I loved kale before kale was cool. Then kale got popular, then kale got tired, and somewhere in there a lot of people decided it was a punishment vegetable. It is not. It is the sturdiest green in the store, it holds up to heat instead of collapsing into a sad puddle like spinach does, and a bunch of it costs less than a bag of salad. That toughness is the whole trick: massage it with oil and it softens, roast it and it crisps, drop it into hot soup in the last five minutes and it stays bright green. These kale recipes cover all of it. Crispy oven kale chips at 275 degrees, a warm kale salad with caramelized onions, sausage and tortellini soup, a four ingredient parmesan crisp, hummus, pesto, stuffed peppers, and yes, brownies with a cup of pureed kale hiding in them. Some are ten minute side dishes. Some are full dinners. Start with whichever one uses what is already in your fridge.
1. Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana
If you only ever cook kale one way, make it this one. Zuppa Toscana is bacon and Italian sausage browned in the pot first, then onion, garlic and a fresh herb, then chicken stock, potato chunks and three cups of torn kale simmered about 30 minutes until the potatoes go soft and the greens wilt down. Heavy cream goes in at the end over low heat, off the boil, with grated parmesan at the table. The kale is not a garnish here, it is holding its shape against a creamy broth, which is exactly what kale is good at.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
2. Sauteed Kale with Mushrooms and Tomatoes
This is the weeknight version, 25 minutes start to finish and four servings out of one 16 ounce bag of kale. Onion and garlic go in first and sweat for five minutes without browning, then eight ounces of sliced mushrooms get their own three or four minutes to color properly, which is the step people rush. Only then does the kale go in, seasoned hard with salt, pepper, garlic powder and crushed red pepper, and cooked down for three to five minutes. A diced Roma tomato and an optional splash of white wine finish it. Good beside almost any piece of meat.
Get the full tutorial at The Life Jolie.
3. Spinach, Kale and Pomegranate Salad
The technique to steal from this salad is the marinated kale. You strip the leaves off five big stems, chop them, add a teaspoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper, then scrunch the leaves in your hands for about 20 seconds and leave them 30 minutes. That is what turns raw kale from chewy to tender, no cooking involved. From there it is baby spinach, pomegranate seeds, crumbled blue cheese, dried cranberries and honey cinnamon walnuts, dressed with pomegranate molasses, vinegar and olive oil. It looks like a holiday table and takes one bowl.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
4. Warm Tahini Kale And Quinoa Bowl + Roasted Chickpeas
Everything in this bowl is warm, which is the difference between a grain bowl you actually want in January and a cold one you push around. The chickpeas get tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, chili powder and garlic powder and roast a full 40 minutes at 450 degrees, so they come out crackly rather than mealy. Cubed butternut squash roasts 20 minutes on its own sheet. Quinoa cooks one cup to two cups water. The kale gets tossed with olive oil and minced garlic while everything is still hot, and peas, red pepper and red onion go in raw.
Get the full tutorial at The Girl on Bloor.
5. Lemon Pepper Chicken Sausage + Kale Stir Fry
Three things in the pan and a lot of lemon. Sliced red onion caramelizes first, two minutes over medium high then five more on low until it is golden, and that slow start is where the sweetness comes from. A 12 ounce package of chicken sausage, casings off and cut into inch and a half cubes, browns on all sides next. Two large bunches of lacinato kale go in only in the last two minutes. Two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, the zest of a whole lemon and a teaspoon and a half of ground pepper finish it.
Get the full tutorial at Clean Food Crush.
6. Mexican Kale Salad
The dressing is what makes this one, and it uses no dairy at all. Half a large avocado goes in the blender with a bit of seeded jalapeno, half a cup of warm water, the juice of half a lime, cumin, salt and pepper, and it comes out creamy enough to coat everything. The salad under it is four cups of chopped kale with black beans, corn, two diced bell peppers, more avocado, tomato, red onion and cilantro. Twenty minutes, six side servings, and it holds up in the fridge better than any lettuce salad.
Get the full tutorial at iFOODreal.
7. Spicy Kale Pesto
Ten minutes, and it is the answer to a garden that gave you more kale than any household can eat. Kale pesto is sturdier than basil pesto, it does not blacken in the fridge the same way, and the heat in this version keeps it from tasting green and flat. Stir it through hot pasta for a dinner with no real cooking, spread it on crackers, or eat it off the spoon standing at the counter, which the recipe itself openly recommends. Worth making a double batch while the food processor is already dirty.
Get the full tutorial at The Cook's Pyjamas.
8. Four Ingredient Parmesan Kale Chip Crisps
Four ingredients, 13 minutes, 15 crisps: two cups of finely grated parmesan, one cup of chopped kale, half a teaspoon of garlic powder and an eighth of a teaspoon of cayenne. Spoon tablespoon mounds onto parchment and bake at 400 degrees for seven to eight minutes, just until the edges brown. The cheese does the structural work, which is why these hold together like a cracker while plain kale chips shatter. Grate the parmesan yourself on the small side of a box grater, because the pre-shredded kind will not melt into a sheet.
Get the full tutorial at Stephanie Sain.
9. Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes with Kale and Herbs
Mashed potatoes with a vegetable folded in, and the shortcut is real: a pound of yellow and a pound of red potatoes go in a covered bowl with half a cup of chicken broth and into the microwave for 15 minutes, no big pot of boiling water. While that happens, a sliced sweet onion cooks down in olive oil for a slow 15 minutes, garlic joins for five more, and four cups of chopped kale wilt in two. Fold it all into the mash with milk and fresh herbs. Eight servings, and olive oil instead of a stick of butter.
Get the full tutorial at Simply Stacie.
10. Creamy Lemon Mushroom Kale Linguine Pasta
A proper white sauce, built the old way. Four tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon of flour cook together for a full minute before two cups of milk go in slowly, which is the difference between silky and pasty. Four hundred grams of halved button mushrooms brown separately over medium high for five or six minutes and get added back, because mushrooms steam instead of browning if you crowd them into the sauce. Two cups of chopped kale wilt right in. Citrus zest and Italian seasoning lift it. Three to four portions in 35 minutes.
Get the full tutorial at My Food Story.
11. Kale Brownies
Let us be honest about what these are. There is a cup of pureed kale in them, and there is also a cup of butter, a cup and a half of sugar and a cup of chocolate chips, so nobody should call them health food. What they are is a genuinely good brownie that happens to hide a vegetable, which is a useful thing to have in your back pocket. Steam the kale five minutes until wilted, puree it, drain the excess liquid, and fold it into melted chocolate. Seventy five minutes, ten brownies, no green taste.
Get the full tutorial at Jolly Tomato.
12. Zucchini Zoodles With Sausage And Kale
Zucchini noodles get a bad reputation because people boil them into mush. This one does not: three spiralized zucchini go into the pan at the very end, after the sausage has browned seven to nine minutes and four cups of kale have wilted for four or five. Total time 28 minutes, four servings, and half a cup of parmesan over the top. Sweet Italian sausage works in pork or turkey, so it flexes depending on what is in the freezer. Salt the zucchini only at the table, because salting early is what pulls out all that water.
Get the full tutorial at The Lemon Bowl.
13. Italian Sausage, Kale and Tortellini Soup
This is the soup that makes kale skeptics quiet. Sixteen ounces of Italian sausage browns and drains, a tablespoon of the rendered fat stays in the pot for the onion and carrot, and the base is five cups of beef broth with two cans of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Nine ounces of refrigerated three cheese tortellini and two cups of packed chopped kale go in at the end so neither one overcooks. Forty five minutes, six bowls, parmesan on top. Use hot sausage if your people like heat, it changes the whole pot.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking Classy.
14. Roasted Garlic Kale Hummus
A whole head of garlic gets roasted for this, 25 minutes at 400 degrees in a foil pouch with oil and salt, and one clove is deliberately held back raw. That is the detail worth copying: the roasted cloves bring sweetness and the single raw one brings the bite, and without it the dip tastes flat. Two cans of chickpeas, five kale leaves, half a cup of tahini and the juice of two lemons finish it, and it makes three cups. Serve it with pita chips and dust the top with cayenne and black pepper.
Get the full tutorial at The Garlic Diaries.
15. Warm Kale Salad With Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms
The kale in this salad never touches the pan. Onions cook 15 minutes until they start to brown, mushrooms go in for another 10, then garlic, crushed rosemary and a tablespoon of balsamic get a final minute, and the whole hot mixture is poured over four cups of chopped kale in the serving bowl. The residual heat wilts the leaves just enough to soften them while keeping the texture. Four teaspoons of olive oil for four servings makes it lighter than it tastes, and it is good warm or at room temperature.
Get the full tutorial at Cookin Canuck.
