salad are visually stunning, add a variety of vitamins and minerals, and are a great variety of textures.
- Green power — we all need a little boost to our immune systems these days, and greens provide fiber, folate, iron, calcium, and vitamins C and K, all which contribute to strong immune function.
- Prep once, enjoy for days. This salad just gets better on day 2 and 3, so make a large batch and enjoy it for lunches the next couple of days. Add a piece of grilled fish or some leftover chicken for a perfect satisfying meal/
How to Make a Shredded Kale Salad
Step 1: Add the shredded kale and brussels sprouts to a bowl. You can use a food processor or a mandolin to shred the brussels sprouts. You can also use a very sharp knife but it takes a bit longer if you have to shred them by hand! Be sure the sprouts are finely shredded so they aren’t too tough to eat raw.
Pour the dressing ingredients over the shredded greens, and use your hands to massage the dressing in. Refrigerate for at least an hour, up to overnight.
Step 2: Add the sliced butternut squash to a baking pan, and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 3: When ready to serve, top the greens with purple cabbage, pomegranate arils, orange segments, roasted butternut squash, and hazelnuts. Toss the salad just before serving.
If making this salad ahead of time, keep the hazelnuts off to the side and just add as ready to enjoy.
Tips for this Vibrant Winter Kale Salad
- Save time: Buy pre-cut butternut squash and pomegranate arils at Costco or Trader Joe’s if you need to put this salad together quickly. Also, the Kale and Brussels Sprouts greens bag at Costco can be subbed for the kale, brussels sprouts and cabbage in this recipe.
- Make it Ahead: This salad is best if made ahead! It’s wonderful even the next day. I suggest making this 4-5 hours ahead, but the night ahead works well too! If you can, add the roasted butternut squash and nuts right before serving.
Other Delicious Kale Salad Recipes:
- Blood Orange Kale Salad, by Sunkissed Kitchen
- Kale Salad with Blueberries and Quinoa, by Sunkissed Kitchen
- Golden Beet and Raspberry Kale Salad, by Sunkissed Kitchen
I’d love to connect with you on social media! Find me on Facebook or Instagram where I post daily healthy eating and lifestyle inspiration.
Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale chopped
- 10-12 brussels sprouts thinly shredded
- 2 cups red cabbage shredded
- 1/2 butternut squash peeled and cut in thin slices
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup pomegranate arils
- 1 navel orange peeled and segmented
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds toasted, optional
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts toasted and chopped (use 1/2 cup if omitting almonds)
Citrus Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
- Add all dressing ingredients to a blender or jar, and mix together well.
- Destem kale, and then very thinly slice. Add to a salad bowl.
- Use a mandolin or food processor to very thinly slice brussels sprouts, and add to the kale.
- Pour dressing over kale and sprouts, and massage in to completely coat, and then cover the salad and allow to soak for 4-5 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Peel butternut, cut into quarters lengthwise, and then thinly slice squash. Add to a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and lightly season with sea salt and black pepper.
- Roast squash for 25 minutes.
- Prepare pomegranate by removing arils (see a tip for doing this mess free ).
- Prepare the orange by slicing the skin and pith off around the orange, then cutting out the segments.
- Thinly slice red cabbage.
- When ready to serve the salad, toss the red cabbage into the kale mixture, then top the salad with warm squash, pomegranate, oranges, and nuts.
Video
Notes
- Save time:Â Buy pre-cut butternut squash and pomegranate arils at Costco or Trader Joe’s if you need to put this salad together quickly. Also, the Kale and Brussels Sprouts greens bag at Costco can be subbed for the kale, brussels sprouts and cabbage in this recipe.
- Make it Ahead:Â This salad is best if made ahead! It’s wonderful even the next day. I suggest making this 4-5 hours ahead, but the night ahead works well too! If you can, add the roasted butternut squash and nuts right before serving
- Substitutions: Use raspberries instead of pomegranate. Rings of delicata squash work well here. Try all kale if you don’t want to take the time to shred the brussels sprouts. We also love pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds in kale salads.
I’m loving everything about this! Looks so fresh and flavorful! Love that it’s Whol30 friendly too!!
I’m so jealous that you’re going down under… I don’t have vacation until May and frankly, it’s with family I’d rather not go with (don’t tell) This salad is chock full of everything I like, I’m definitely giving this a go this week! Yum!
Aus is always a good time! I am looking forward to summer after the record breaking snow falls in Oregon this year. This salad is the salad of my dreams– I love it so much. Craving it again!
Your salad looks super delicious and healthy and packed with nutrition. A must try, for me.
It’s so good! So many flavors and textures. I hope you try it.
Vibrant is right! What an absolutely amazing looking salad. So colorful and delicious, I’d devour that entire bowl.
It’s a huge salad, but I certainly did some damage on it!
So many stunning beautiful colours and fabulous flavours, lovely dish!
Thanks Brian!
There is nothing better than a bowl of warm salad on a cold winter day. Yours is packed with goodness! So many veggies + nuts. Deliciousness!
This salad looks heavenly. I’m loving the roasted butternut squash in it!
Kale and Brussels Sprouts are 2 of my favorite things! This salad looks to die for!
Oh My!! That salad looks delicious. I can eat that whole big bowl.
Yeah, right?! I love salads with so much going on.
As the worlds biggest lover of Brussel Sprouts I had to give this one a try. The butternut squash was amazing on this and I can’t wait to try some out of my garden vs the store-bought. Thank you for this one…delicious! 🙂