This Chick Fil A kale crunch salad recipe is perfect for a healthy lunch meal prep. Curly kale, cabbage, and almonds are drizzled with a delicious apple cider and Dijon mustard vinaigrette Chick-Fil-A copycat. You'll love how easy the Chick Fil A kale salad is to make. Enjoy it as a side dish salad or add your favorite protein to make it a meal!
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🥗 Chick Fil A Kale Crunch Salad Recipe
What is on the Chick Fil A kale crunch salad? Here are the Chick Fil A Kale Crunch Salad ingredients:
- 10 ounces curly kale (284 grams)
- 6 ounces green cabbage, shredded (170 grams)
- ¾ cup almonds (chopped in half, roasted and salted)
- Chick-Fil-A kale crunch salad dressing (recipe below)
Get a printable recipe card at the end of the post! Chick-Fil-A uses curly kale in their salads, but dinosaur kale (AKA lacinato kale) is tasty here too. (I tested it both ways.)
Don’t be afraid to play around with the textures and flavors in this recipe. For example, swap walnuts, pecans, other nuts, or pumpkin seeds for the almonds. Toss in some dried cranberries, sour cherries, feta cheese, or Parmesan cheese. Make it your own!
➕ How to Make Chick Fil A Kale Salad Recipe
Here are the step-by-step instructions for making Chick-Fil-A kale salad:
- Rinse the kale in cool water, dry it, and chop it into bite sized pieces. You should remove any thick stems from the kale since this is a raw kale salad.
- Put the kale into a large mixing bowl and massage it with clean hands for a few minutes. This will help make your kale more tender and delicious!
- If you did not buy store-bought shredded cabbage, shred the cabbage. The right food processor blade can make quick work of this!
- Divide your massaged kale, cabbage, and roasted almonds between four bowls or meal prep containers. Drizzle the apple cider and Dijon mustard vinaigrette over the top of the salad right before serving.
🍎 Apple Cider and Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette (Chick-Fil-A copycat)
Here are the Chick-Fil-A apple Dijon dressing ingredients to put on your shopping list:
- 5 tablespoons apple cider
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ACV)
- 1 crushed garlic clove
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Make the Kale Crunch Side dressing by putting the apple cider, oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a jar. (A half-pint mason jar works well for this.) Put the lid on the jar and give it a good shake to mix the ingredients.
Don’t dress the salads with the zesty apple cider vinaigrette dressing until right before serving. This will help keep your salad from getting soggy. However, if you didn’t massage the kale enough, adding the dressing about 30 minutes before serving may help it soften more.
This salad and the dressing are naturally dairy-free, vegan, and gluten free. Store leftovers in airtight containers for up to 3-4 days in the refrigerator (keep the maple vinaigrette dressing separate from the salad). Do not freeze.
FAQs
What are the Chick-Fil-A kale crunch salad calories?
The original Chick Fil A Kale Crunch Side is a small side salad containing 170 calories (as listed on the menu board of the Chick-Fil-A near me). My copycat kale salad provides 264 calories, but it’s a larger portion of food.
What is the Chick-Fil-A kale salad price?
The Chick-Fil-A kale crunch salad costs $4.49 at the time of writing when ordered a la carte. Alternatively, substitute the waffle fries in your Chick-Fil-A meal for the kale salad for $1.70 more. Prices may vary by location and are correct at the time of writing (2023).
How many calories are in the Chick-Fil-A kale crunch salad without almonds?
The Chick-Fil-A Kale Crunch Salad without almonds is approximately 60 calories (source).
🥬 Other Kale Recipes
Kale is a super food to include in your diet! It is rich in an assortment of phytonutrients, essential vitamins, and minerals. If you're looking for more ways to use kale, make these kale recipes your next stop:
- Garlic Kale Chips
- Rainbow Veggies Salad with Keto Peanut Sauce
- Kale Apple Slaw
👩🍳 Copycat Salad Recipes
This isn't my only salad copycat recipe on the site! Check out these other recipes for salads that were inspired by restaurant favorites:
- Wildflower Chopped Salad Recipe
- Vegan Spinach Salad Recipe
- Keto Big Mac Salad Bowl (Favorite Burger Copycat!)
- Chick-Fil-A Spicy Southwest Salad
Also, don’t miss this article on the Chick-Fil-A salads menu. It contains a copycat recipe for the discontinued Chick-Fil-A superfood salad that’s so very good!
📖 Recipe
Watch How to Make It!
Chick Fil A Kale Crunch Salad Recipe (Apple Cider and Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette)
Equipment
Ingredients
For Chick-Fil-A kale salad:
- 10 ounces curly kale (284 grams)
- 6 ounces green cabbage, shredded (170 grams)
- ¾ cup almonds (chopped in half, roasted and salted)
For the apple Dijon dressing:
- 5 tablespoons apple cider
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
To make kale crunch salad:
- Rinse the kale in cool water, dry it, and chop it into bite sized pieces. You should remove any thick stems from the kale since this is a raw kale salad.
- Put the kale into a large mixing bowl and massage it with clean hands for a few minutes. This will help make your kale more tender and delicious!
- If you did not buy store-bought shredded cabbage, shred the cabbage. The right food processor blade can make quick work of this!
- Divide your massaged kale, cabbage, and roasted almonds between four bowls or meal prep containers. Drizzle the apple cider and Dijon mustard vinaigrette (below) over the top of the salad before serving.
To make apple Dijon dressing:
- Put the apple cider, oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a jar. (A half-pint mason jar works well for this.) Put the lid on the jar and give it a good shake to mix the ingredients.
- If using the salads as a meal prep, keep the dressing in a separate container. This will help keep your salads from getting soggy. Enjoy!
Notes
🗯 Expert Tips from a Dietitian
This is a level 1 recipe (may help support fat loss). Is Chick-Fil-A kale crunch salad healthy? If I had to pick the ideal sort of meal that could help support weight loss, this would be it. Why? Well, just add grilled chicken breast and we've got:- low calorie kale and cabbage that add a ton of volume and fiber,
- high quality lean protein
- and some healthy fat in the almonds and the dressing
If anything, this copycat Chick-Fil-A kale crunch side salad salad is a bit on the low side for calories. If you want to round out the meal, add an ounce of low-fat cheese and an ounce of whole grain crackers. This brings things up to around 500 calories and adds two additional food groups to the meal. Nice!
Chick-Fil-A kale crunch salad nutrition information is for one serving of this recipe.
nutrition info disclaimer
All recipes on this website may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your medical needs and personal preferences. Consult with a registered dietitian or your physician if you need help determining the dietary pattern that may be best for you.
The nutrition information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use. Calorie information on food labels may be inaccurate, so please don't sweat the numbers too much.
Nutrition
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Hello! I'm Summer, a registered dietitian and home chef who loves to cook, eat, and create high quality content for you! Every recipe on this site has been tested by me to help ensure your success in the kitchen. All eaters are welcome here 🙂
Trish says
Delicious! I appreciate the recommendation to « massage » the kale prior to completing the salad. It made it more tender and appetizing.
Summer Yule says
Hi Trish, I am so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the feedback!