This crunchy dill pickle kale salad with creamy dill dressing is the perfect combination of crunchy, salty, fresh flavor for your next dinner hosting.
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Built on a base of chopped, crunchy kale, this salad packs tons of other fresh veggies and creamy textures guaranteed to have your guests wanting more. Oh, and did I mention pickles? Who will deny anything with pickles?? To top it off, this salad is tossed in a homemade creamy dill pickle dressing.
What Puts This Salad Above the Rest?
- For starters, it’s more of a side dish than a regular old salad. If you’re getting bored of the same old lettuce mixture and looking for a new way to serve salad, definitely give this one a try.
- This salad is so easy to prep ahead of time even with the dressing tossed. The great thing about kale is that it doesn’t get soggy and drippy the way lettuce tends to after a day of being soaked in dressing. If anything, the dressing will only help to soften the kale leaves, but you’ll still have that crunchy texture.
- You can make it your own! Scroll down to see more ways to incorporate your favorite ingredients into this salad.
Crunchy Kale Salad Ingredients
- Kale Kale is the best crunchy leafy green choice for a salad life this, especially because it doesn’t get soggy after being tossed in the creamy dill pickle dressing.
- Pickles Baby dills are best for this recipe, as they tend to be the crunchiest.You can’t have a dill pickle salad without pickles!
- Chickpeas Texture, taste, and packed with protein, chickpeas are great addition to this salad.
- Cucumber I used English cucumbers for this recipe, but mini cucumbers seem to add the most crunch for a salad like this.
- Pine nuts
- Feta cheese
- Green onions
- Red onions Red onions too spicy for your taste? Try using a sweet onion instead.
- Dill If possible, use fresh dill as it brings the most flavor. However, dried dill will work as well.
- Dill Pickle Dressing Last, but certainly not least, this homemade dill pickle dressing brings this salad to life!
Make It Your Own
Hemp seeds: These little guys pack a ton of protein and add almost a grated parmesan flavor to any dish.
Cheese: Not a feta fan? Try adding crumbled quest fresco, gorgonzola, or goat cheese.
Nuts: Chopped walnuts or sliced/slivered almonds are a great addition to this salad.
Beans: swap out the chickpeas for another bean or legume like navy beans, edamame or even quinoa.
Storage
Using leafy green salads are not great after storing for a day or two, but this salad is different all around! The kale leaves are able to maintain their crunchy texture even days after being tossed in the creamy dill pickle dressing. Store this salad in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days for a fresh, crisp salad through the week.
More Salad Recipes To Try
Looking for more salad recipes? Give one of these a try:
- Creamy Dill Pickle Salad Dressing
- BLT Pasta Salad
- Asian Crunch Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing
- Loaded Broccoli Salad
Crunch Dill Pickle Kale Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 large cucumber, chopped or cubed
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 3 baby dill pickles, chopped
- 7.75 oz chickpeas
- 1 cup feta
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, diced
- 1 batch creamy dill pickle dressing
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the kale and olive oil. Gently massage the oil onto the leaves for about 2 minutes, or until the kale leaves have softened.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the salad and toss to evenly mix.
- Pour in the creamy dill pickle dressing and toss again to combine evenly.
- Top with fresh dill and chopped pickles for garnish.
