Looking for the BEST kale summer salad recipe that will match the SUNNY weather outside?! Look no further, this massage salad is loaded with summer berries, chopped almonds, and feta cheese, and drizzled with the best homemade lemon poppy seed salad. This salad is having a hot girl summer moment.

How to Make Kale Salad That Actually Tastes Good

Okay, so I have been there. I at one point searched the Googles for a kale salad, bought all the ingredients, and had the worst salad I think I have ever had. It was tough, it was dry, and worst of all—it was just plain bad. So why am I posting a kale salad recipe?!! Well, because I have learned from my mistakes: kale salad is supposed to be tender, not tough, and definitely not dry.

Kale is actually really good, but it does need some extra attention to make it shine in its raw form. So here is my foolproof advice to get the best results from your kale.

Buy Aldi’s Simply Nature Organic Chopped Kale

The Aldi’s Simply Nature Organic Chopped Kale might be my favorite Aldi product of all time. You can use the FULL bag in this recipe. Pre-chopped rinsed kale is great to use because they have removed some of the bitterness and is prepared for you already.

When you chop kale, it releases some of the bitter flavors that you might have tasted before. In order to remove the bitter taste, you’ll actually want to rinse/wash your kale again after you chop it. The Aldi’s pre-chopped bag is a GREAT deal and already removes this step for you.

If you don’t have an Aldis near you (I’m sorry) and are starting from the leaf. Make sure to rinse your kale after it is chopped.

Remove the Stalks Or Stems

Kale has thick, woody stalks that a difficult to eat and chew. We want a tender salad, not a woody salad. Make sure that as you are going through the next step (the kale massage) you remove these stalks from your salad greens.

Massage the Kale

Yes, you read that right: massage the kale.

Okay, so it’s not exactly a spa treatment, but basically with clean hands, you want to massage the kale (kinda like a kneading bread motion) to have the kale reduce in size by about 2/3s. In the images below, you can see the difference that massaging the kale makes in the size of the kale. This is going to make ALL the difference in your salad.

Kale Summer Salad Ingredients

Kale
- Kale just works so well in this salad, especially if you want to make it ahead of time. The kale can hold up to the dressing and takes a while to get soggy. You can swap the kale out for another salad green of your preference.
Grapes, Blackberries, Strawberries
- This is my favorite mixture of fruit in this salad. It’s fresh, but between the fruits, it has a wonderful range of sweet and tangy flavors. The goal of this salad is to add fresh summer fruits to this gorgeous Kale Summer Salad, so feel free to adjust the fruits to your preference or what’s currently on sale at your store. Are blackberries not a great price? Swap in blueberries or mandarin orange slices. Feel free to alter this salad as you need, but make sure to keep an even ratio (1 cup) each of 3 different fruits.
Chopped Unsalted Almonds
- I love to take whole almonds and give them a rough chop to add to this Kale Summer Salad. It’s nice to have the large pieces of almonds interspersed with all the fruit.

Ingredients Continued

Craisins
- Craisins further the sweetness of the salad and add yet another fruit to the combo– YUM.
Crumbled feta
- In all honesty, I only had feta in my fridge when I created this salad. But in the summer and spring months, I seem to make a lot more recipes that use feta. Maybe it’s just me? I don’t know. But feta is the PERFECT cheese paired with this Kale Summer Salad. It’s creamy, a tiny bit salty, and adds the perfect taste to this dish!
Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
- Fresh lemon is all I can think of in the summer months. Lemon EVERYTHING 🙂 That includes this quick homemade lemon poppy seed salad dressing that uses pantry-staple ingredients. But if you have a different dressing on hand that you want to use–no judgment here. Raspberry vinaigrette, balsamic vinaigrette, or even a creamy fruit dressing– all work really well with this Kale Summer Salad.

More Great Salad Recipes for the Summer

Salads are one of my favorite foods! Check out more great salad recipes that will satisfy any occasion!

Kale Summer Salad With Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Kale Summer Salad

8 cups chopped and rinsed kale or 1 bag of Aldis's Simply Nature Organic Chopped Kale
1 cup grapes halved
1 cup blackberries halved
1 cup strawberries sliced
1/3 cup chopped unsalted almonds
1/4 cup craisins
1/4 cup crumbled feta

Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

1/4 cup lemon juice with lemon zest 1 lemon juiced and zested
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 1/2 tbsp honey

Instructions

Massage the kale in a large bowl until it reduces to 1/3 of its original size.
Add chopped ingredients (berries, grapes, almonds) to the salad along with the craisins and feta.
In a medium bowl whisk together all the ingredients of the lemon poppy seed vinaigrette. Either set the vinaigrette aside (to serve individually with the salad) or add all of the dressing to the top of the salad. If you are placing the dressing on the salad prior to serving, then let the salad set for at least 10 minutes.
Enjoy! Eat within 3 days.

Kale Summer Salad With Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette