Chopped Kale Salad with Apples and Hazelnuts

A healthy chopped kale salad loaded with apples, toasted hazelnuts, crispy pancetta, a sprinkle of buttery panko breadcrumbs, fresh parmesan and lightly drizzled with a sweet and tangy apple cider vinaigrette.

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This is my favorite kale salad recipe. I can't even begin to tell you how many giant bowls of this chopped kale salad I've eaten over the years. It is just that good. It is a really simple kale salad recipe that comes together quickly. 

This salad is part of my mini series of apple recipes (that apple cider caramel sauce!). But instead of a dessert its a lighter, healthy recipe, a lemony chopped kale salad loaded with apples.

What is Tuscan kale?

Tuscan kale ( also known as dinosaur kale, lacinto kale, Italian kale black kale, palm leaf kale etc etc...), is the only kale I will eat. It took me a long time to come around to kale and I discovered I love it best when cut into thin ribbons, marinated with a little olive oil ( go for the GOOD stuff here -  I use Luigi Tega), a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a little kosher salt.

The kale is massaged with these three ingredients and then rested marinate for a bit.  The massaging helps soften the kale and take a little bit of the bitter edge away.

The kale salad is amazing just like this but I always like to go for more. I love loaded salads. 

Chopped kale salad ingredients:

I love textures in salads, especially crunch. I get crunch in this salad from three items: crispy pancetta, buttery panko breadcrumbs and freshly toasted and chopped hazelnuts.

The hazelnuts are from Italy and are hands down the best hazelnuts I have ever had. I order them from my friend David, whom I also order the Luigi Tega olive oil from as well. 

But first, let's start with the preparation of the kale. 

How do you make chopped kale salad?

Chopped kale is made by first stripping the leaves from the woody stems. I just hold on to the stem with one hand and with my other hand in a fist holding on below it, I run my hand down the stem to strip the leaves away. Takes a little practice but once you get the hang of it, it is super easy.

I trim away any stems I missed. The trimmed leaves get places in my salad spinner bowl to rinse and drain. You can do this step with the whole leaves, trimmed or chopped. This step is up to you. 

I then roll the cut kale leaves up and thinly slice into one to two inch long strips.

What is massaged kale?

The chopped raw kale is a pretty high volume of kale before being massaged. This is why I use a large bowl. Because the volume decreases after marinating and massaging.

This is also why I use 4-5 large bunches of kale for this salad recipe. This recipe makes big bowls of salad. 

The kale strips get placed in a large bowl. Once all chopped and added in, I add in the olive oil, lemon juice and salt. 

Since this kale apple salad recipe has an apple cider vinaigrette, I don't use as much olive oil or lemon juice that I would if only using those two ingredients as the dressing. You can see here how much the volume of the kale has dropped after being massaged with the oil, lemon and salt.

You could make this step of the recipe ahead of time. The kale will stay nice and fresh in the refrigerator this way, kept in a sealed container or even a bowl like this one covered with plastic wrap for a few days. 

Now it's time to prep the rest of the chopped kale salad ingredients:

• While the kale is marinating - I make the panko breadcrumbs, crispy up the pancetta and toast and chop the hazelnuts as well as make the apple cider vinaigrette. 
• Prep the apples - Core and chop the apples then drizzle with lemon juice to keep them from browning before being added to the salad.
• For the panko breadcrumbs - Add panko with a little butter and salt to a sauté pan and stir until butter is melted and the panko starts to turn more golden in color. This only takes a few minutes.
• To make crispy pancetta - Take 8 ounces of diced pancetta and cook until crisp in a pan ( love using my cast iron pans for this step) then I transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain off the excess oil. You could use bacon in place of pancetta, just dice into small pieces before cooking.  Or you can omit this to keep the salad vegetarian. 
• For the toasted hazelnuts - Toast the hazelnuts whole in a sauté pan on the stove, stir them occasionally, keeping a close eye so they don't burn. Once toasted, cool before roughly chopping.
• Make the vinaigrette - Blend up the apple cider vinaigrette ingredients.

What ingredients are in apple cider vinaigrette?

