Apple Kale Salad with Turmeric Maple Mustard Vinaigrette
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Roasted sweet potatoes, earthy beets, crisp apple, salty feta, and a golden dressing you’ll want to pour on everything. This kale apple salad has a lot of good things going on—and every forkful gets a little of everything.
Quinoa gives this salad enough substance for lunch, pumpkin seeds bring the crunch, and fresh dill makes the whole bowl taste bright and lively. Add the slightly bitter radicchio and that tangy turmeric maple mustard vinaigrette, and you have my kind of fall lunch.
Make it once, and do your future hungry self a favor: make enough for tomorrow, too.
Let’s Get Cooking!
Ingredient Notes and a Few Good Tips
- Kale: Remove the tough stems and chop the leaves into bite-size pieces. Curly kale brings plenty of texture and catches the dressing in its little curls; lacinato kale works beautifully, too.
- Apples: I use Cosmic Crisp for its juicy crunch and balance of sweet and tart. Honeycrisp is another great option, but any crisp fall apple you love will work wonderfully.
- Sweet potatoes and beets: Dice them into small, similarly sized pieces so they roast evenly. Keep them on separate sides of the pan to help prevent the beets from turning everything pink.
- Feta and pumpkin seeds: Salty, creamy cheese and crunchy seeds make this salad especially satisfying. Toast the pumpkin seeds if you have a few extra minutes.
- Fresh dill: Don’t skip it! That fresh, herby flavor is especially good with the beets, feta, and mustard dressing.
About That Golden Dressing
Mustard, apple cider vinegar, and maple syrup are already a very good team. Turmeric adds an earthy warmth and gorgeous golden color, while shallot and garlic give the dressing a little bite.
It’s tangy, a little sweet, and exactly what these hearty greens and roasted vegetables need. Whisk everything together in a small bowl, or shake it in a tightly sealed jar.
You may find yourself planning tomorrow’s lunch around whatever is left.
How to Make Kale Apple Salad
Roast the vegetables. Toss the diced sweet potato and beets with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then spread them in a single layer. Use two pans if needed to give them room to roast. If the sweet potatoes are tender before the beets, take them out first. Let everything cool slightly.
Dress and massage the kale. Whisk together the vinaigrette, then add a few spoonfuls to the chopped kale in a large bowl. Gently squeeze and rub the leaves with your hands until they soften slightly.
Bring it all together. Add the radicchio, cooked quinoa, roasted vegetables, diced apple, feta, dill, and pumpkin seeds, plus pickled onions if you’re using them. Toss gently with more dressing to taste.
If you enjoy a hearty bowl like this, try my Greek kale quinoa salad, too.
Make It Ahead for Easy Lunches
Kale and radicchio hold up beautifully, making this an excellent salad to prep ahead. Roast the vegetables, cook the quinoa, and whisk together the vinaigrette in advance. Let the cooked ingredients cool, then refrigerate in airtight containers, keeping the dressing and pumpkin seeds separate.
When you’re ready to eat, massage your portion of kale with a little dressing, add the remaining ingredients, and toss. Dice the apple just before serving and add the pumpkin seeds at the end for the best crunch.
A little prep, a very good lunch, and one less thing to figure out in the middle of your day.
FAQ
I recommend it! A quick massage softens the leaves and makes raw kale easier to digest and works the dressing into the kale. Add a few spoonfuls of vinaigrette, then gently squeeze and rub the chopped leaves until they feel slightly softer. Stop while they still have some texture.
Yes! Plain cooked beets—the refrigerated, vacuum-packed kind—are a handy shortcut. Dice them and add directly to the salad, then roast the sweet potato on its own. Pickled beets will also work if you enjoy the extra tang.
Absolutely. Prep the kale and radicchio, roast the vegetables, cook the quinoa, and make the dressing ahead. Refrigerate the cooled components in airtight containers, keeping the dressing separate. For the best texture, dice the apple, massage the kale with dressing, and add the pumpkin seeds just before serving.
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Apple Kale Salad with Turmeric Maple Mustard Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Salad
- 6 cups chopped kale
- 1 cup thinly sliced radicchio
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 large sweet potato diced, skin on
- 4 beets peeled and diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 large apple diced
- ½ cup crumbled feta
- ¼ cup chopped fresh dill
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds toasted if desired
- ¼ cup pickled onions optional
Turmeric Maple Mustard Vinaigrette
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ small shallot finely diced
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- a generous pinch each of salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Toss the sweet potato and beets with the 2 tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet, keeping them on separate sides. Roast for 25–35 minutes, until fork-tender. If the sweet potato is ready first, remove it and let the beets finish roasting. Let cool slightly.
- Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients.
- Place the kale in a large bowl and massage it with a few spoonfuls of vinaigrette until it softens slightly.
- Add the radicchio, quinoa, roasted vegetables, apple, feta, dill, pumpkin seeds, and pickled onions, if using. Add more vinaigrette to taste and toss gently.
Notes
Nutrition
Meet Abra Pappa, MS, CNS, LDN
Abra is a licensed nutritionist, seasoned home cook, and forever flavor-chaser. She’s spent more than two decades exploring the connection between food and health—and just as long obsessing over what makes something truly delicious. Abra’s Kitchen is where those two loves meet, with recipes that celebrate vegetables, follow the seasons, and make you excited to cook.
