I love this Kale Apple Salad! Kale, brussels sprouts, rosemary cashews, apples, fried bread cheese, crispy shallots, and crisp apple maple dressing!
Kale Apple Salad with Crispy Shallots
This recipe is part of our SOS Series, which is focused on easy recipes with 7 ingredients or less! I love this series because I love easy, actually good recipes – you can find the full collection here!
I love when I find salads that I actually really look forward to eating, and this kale apple salad is that for me! It is insanely good: finely shredded kale and brussels sprouts with sweet and crunchy chopped apples, rosemary cashews, fried garlic bread cheese, dried cranberries, and golden crispy shallots all covered in a crisp apple maple dressing.
In This Post: Everything You Need For Kale Apple Salad
Lindsay’s Notes
If I’m being honest, this salad started as just a vehicle for eating the garlic bread cheese from Trader Joe’s (whoops). But it has become so much more that that. This is currently my fall *anything* salad – as long as you’ve got your kale and brussels base, and some juicy apples and crispy shallots, the rest can be up to you.
Other add-ins I’ve tried:
- goat cheese
- rosemary walnut crispies (from this recipe)
- maple balsamic dressing (from this recipe)
- grilled or rotisserie chicken
My Thoughts on Cheese: Of course, the garlic bread cheese from Trader Joe’s is truly delightful and I would highly recommend it. But if you can’t get your hands on it, halloumi would be the next best thing! I like to pan fry it and add it to the salad while it’s soft and golden brown.
My Thoughts on Dressing: The Salad Girl Crisp Apple Maple dressing is delicious for fall-ish salads. And being that this is an SOS recipe and we are looking for shortcuts, this fits the bill. If you can’t find it, use any sweet, maple-leaning dressing (homemade or store-bought!) that you like! Here’s a super easy one that we make almost weekly for easy green salads and it works perfectly on this salad.
My Thoughts on Prep: HIGHLY recommend prepping some greens ahead of time, along with the shallots and nuts! Keep them in individual containers so you can toss the salad together with fresh apples and cheese for a quick power lunch or emergency dinner salad.
The mix of everything – salty, sweet, crispy, crunchy, just acidic enough – plus the fact that this is relatively wholesome and comes together super quickly? Just my favorite.
How To Make This Kale Apple Salad
Step 1: Chop your brussels sprouts, kale, apples, and nuts.
You don’t have to, but I use a food processor for the kale and a mandoline for the brussels because I’m particular about optimal salad texture.
If you’re short on time, buy pre-shredded kale and brussels OR throw it all in the food processor like we did back here (another one of my favorite salads).
Step 2: Fry your cheese (optional).
I love the garlic bread cheese from Trader Joe’s, as I may have mentioned? I cube it up and pan-fry it for a little extra golden soft goodness.
Step 3: Fry your shallots.
Besides the apples, cashews, cheese, and greens, you’re going to definitely want an oniony element on this salad to give it some depth. You can use store-bought crispy onions, but if you have the time I highly recommend fried shallots! And I make them in the microwave! Method in the recipe below.
Step 4: Dressing and serve!
Add your dressing, toss, and have a ball.
Watch How To Make This Kale Salad
Kale Apple Salad with Crispy Shallots
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
I love this Kale Apple Salad! Kale, brussels sprouts, rosemary cashews, apples, fried bread cheese, crispy shallots, and crisp apple maple dressing!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 4 cups kale, chopped finely through a food processor (optional)
- 2 cups brussels sprouts, finely shredded with a mandoline
- 4 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1/4–1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1–2 large honeycrisp apples
- 1 cup rosemary cashews, roughly chopped (I bought the Planter’s Rosemary Sea Salt cashews from Target)
- 1 block garlic bread cheese, cubed (I get mine at Trader Joe’s, but halloumi would work as a substitute)
- Salad Girl Crisp Apple Maple dressing (or dressing of choice)
Instructions
- Chop stuff: Shred up your kale and brussels. You can keep these in containers in the fridge to assemble salads throughout the week! Chop your nuts and apples and set aside. (Toss the apples with a few drops of lemon juice if you don’t want them to brown.)
- Make your shallots: Fry the shallots in a bit of oil in a skillet until golden and crispy, or fry them in the microwave using the method in the notes section.
- Fry the bread cheese: Cube and fry the cheese in a nonstick over medium heat until golden brown and delicious.
- Assemble: Toss kale, brussels, apples, cashews, shallots, cheese, and dressing together. Salad happiness! Enjoy!
