Sweet Kale Salad Recipe with Squash and Candied Hazelnuts (2024)

Medically reviewed by Abbey Sharp, Registered Dietitian (RD), BASc.

This sweet kale salad recipe with squash & candied hazelnuts is the perfect blend of sweet, salty, and tangy flavour! It is as flavourful as it is beautiful and makes for the perfect vegetarian lunch meal.

You know the saying “we eat with our eyes“? Truer words could not be used to describe this beautiful salad that I am about to throw your way. So if you love a flavourful salad that has the perfect blend of sweet, salty, and tangy, then I am about to make all your salad dreams come true!

This sweet kale salad recipe with squash and candied hazelnuts feels like a fancy-shmancy salad that you could only get at a good restaurant. So I am going to help you bring restaurant quality meals right into the comfort of your own home and this sweet kale salad is perfect for exactly that!

Why This Recipe Works

Besides being a perfect meal or side dish for date night – this salad is amazing in more ways than one! Here are a few more reasons why we are loving this recipe.

• Gluten Free
• Vegetarian
• High protein
• High fibre
• Loaded with sweet & salty flavour!

Key Ingredients

Kale – For this recipe, we like to use Cavolo Nero or Dinosaur kale but realistically any kale will work! To ensure that this salad is extra delicious and has the perfect texture, we recommend massaging the dressing into the kale to help soften its tough fibers.

Squash – We use delicata squash for this recipe because what is a winter salad without some winter squash? Plus, even just thinking about roasted delicata squash makes my mouth water so you know we had to add it into this salad. If delicata squash isn’t in season for you, then you can substitute for butternut squash or summer squash.

Beets – Like we said, we eat with our eyes, and beets play a huge role in that! It doesn’t really matter whether you use golden, candy cane, or red beets for this sweet kale salad recipe – as long as it looks like you’re eating a literal rainbow, then we’re good. There is also something about the combo of beets and feta that are an absolute must in my books.

Apple & Pomegranate – So we are calling this a sweet kale salad for a reason, and thats all thanks to the addition of honey crisp apples and pomegranate arils. They also add amazing crunchy texture (and colour!) to the salad, as well.

How to Make This Recipe

Step 1: Mix together the hazelnuts, cinnamon, salt, maple and sugar. Toss until well coated. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake another 5 minutes or until golden brown all over. Allow to cool for 30-60 minutes. Set aside.

Step 2: Drizzle the squash with one tablespoon of the oil and toss with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes, and flip. Add the onion, along with another tablespoon of oil and return back to the oven for another 10-15 minutes until the onion and squash are golden brown and tender.

Step 3: In a bowl mix together the dressing ingredients.

Step 4: Massage dressing into the kale for 2-3 minutes.

Step 5: Top with additional ingredients and drizzle with additional dressing.

Expert Tips

One of the best short cuts to using pomegranate in this recipe (or any recipe), is to purchase the already deseeded arils – you can find them fresh or frozen. Otherwise, you can purchase the whole pomegranate fruit and deseed at home, which is a little more laborious. However, we have an easy hack that can help to speed this process along.

One of the easiest ways to deseed a pomegranate is by cutting the pomegranate into quarters and submerging it into a bowl with water. You can then start to peel the skin back and gently pull the seeds out.

Another expert tip for making this salad taste super delish, is to make sure you are massaging your kale! Like I said earlier, massaging the kale will help to break down the tough fibres, which will help to make it easier to chew and digest. In addition, massaging the kale with the dressing will also help to infuse more flavour into the kale.

Recipe FAQs

More Recipes You Might Like

If you loved this sweet kale salad recipe, then you’re gonna love these salads on the blog!

• Best Avocado Dressing
• Roasted Broccoli Salad with Tahini Dressing
• No Cook Tuna Greek Salad
• Shrimp Avocado Salad with Mango

What are your go-to winter salads these days? I’d love to know!

Did you love this sweet kale salad? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!