Deb’s Kale Salad with Apple, Cranberries and Pecans
This flavorful, vegetarian kale salad is loaded with Granny Smith apple, cranberries, pecans, radish and goat cheese, tossed in honey mustard dressing.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on November 20, 2025
Kale salads make me happy. They’re a staple in my diet, like boots are in my wardrobe, and I’ll never tire of them. This recipe was the fourth kale salad to appear on my blog, and it’s still a favorite over ten years later. I’m sharing it again today with updated photos.
This beautiful salad is full of crunch from crisp apple, radishes and pecans, studded with sweet dried cranberries and tangy crumbled goat cheese, and tossed in a zippy honey-mustard dressing. It’s a fantastic combination that has garnered well over 100 five-star reviews!
This recipe is hearty and holiday-worthy. I’ve made it for my family’s Thanksgiving, served it at girls’ night, and enjoyed it on a regular weeknight. Kale salads are great to keep in the fridge for quick and healthy meals, since kale doesn’t wilt like more delicate greens.
There are a few tricks to making a kale salad taste really great, which I’ve elaborated on here. My number one tip is to massage the kale—watch the video below to see how! I’m thrilled every time I convert someone to a kale salad fan.
This recipe came from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. I made a few alterations to Deb’s kale salad recipe, given the season and what I had in stock in my pantry.
I added a chopped Granny Smith apple and traded dried cranberries for the dried cherries. I also used apple cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar, though I’m not sure I can really taste the difference in the end.
Watch How to Make Deb’s Kale Salad
More Kale Salads to Enjoy
Here are a few more kale salads suitable for fall and winter:
- Autumn Kale Salad with Fennel, Honeycrisp and Goat Cheese
- Balsamic Butternut, Kale and Cranberry Panzanella
- Farro and Kale Salad with Goat Cheese
- Lemony Kale Salad
- Southwestern Kale Power Salad
Please let me know how Deb’s salad turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Deb’s Kale Salad with Apple, Cranberries and Pecans
This hearty, holiday-worthy raw kale salad is made with chopped Granny Smith apple, cranberries, toasted pecans and goat cheese, tossed in a zippy honey mustard dressing. It’s both vegetarian and gluten free. Recipe yields 4 to 6 salads.
Ingredients
Salad
- ½ cup pecan halves
- 8 ounces kale (I used regular curly green kale, but Deb recommends Cavolo Nero or Lacinato, Dinosaur or Tuscan Kale)
- 4 to 5 medium radishes
- ½ cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
- 1 medium Granny Smith apple
- 2 ounces soft goat cheese, chilled
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoons honey or maple syrup
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spread the pecans on a baking tray. Toast them until lightly golden and fragrant, about 5 to 10 minutes, tossing them once or twice to make sure they bake evenly. Remove the tray from the oven and set them aside to cool.
- Pull the kale leaves off from the tough stems and discard the stems. Use a chef’s knife to chop the kale into small, bite-sized pieces. Transfer the kale to a big salad bowl. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the kale and massage the leaves with your hands by lightly scrunching big handfuls at a time until the leaves are darker in color and fragrant.
- Thinly slice the radishes (this is easier to do if you first chop off the root end so you can place the base of the radish flat against your cutting board). Add them to the bowl.
- Coarsely chop the pecans and cranberries and add them to the bowl. Chop the apple into small, bite-sized pieces and add it to the bowl. Use a fork to crumble the goat cheese over the top.
- In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour the dressing over the salad. Toss until the salad is evenly coated with dressing. Serve immediately, or for even better flavor, let the salad marinate for 10 to 20 minutes beforehand. This salad keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days.
Notes
Recipe adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman.
Make it vegan: Omit the goat cheese, and use maple syrup instead of honey in the dressing.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Delicious and easy. I love kale salads, but needed a kick in the pants with something new. This is it! Vegan is just fine.
Yours and Deb’s are my favorite, go-to food blogs. So making this salad was an homage to both of you, and oh-so-delicious!
I love to hear that, Tori! Thanks for your review.
I absolutely Loved this salad . I skipped the radish and used walnuts because thats what I had in the pantry. It was SO GOOD!!!
I used to tolerate kale rather than like it. And only when cooked. Thanks to your witty tricks to make a kale salad really tasty, now I do love (your) kale salads! And agree with all the mentioned above statements/benefits!
You’re welcome! It’s all about preparation.
I brought this to Thanksgiving last year. It was the first dish to be emptied! Everyone asked for the recipe. I’ve been asked to bring a double-batch today. This is delicious!
This was a hit at Thanksgiving! Even won over a few family members to the joys of kale. Skipped the radishes. Leftovers were good too. Thank you for another great recipe!
Great to hear, Cecilia! Thanks for sharing.
Can you make the dressing and store in refrigerator for a few days?
yes!