• Shallot - I use one small or about two tablespoons chopped
• Garlic - just one clove here, don't want it to overpower
• Lemon juice - around a teaspoon, I usually use what is leftover from the lemon juice from the apples or for massaging the kale
• Apple Cider vinegar - no explanation needed here 
• Unfiltered Apple Cider - no added sweeteners or spices
• Dijon mustard - acts as a binder to keep it all emulsified 
• Maple syrup - just a touch of sweetness
• salt and pepper
• Olive oil - again, using the GOOD stuff - Luigi Tega

I love this apple cider vinaigrette with this chopped kale salad recipe. It works so well with all the rest of the ingredients. It is such a light dressing and it stores well in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

You can make this vinaigrette ahead of time and keep chilled before using. Just give it a good shake before drizzling over the salads.

Other delicious salad recipes to try:

Make it a meal:

Chopped Kale Salad Recipe:

Chopped Kale Salad with Apples and Hazelnuts

Shanna

A healthy chopped kale salad loaded with apples, toasted hazelnuts, crispy pancetta, a sprinkle of buttery panko breadcrumbs, fresh parmesan and lightly drizzled with a sweet and tangy apple cider vinaigrette.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Additional Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

For the massaged chopped kale:

• 4-6 large bunches of Tuscan Kale 12-15 cups of kale - 800-1000 grams
• 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt

For the salad:

• 2-3 cups diced apple 3-4 apples, I used honeycrisp and granny smith, cored, no need to peel
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 cup hazelnuts toasted
• 8 ounces pancetta crisped
• ½ cup pankp breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

For the apple cider vinaigrette:

• 1 small shallot or 2 tablespoons chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar 57 grams
• ¼ cup unfiltered apple cider no added sweeteners or spices (57 grams)
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ⅔ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil I use Luigi Tega

Instructions

 

For the massaged chopped kale:

• 1. Strip the kale off of the stems and discard the stems ( add to compost pile/bin if you have one). 
• 2. Rinse and dry the kale leaves ( I use a salad spinner for this). 
• 3. Working with a handful of leaves at a time roll together, then slice into thin ribbons ( see photos in post). 
• 4. Add chopped kale to a large mixing bowl. Once all the kale is chopped drizzle with the tablespoon of olive oil, lemon juice and salt and massage well with your hands until all the kale is coated, softened in texture and reduced in size as well as turned a darker green. Set aside to marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Prepare the rest of the salad ingredients:

• 5. Core and dice the apple into centimeter sized pieces, drizzle with lemon juice to keep from browning. Drain the lemon juice before adding apples to salad. 
• 6. Crisp up the pancetta in a sauté or cast iron pan then transfer to a paper towel lined plate. This takes about 10 minutes. 
• 7. In another pan, toast the hazelnuts over medium heat until starting to change color then remove from heat. Once cooled, roughly chop.
• 8. In the same pan used for the hazelnuts,  melt the butter over medium heat, then add in the panko and salt, stir until the panko has turned more golden, season with salt, stir and transfer to a bowl. 

For the apple cider vinaigrette: 

• 1. Combine all the vinaigrette ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a jar or salad dressing bottle and keep chilled until ready to use. 

To assemble:

• 1. Add in the diced apples, pancetta, and hazelnuts and toss. Divide amongst serving bowls. Sprinkle with panko and a generous amount of parmesan cheese. 
• 2. Drizzle with the apple cider vinaigrette and serve.   You can always save some apple, hazelnuts and pancetta to sprinkle over the top instead of mixing all of them into the salad at once. 

Notes

If it’s your first time making this recipe then make sure you read all of the information in the main post as it includes lots of additional tips, as well as the answers to some common questions.

If you have any further questions then do let me know in the comments and or email me [email protected] and I’ll do my best to help.

If you choose to make substitutions to the recipe that I have not tested yet please do so at your own risk. I cannot guarantee the same results if you change a lot of the ingredients or method. However, if any of your changes are successful I would love to hear about it and will add to my recipe notes for other readers to try as well. 

You can eat this chopped kale salad with apples and hazelnuts as a hearty main course salad or as a side salad to any other main dish. It would be a great addition to a holiday meal. Let me know if you make this salad and any substitutions or additions you made.