Notes
For the microwave fried shallot method: Place sliced shallots in a small bowl and just barely cover with vegetable or canola oil (just enough to coat them – about 1/4 to 1/3 cup). Exact timing will depend on your microwave, but I cook mine on high for about 5-6 minutes, keeping a close eye on them. Once the shallots start to shrink up, I continue in 15-30 second increments. Once they are properly light golden (usually around 7 minutes total), I remove from the oil, rest on paper towels, and season with salt. These will keep at room temp in a sealed container for about a week, and the shallot-infused oil can be used in dressings or other recipes.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: kale apple salad, kale salad, fall salad, brussels sprout salad
Frequently Asked Questions For Kale Apple Salad
What can I use instead of kale?
This salad will work with any greens; however, the kale is the only one that really needs to be run through a food processor. If you choose spinach or more of a spring mix, it is delicate enough to use in the salad straight out of the package.
How can I add more protein to this salad?
We often add rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken to this salad, and it’s great! For more plant-based protein, I would add quinoa.
Is this kale apple salad vegetarian / meatless?
Yes, as written this is a vegetarian salad.
Is this kale apple salad gluten free?
Yes! This is gluten free.
Is this kale apple salad dairy free?
No – the cheese is a dairy product. For a dairy free version, omit the cheese and/or replace with another protein or roasted vegetable (roasted sweet potatoes would be perfect).
Where do you buy the Salad Girl dressing?
Here in Minnesota, I buy it at Target, Cub, and Kowalski’s.
What are the best kind of apples to use in a salad?
I like a sweet and crispy apple for my salads – ideally, honeycrisp apples, zestar, pink lady, or sweetango. Opal apples would also be great here – they’re yellow, very sweet, and don’t brown after you cut them! Here’s a full guide to all the types of apples and what they’re good for.
Three Of My Favorite Fall Recipes
Filed Under: Fall Gluten-Free Healthy Kale Lunch Quick and Easy Recipes Salads SOS Series Vegetarian
September 25, 2023
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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This a by far a beautiful dish for achieving long term weight loss 🙂
If packing this in a lunch, does the cheese need to be reheated before eating or does it taste good after being pan fried and then refrigerated?
Tastes just fine refrigerated!
Can you clarify what you mean by ‘garlic bread cheese’? I’ve never seen anything like that in my dairy section.
We get ours at Trader Joe’s, but if you can’t access it, halloumi would be a great substitute!
This salad was so good! I used salted cashews and halloumi as subs. Ended up burning the shallots so I used a bag of seasoned croutons I had in the pantry. Will definitely make this again!
Can’t wait to try this! I get jars of crispy shallots from an asian market and they are such time saver. Just wanted to add another SOS shortcut 🙂
Also available here: https://a.co/d/fjrJIxH
Amazing. Thanks for sharing, Claire!
Made this tonight, and it was 10/10 delicious! I subbed cabbage for brussel sprouts because that’s what Kroger had. I also used panela cheese, which is a Mexican cheese that is more easily available where I live. Also much cheaper than halloumi here.
This may be my favorite salad I’ve ever made. I used halloumi and it was perfect!
Amazing!!! Love this salad!!
Wonderful Post
Can you make this ahead of time and keep everything separate until you’re ready to serve? Thanks!
It should work! But when the cheese sits for awhile, it hardens quite a bit, so I’d say the cheese is better fresh. If you want to try a different cheese, goat cheese or feta would be delicious and wouldn’t require any searing in a pan!
What an amazing salad! I made this a couple weeks ago and can’t stop thinking about it. My family loved it as well. We are going to make it for Thanksgiving and add it to our repertoire. We ate it along a heavy meal so we left the cheese out. I can’t wait to make it again with the cheese!
I absolutely love this salad. It’s just the best combo of flavors, textures, and colors. Being in the UK I used halloumi, as per your recommendation, and a homemade olive oil dressing with a touch of balsamic vinegar. Delicious!
I love this salad! I have made it so many times already. Amazing flavor combination. Thank you!
This kale apple salad is everything I’ve been looking for – the perfect mix of sweet, crunchy, and savory. The crispy shallots are an absolute game-changer!
Soo good and easy! Used halloumi, rosemary almonds and the homemade dressing suggested. Adding to the rotation for sure
This salad is an absolute fall staple in our household. I never knew I could love a salad this much. I highly recommend this recipe!