This Broccoli Kale Crunch Salad is the absolute best way to get in all of your greens in a delicious way! Loaded with crunchy broccoli, perfectly cooked kale, and other pantry ingredients to give it that classic crunch!
Alright friends – I know what you’re thinking. Sharing a broccoli recipe in December?! No thank you! Give me the Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies or a Cranberry Orange Bourbon Fizz instead!
But hear me out! As much as I love eating all of the fun holiday things during November and December, for me, there is definitely always a need for SOMETHING green on my plate.
Isn’t that what having a balanced bowl is all about?! Especially when said green Broccoli Kale Crunch Salad is SO delicious! I promise you won’t even know this is healthy 😉
Why You’re Going to Love this Salad:
First off, it’s incredibly simple to make! One pan meal for the win! Another reason? This is a versatile dish. You could meal prep it for your lunch during the week or have it at dinner as a side dish to a delicious piece of grilled chicken or salmon!
This salad is also HEARTY. From the fiber from the broccoli, the many benefits of the kale and of course, BACON.
Listen, if you put salad + bacon in the same sentence, you best believe I’m going to be all over it!
The bacon pairs perfectly with the kale! I also love the broccoli – although I will say that I might be biased because broccoli is my favorite vegetable.
It’s smoky and perfectly crisp from frying it in the pan. The fresh garlic really shines through and works with this recipe.
And the mix-in’s for the salad!!! SO SO good. I used dried cranberries, pepitas and I meant to use goat cheese but 100% forgot ha! I think that would be an amazing addition though.
The dressing is amazing as well – it reminds me of a lightened up version of the classic Broccoli Salad you get at the church potlucks.
It’s creamy from a little bit of mayonnaise but not like, so incredibly creamy you can’t even stand it.
The tang from both the apple cider vinegar and the dijon mustard is SO delicious and helps balance out the creaminess and adds an amazing flavor.
Overall it has an amazing balance of texture and flavor – it’s creamy, tangy, crunchy and SO so delicious. Let’s get into what you need to make it!
Ingredients You Need:
- Broccoli florets
- Chopped kale
- Fresh garlic
- Pepitas
- Bacon
- Dried cranberries
- Mayo
- Apple cider vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
Best Salad Making Tips:
For this recipe, I made my bacon in the OVEN. It’s so much less clean-up and you’re not getting popped with grease the entire time. You can definitely also make the bacon the day before or have it pre-made when you prepare this salad to save even more time.
The broccoli takes more time to cook than the kale so make sure you cook that in the skillet first! Stir it occasionally as it cooks so one side doesn’t get more crispy than the other.
When the broccoli is getting close to being done – add in the kale, the fresh garlic and a bit of olive oil. The pan is going to be loaded but I promise the kale will shrink down!
You only need to cook the kale/garlic for 1-2 minutes. It will cook quickly! Once it’s done, add it to a bowl.
In a small bowl, mix together your dressing. Taste and adjust for seasoning! If you want it creamier, add a bit more mayo. Like it more tangy? Add another splash of apple cider vinegar!
Drizzle a little bit of the dressing into the bowl with the veggies and mix together. You can always keep some of the dressing as extra for later to “freshen” it up if you want to meal prep this!
Taste again and adjust for seasoning and then add in all of your mix-ins! For me, I used pepitas, and dried cranberries. Feel free to use whatever seeds/dried fruit you want.
Voila! It’s all done and time to chow down on this crunchy goodness. I hope you guys enjoy this recipe! XO – Haylie
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like:
Crispy Air Fryer Broccoli with Easy Garlic Aioli
Honey Dijon Glazed Brussel Sprouts
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Broccoli Kale Crunch Salad
This Broccoli Kale Crunch Salad is the absolute best way to get in all of your greens in a delicious way! Loaded with crunchy broccoli, perfectly cooked kale, and other pantry ingredients to give it that classic crunch!
Ingredients
- 4-5 slices of cooked bacon chopped
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
- 5 cups broccoli florets, diced
- 3 cups of kale, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup pepitas
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
Dressing
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder (or more if desired!)
- a pinch of freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and add your bacon slices on it. Cook for 15 minutes or until desired crispiness is achieved. Let bacon cool and then dice into small bite size pieces.
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Next, dice the broccoli into florets. Roughly chop the kale and finely mince the garlic.
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Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a large cast iron skillet.
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Add the broccoli to the cast iron skillet along with a large pinch of salt.
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Let it cook, stirring it around every minute or so to make sure it’s cooking properly. Let the broccoli cook for about 4-5 minutes.
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Next, add in the chopped kale and the garlic with another tsp of olive oil. Stir around and cook for 1-2 minutes or until kale is cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.
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In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, dijon mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired (if you want it creamier, add more mayo! if you want it tangier, add another splash of ACV)
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Add the broccoli and kale mixture to a large bowl. Add in the pepitas and dried cranberries. Drizzle on the dressing - I recommend drizzling on just a little bit at a time until you decide how creamy you want the dressing (you can always add more later!)
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Serve immediately or let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes or so and then serve. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
If desired, you can make your bacon in a normal pan - I just like the easy aspect of cooking it in the oven!
Oooh what a crunchy green salad!! It looks delicious! And we all need a bit of salad after all of these cookies!
Thank you so much, Katherine! And yes, I agree! 😉
Making tonight as a side with salmon and a sweet potato! Thanks for the recipe! Can’t wait to try..
Thank you so much for making, Sarah! Hope you enjoyed! 🙂
I did mine with raw broccoli and kale and use sunflower seeds instead of pepitas. I also massage the kale with olive oil and apple cider vinegar to help break it down it was absolutely delicious
Yay! So glad you liked it, Elea 🙂 Sounds amazing!