I will try this recipe
I’m so grateful to have stumbled upon your site. Trying to become 100% vegetarian, while also trying to lose weight. Still eat chicken and occasionally turkey and some fish but really want to cut it out completely. I gained weight when trying to go vegetarian because of all the mistakes I’m sure you know I made without me having to tell you. Anyway…I’m trying to eat more hearty salads. I love kale salad. Not crazy about goat cheese though. Any suggestions for a a sub. This looks delicious even without cheese. Thank you again. Going to be making your veg chili tomorrow.
I’m happy you found it, too! I hope you love the blog, Erika.
Boursin is my go-to sub for goat cheese.
Try feta? I’m sure cheddar would work. Or just skip the cheese entirely!
This salad was big hit for our Thanksgiving. Many family members were hesitant as they are not familiar with kale but everyone loved this salad. I also brought to work for a potluck and received rave reviews. I am now addicted and crave this salad frequently.
Wonderful it was a hit, AJ! Thank you for your review.
I love this salad! You can’t even taste the radishes, so use them, it makes the salad prettier. I think I’ll make a bottle of the dressing to keep in the fridge.
This is a terrific salad. I have subbed the cranberries with dates and added cucumber pieces and no matter how we vary it, we love it!
Great to hear, Pat! Thank you for sharing.
If you want a prettier salad use both red and green kale. I also like to add chia seeds and sprouted beans, as my hubby has high cholesterol and needs to eat more fiber.
I’ve made this twice this week. Best kale salad I’ve ever made! Thanks so much!
You’re welcome, Paulette!
Sooo delIcious. I grow my own kale indoors on a Tower Garden and it is not bitter at all and the leaves I just pull apart and no washing. I used red pepper instead of the radish as I had none. I used dried blueberries as I had no cranberries. No goat cheese. It was the best ever and loads of complements…Thank you, I will try your others.
This is one of the best salads I have ever made. It’s crunchy, the ingredients go really well together and the salad dressing is yummy. I took it to a church function and the bowl was empty in 10 minutes. Thank you for this great recipe.
This salad is insanely good! My 12 year old son loves it too. The addition of the dried cherries is a great suggestion. -Jessica, a fellow Kansas Citian
Skipped the radishes and used feta instead of goat cheese. Yummy! Thank you!
Delicious salad. We skipped the radishes because we didn’t have them but otherwise made it as written.
Thank you for sharing, Romy!
This is my go to for potlucks! Everyone likes it and it’s a nice changed from a traditional salad. Definitely a favorite in our home!
This salad was delicious! I only made a few changes because of what I had on hand (didn’t have radishes and only had almonds) I also added red onion because I LOVE them but the combination of apples, onions, goat cheese and that amazing dressing were SO GOOD. This is now our go-to kale salad and my husband asks me to make it weekly. Thank you!
That sounds delicious, Nicole! thank you for sharing.
Love this salad. I used picked radishes.
Can you substitute spinach and micro greens for the kale?
You could, although it wouldn’t hold up quite as well if you are storing for later.
I loved this dish very tasty. I change a few things though. I used walnuts and pacanes, Feta cheese, Fresh grapes instead of the cranberries and added cucumber it was soooo tasty. By the way your dressing is exactly like my secret dressing did you put a camera in my kitchen? Ah Ah!
Thank you for sharing! I’m happy we thought alike!
Great Salad, I left out the radishes and used carrots and it was great. I had to leave out the goat cheese due to dairy intolerance but I bet it would be even better with the goat cheese.
It is now the bases of all my kale salads. I have used different dressings and I also added broccoli. Thanks
I’m glad you loved it even without the cheese! Thank you for sharing, Geri. I appreciate your review.
I make this all the time. I’m always generous with the goat cheese. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks for the tips on kale! We are on keto and even though this was a little more carbs, it was definitely worth it.
Loved this! And I didn’t have the cheese so I just left it out, can only imagine how good it would be with cheese added. I added about 2 table spoons of pumpkin seeds.
Yummy – Just sent it to my mum too.
Thanks
I am not a kale lover but I received some in my produce box and made this salad. Now I am a kale salad lover! We left off the goat cheese and used some honey roasted pecans because that is what we had and it was so good! My husband, who never wants a salad scrapped the bowl clean!
AMAZING!!
We absolutely loved this salad at our. We will definitely make this salad again.
Wonderful, Carina!
This salad was EXCELLENT. I’d never heard of lightly crumpling the kale but I think it made a big difference.
I used fresh kale from my own garden, subbed pecans for walnuts, added thin cucumber slices, no cheese, and OMG it was delicious. Will absolutely make again.
Thank you!
This recipe turned out very well! Had to use almonds instead of pecans and a Golden Delicious apple instead of Granny Smith but we still finished off the double recipe. Will definitely make this again, in fact may never buy the packaged Kale, Cranberry and pumpkin seed salad again. I think the apple cider vinegar was the perfect touch.
