This Kale Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash is healthy and hearty, loaded with sweet juicy blueberries, crunchy toasted pecans and creamy goat cheese tossed in an easy homemade vinaigrette.

❤️ Why You’ll Love this Kale Salad Recipe

• Kale is incredibly nutritious
• Tasty maple dijon dressing helps to tenderize the kale
• Sweet juicy blueberries, crunchy toasted pecans and creamy goat cheese
• Butternut squash is roasted for added flavor

Every once in a while, a salad comes along that belongs in a category all by itself. This easy kale and butternut squash salad is that type of salad! On top of making a gorgeous presentation with beautiful, bright, vibrant colors, this salad is a serious powerhouse of nutrients!

This is such a super delicious and satisfying, crave-worthy recipe that just reading through the list of ingredients will make your mouth water. Perfectly roasted cubes of butternut squash and creamy goat cheese work in perfect contrast with the crispy pecans. It’s truly everything a salad should be and then some!

The addition of butternut squash makes this an ideal fall salad. It adds so much flavor and is easy to roast. If you’re a fan of butternut squash, you should also try this Maple Roasted Butternut Squash recipe.

Whether you’re looking for an easy and heathy weeknight salad or an impressive side dish to add to your holiday table, this Keto salad recipe is guaranteed to get rave reviews!

🛒 What You’ll Need for Keto Kale Salad

• Kale
• Butternut squash
• Goat cheese
• Blueberries 
• Toasted pecans
• Olive oil
• Apple cider vinegar
• Sugar-free maple syrup
• Dijon mustard
• Dried thyme
• Garlic
• Salt
• Ground black pepper

*Exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.

🥣 Recommended Tools

• Small baking sheet
• Parchment paper
• Salad bowl
• Immersion blender or mini chopper

How to Make Kale Salad with Butternut Squash

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Add the butternut squash cubes to a bowl and drizzle the olive oil, salt and pepper over the top.  Toss to combine, then pour onto a small baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges start to char slightly, tossing halfway through.

Tip: You can steam the butternut squash instead if you’d like, but roasting it gives it so much more flavor.

While the butternut squash is baking, add all the dressing ingredients into a mini chopper or immersion blender.

Blend until well combined, then set aside.

Tip: If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can either use a food processor or whisk by hand.

Take your washed and dried kale, and strip all the leaves off.

Then chop them into small pieces.

Once all the kale has been cut, add it to a large salad bowl.  Pour 2/3 of the dressing over the top and using your hands, massage the dressing all over the kale.  Allow the kale to sit at room temperature while you make the rest of the salad. 

Tip: This helps to soften the kale and trust me it works! 

Add in the roasted butternut squash while it’s still warm, along with the toasted pecans, blueberries and goat cheese crumbles.  

Toss to combine and add the rest of the dressing over the top and serve.

How Long Does Kale Salad Last in Fridge?

Kale salad will last in the fridge for up to a couple of days. It actually makes the ideal prep-ahead salad because it holds up much better in the fridge without wilting than most any other type of salad greens.

How Healthy is Kale Salad?

The vitamin and nutrients in a kale salad will depend on what you add to it. Kale, by itself, is very nutritious. In fact, Kale is one of the most nutrient dense veggies you can eat.

Just look at these daily recommended allowances of vitamins it contains: Vitamin A-308%, Vitamin C-200%, Vitamin K-1021% as well as being a great source of a host of other vitamins.

Can You Eat Kale on Keto?

Absolutely! Kale, along with all cruciferous vegetables are a great option for low carb and Keto diets. For an entire 1.5 cup serving of kale, there are 9.73 total grams of carbs and 1.8 grams of fiber making net carbs come in under 8 grams.

How Do You Make Kale Salad Not Bitter?

Kale has a bad reputation for being bitter, but when it’s prepared correctly it adds great, almost peppery flavor to salads and other recipes. Here are few tips to keep in mind:

• Remove the stem: Kale stems are fibrous and more bitter than the leaves. By removing the stem, kale will more tender and less bitter.

• Massage the leaves: This step makes a huge difference. It softens the leaves making them easier to chew and helps remove some of the bitterness.

• Add other ingredients: If you’re eating kale by itself the flavor is much more pronounced. When making a salad, be sure to add some sort of tangy cheese or fruit. Using some sort of sweetener in the dressing also works great to counter the bitterness.  

• Add some citrus: Adding lemon juice, vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or homemade vinaigrette cuts some of the bite and adds more flavor to a kale salad.

Keto Kale Salad Tips and Variations

• To save yourself some time, you can buy butternut squash already peeled and cubed in most grocery stores.  I do this often, because butternut squash isn’t fun to peel and chop!

• You can also use baby kale instead, and if you do, you can skip the step to massage the dressing into the kale to help tenderize it. Baby kale is already more tender than regular kale.

• If you don’t have pecans, you can use walnuts or pumpkin seeds instead.  Just be sure to toast whichever you use.

• If you don’t have sugar-free maple syrup, you can substitute with sugar-free Keto honey and the dressing will still be delicious!

More Keto Salad Recipes

• Caprese Salad with Balsamic Reduction
• Grilled Shrimp Salad with Apricot Vinaigrette
• Keto ” Big Mac” Cheeseburger Salad
• Asian Grilled Chicken Salad
• Buffalo Chicken Salad
• Keto Taco Salad
• Classic Cobb with Ranch Dressing