Tahini Kale Salad With Avocado
This easy kale salad recipe is a nutritious dish to serve at your next plant-based party. It’s so tasty, no one will know it’s healthy, too!
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It’s so amazing when you have a salad that’s both nourishing and crave-worthy, and this Tahini Kale Salad checks all the boxes. Tender kale leaves are massaged with a zesty lemon-tahini dressing that’s creamy without the cream. Add buttery avocado, crisp red onions, and a handful of toasted walnuts, and you’ve got a salad that’s as satisfying as it is wholesome.
This one’s a go-to in my kitchen, whether I’m meal prepping for the week or tossing together a quick lunch. It’s hearty enough to stand alone, but also pairs beautifully with cozy soups and sandwiches.
Ingredients & Substitutions
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
- Kale — I like curly kale that you can find in the produce section of most grocery stores. See more on kale below.
- Avocado — You’ll need one avocado.
- Red onion — I like the red onion for this recipe because of its flavor and color. You can substitute green onion or a mild yellow onion.
- Nuts — Any number of nuts or seeds are great additions to this recipe, such as walnuts, pecans, and pumpkin seeds.
- Lemon juice — You can use fresh or bottled lemon juice or substitute apple cider vinegar or lime juice.
- Tahini — Personally, I think tahini (sesame paste) is the best. You can find it in the international aisle or sometimes in the health food section of grocery stores. You can substitute almond butter or sunflower seed butter.
- Maple syrup — You can substitute agave nectar.
- Olive oil — I prefer olive oil, but you can substitute another neutral vegetable oil such as avocado oil.
- Salt & Pepper — Season your salad with a bit of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
You can add a teaspoon or two of dried mustard powder to the dressing. This will add flavor to the dressing and the mustard makes the nutrients in the kale more bioavailable. [Source]
What Kale is Best for Kale Salad?
Look for green bunches of kale that have crisp leaves. Choosing kale with smaller leaves can be perfect for salads, as they can be more tender and have a milder flavor. Avoid bunches that have yellowed or browned leaves. Red kale (with a purple stalk) also offers a more mild flavor. I prefer curly kale because it’s readily available. Be sure to cut your kale first and then rinse it to help remove any bitter taste.
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- Allowing the kale to marinate with the sauce tenderizes it, making it a tasty salad
- Black pepper is more than a garnish, it actually increases the bioavailability of the kale’s nutrients
- Avocado infuses this salad with healthy fats, making every bite nutritious but also delicious!
How to Make Raw Kale Salad
This has become one of my favorite salads to make. I even serve it during the holidays in place of my vegan seven-layer salad. That’s saying something because that layered salad is a family favorite! It just shows how creamy and decadent this salad is.
Here are more detailed step-by-step instructions to make it perfect every time.
Step One: Prepare the Kale
- Tear or cut the leaves away from the thick stalks.
- Discard the stalks and place the leaves in a large bowl.
- Rinse and drain the leaves.
- Tap the kale dry with paper towels or a kitchen towel.
- Tear or chop the leaves into small, bite-size pieces, resulting in 4 to 6 cups of kale.
America’s Test Kitchen explains that by rinsing kale after it’s cut you can eliminate some of its bitterness.
Step Two: Prepare the Veggies
- Skin the avocado and remove the pit, then cut it into bite-size cubes
- Peel and chop the red onion until you achieve a sufficient quantity
- Chop the nuts into small pieces (if using walnuts or pecans).
Step Three: Prepare the Kale Salad Dressing
Prepare the dressing by whisking the ingredients together in a bowl.
Step Four: Make the Salad and Chill
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and gently stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate the salad for at least an hour, but up to overnight.
Marly’s Tips
The secret to a great kale salad is letting the dressing infuse into the greens. Because kale is so hardy, it can handle marinating with the dressing for a while.
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to serve this salad? Toss in some crunchy garlic croutons to balance the greens. So good!
You can also serve this salad as a side with any of the following:
- Black Bean Burgers
- Vegan Naan Bread
- Cassava Flour Pizza
- Hemp Burgers
- Vegan Chicken
- Vegan Cottage Cheese is an excellent companion dish for this salad.
Storage Tips
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. This salad is not recommended for freezing.
This recipe was adapted with permission by Kathy Patalsky. Kathy at Healthy Happy Life. She’s also the founder of Finding Vegan, a recipe-sharing site for vegan recipes.
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Tahini Kale Salad with Avocado
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 small avocado, peeled, pit removed, and diced
- ½ cup diced red onion
- 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
Lemon Tahini Dressing
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice (substitute apple cider vinegar or lime juice)
- 2 tablespoons tahini (substitute nut or seed butter)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ⅕ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅕ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Tear or cut the leaves away from the thick stalks. Discard the stalks and place the leaves in a large bowl. Rinse and drain the leaves. Drain the water and tap the kale dry with paper towels or a kitchen towel. Tear or chop the leaves into small, bite-size pieces, resulting in 4 to 6 cups of kale.
- Place the kale, avocado, nuts, and onion in a large bowl.
For the Tahini Dressing
- Prepare the dressing by combining the ingredients in a bowl, and whisking until combined.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad and stir until all the pieces of kale are coated.
- Cover and refrigerate the salad for at least 1 hour and up to overnight to allow the dressing to infuse the kale.
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Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
More Vegan Salads
This massaged kale salad is the best! Here are even more vegan salads you’ll enjoy:
Here are even more vegan salad recipes to get your refreshing meal game going strong!
Frequently-Asked Questions
Is kale salad keto-friendly?
You can make a kale salad keto-friendly by using a zero-calorie sweetener in place of maple syrup. Or serve it savory without any sweetener at all. Either way, you’re looking at a salad with less than 10 net grams of carbs.
Is raw kale good for you?
Raw kale is highly nutritious and thus a healthy part of your diet. Kale is a cruciferous vegetable, meaning that it’s a low-calorie green that is loaded with minerals and vitamins.
Can I add more dressing?
If you have a big bunch of kale or you love the dressing and want more of it, you can double the dressing to infuse this salad with an even more creamy flavor.
This post was originally published in 2015 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
About the Author
Hi! I’m Marly McMillen. I’m the founding editor, author, recipe developer, vegan home chef, and food stylist behind Namely Marly. I’m so grateful to you and every member of my audience for your support and dedication. More about Namely Marly ›
7 Responses to Tahini Kale Salad With Avocado
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Giving up cottage cheese was the most difficult for me.
When I’m shopping at Costco and I’m hungry I sometimes have vegetarian samples. But I’ve only done that once this year and stayed with only vegan samples most of the time.
My biggest challenge when I started out was that I was having to make two meals a night in order to accomodate my stepson. Now we all eat vegan at home!
Like so many people, the hardest part of going vegan for me was giving up cheese. And now, I don’t even miss it!
The biggest challenge was that my spouse was not supportive. Otherwise, going vegan was easy!
This salad sounds really delicious. Been looking for salad dressing recipes so I can start making my own so the recipe for the dressing is really a plus.
Biggest problem was resistance from my family… didn’t want to eat what I’d make.