My family loved this salad. It has such a rich flavor. My husband says it’s like an expensive restaurant look and taste. We will be eating it often. Who knew that kale could taste so good. Thank you.
My family is trying to have more plant based meals. I tried it and loved it. (I’m not the UK Prime minister.)
OMG! This salad is to die for, Kate!! It’s absolutely amazing and the dressing too is so so good I just kept having spoonfuls whilst eating the salad. I did however used pears and walnuts and made the dressing with maple syrup. Thank you so much for sharing this…, I can have this for breakfast, lunch and dinner
Why the goats cheese
Don’t like it
This is my go to kale salad recipe. It has made kale converts of so many of my family and friends including my husband and 18 year old son! The massaging makes a world of difference. I modify it sometimes adding red onion or different nuts, but this recipe is perfect as is.
Delicious and I used to hate kale ….. not anymore ! Thanks for the recipe
My husband just made this for dinner yesterday, and I was so excited I would be able to take the leftovers as my lunch the following day! He used Pink Lady apples and substituted raisins for the cranberries and feta for the goat cheese. He also left out the maple syrup/honey from the dressing. Amazing combo! I’m so happy he found your recipe!
Kale is not my favorite but I put it in my gardenevery year to use with other lettuce in salads. My other lettuces are done but the kale is still coming so I tried this recipe tonight and it was delicious! I will definitely be making it again. The amounts were just right.
I’m working on liking kale (and other dark & leafys). I’ve only made it sautéed or in smoothies and have been nervous to try it other ways (especially raw, gasp). So I googled Kale Salad to look for the highest rated that looked yummy and found this one from C+K. I’ve tried other recipes of yours that I loved, and after reading your post and your tips I said ok I’ll try it. Made yesterday, for lunches today. Husband and I were both nervous to try it, but we did and O.M.G. Seriously. This for sure is one of my favorite salads ever, and I promptly pinned all your other kale salads to start exploring more. I knew you said that you wanted to convert every visitor to your site into a kale salad lover – so I just wanted you to know – you have for SURE done that for me and my husband. Thank you for taking the time to explain the nuance and the details and express your passion for kale salad in such a way that I was excited enough to get over my nervousness – and have now found a way to LOVE eating kale. I’m growing kale and radishes in my garden right now! Thank you.
Hello. Just want to chime in that this is my favorite kale salad. I make it with curly red kale and sometimes use walnuts instead of pecans. The best! Also use goat cheese with peppercorns in. The salad dressing, too, is fantastic with other salads, makes everything lighter and brighter. Good on coleslaw, simple green salads, etc. Thanks so much, Kate, for all your wonderful recipes. I particularly gravitate to the soups and salads. Your tahini dressing, too, is my standard, perfect balance of flavors. Best, Oriana
This was LOVELY, thanks!
You’re welcome, Richard! Thank you for your review.
I made it with cherries, fresh blackberries, and sliced almonds. Super yummy! I’m not normally one who would eat kale but this is sure tasty! I love that you massage the kale so it isn’t as prickly feeling in your mouth or as hard to digest. Thanks!
Sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing, Kathy.
This was a fantastic salad! I made it as written, using cherries.
I’ve already messaged my mom to tell her I know which salad I’m bringing for Thanksgiving.
I’ve made a few of your other recipes and have been pleased with them all. I tell people I’m not a good cook – I just find good recipes. Thank you for this site!!
I just made this with a few substitutes sunflower seeds instead of pecans, celery instead of radish and red pears instead of apple and it’s still great. What I think makes it great is the fact it was the first time I made Kale Salad properly. It was the salting and the massaging that made all the difference. Thank you so much I now know how to make a great salad.
Thank you for sharing your modifications, Mell! I appreciate your review.
Wonderful! Even my husband will eat this kale.
Hooray! That’s great, Nan. Thank you for your review.
Is there something you would recommend as a substitute for the mustard in the dressing?
I am gluten free, and for some reason, mustard bothers me.
Hi Kate, it does impact the flavor a lot. You can try to omit it or try mayo? Let me know what you think. I haven’t tried it, but may help with the creamy texture.
Thank you , SO DELICIOUS JUST FINISH BE BETTER TOMORROW
Really tasty and great seasonal salad. I forgot to add the goat cheese.which I will next time which will really step it up a notch.
Delicious – I even burnt the pecans a little and it was still delicious!
Can’t fault it – I usually only follow recipes quite loosely and improvise a fair bit but I followed this to the letter and NO regrets!!!
Love this salad! Absolutely, love the goat cheese in it. Flavor explosion. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you! I’m delighted to hear that.
I am so in love with this salad! I discovered your recipe last fall and have had it at least once, sometimes twice, a week since October! I think about the next time we get to have it after we have just had it. LOL. My husband has even requested it (and he is not a fresh kale fan). Thank you!!
Can you make the dresssing ahead of time?
Sure! That should work fine. Let me know what you think, Jessica.