16. Kale Rosemary Super Seed Crackers
Seed crackers are the ones worth making at home, because the store versions cost a fortune and go stale in the box. These are built on seeds with kale and rosemary worked through, so they bake up dark, dense and snappy rather than airy, and they are gluten free and vegan without anyone needing to announce it. They hold a heavy dip without breaking, which is more than a rice cracker can say. Eat them plain between meals or load them with something soft and creamy.
Get the full tutorial at Tasting Page.
17. Braised Kale With Apple Cider Vinegar
Ten minutes total, and it is the recipe to learn if you only want one kale side dish in your head. Sliced garlic goes into hot oil for one to two minutes, then a whole torn bunch of kale, lemon juice and two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, then the lid goes on for four or five minutes. That is it. The instruction that matters is watching the color: the kale should wilt and stay green, and if it starts to brown, the heat is too high. More vinegar at the table.
Get the full tutorial at Champagne Tastes.
18. Broccoli, Kale and Rice Casserole
The sauce here is the interesting part: a cup of hummus thinned with two cups of warm water and built out with tamari, onion powder, turmeric, paprika, garlic and a full cup of nutritional yeast. No dairy, no roux, and it still coats three cups of cooked brown rice, five cups of broccoli and three big handfuls of kale. Steam the broccoli only a few minutes so it stays crunchy going into the oven at 350 degrees, because it will keep cooking in there. Walnuts on top for crunch. Vegan and gluten free.
Get the full tutorial at Vegan Chickpea.
19. Rustic Kale and Root Vegetable Tart
This looks like a bakery tart and starts with a tube of crescent roll dough. Press the sheet into a pan, bake it five minutes on its own just until it starts to rise, then load it with thinly sliced beet, carrot strips, red onion and a cup of kale leaves, drizzle with olive oil and bake 15 more at 375 degrees. Crumbled blue cheese goes on while it is still hot so it softens into the vegetables. A balsamic glaze at the end is optional and, frankly, is what sells the photo.
Get the full tutorial at Hello Nature.
20. Oven Baked Kale Chips
Low and slow is the whole secret, and it is the step almost every failed batch skips. These bake at 275 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes, not at 400, so the leaves dry into crisps instead of scorching at the edges while the middles stay limp. Dry the washed kale completely, tear it into one to two inch pieces, and massage the olive oil in with your hands until every leaf is coated. Then spread them in a single layer with nothing overlapping. One bunch, two tablespoons of oil, salt and pepper, six servings.
Get the full tutorial at Eating on a Dime.
21. Kale and Quinoa Minestrone
Quinoa stands in for the usual pasta here, three quarters of a cup of it, which means the leftovers do not turn into a pot of bloated noodles by Tuesday. The base is seven cups of vegetable broth and a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes with onion, carrot, celery, zucchini and red pepper, simmered covered for 20 minutes before the quinoa and green beans go in for another 10 to 15. Cannellini beans and kale finish it. Seventy five minutes for eight servings, vegan as written, and better the next day.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking Classy.
22. Spicy Shrimp Bowl With Crispy Rice and Kale
This is restaurant cooking done at home, and it hinges on day old rice. Three cups of cold cooked long grain rice crisp up in a hot pan the way fresh rice never will, because fresh rice is still full of steam. The shrimp get a light cornstarch coating before they hit the oil, which is the standard trick for a crackly edge, and the sauce is mayonnaise with lime, sambal oelek, togarashi and soy. Four cups of Tuscan kale and sliced avocado go in raw. Twenty minutes of prep, four bowls.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking with Cocktail Rings.
23. Quinoa Kale Stuffed Peppers
Six ingredients and no meat, which keeps the cost of a stuffed pepper dinner way down. One cup of quinoa cooks in two cups of vegetable broth, covered, for about 15 minutes, then sits off the heat another 15 to steam properly, and broth instead of water is what gives it flavor before anything else is added. Mix in three cups of chopped kale and a cup of tomato sauce, fill four green peppers standing upright in a dish, top with the rest of the sauce and mozzarella, and bake at 350. Fifty five minutes.
Get the full tutorial at Brooklyn Farm Girl.
24. Goat Cheese Lemon Pasta with Kale
Five ounces of goat cheese crumbled over hot drained pasta melts into a sauce on its own, no cream and no roux, and that is the entire technique. Everything else takes 25 minutes: shallot and garlic soften four or five minutes with a dash of red pepper flakes, then chopped kale from one small bunch wilts in with the zest and juice of a large lemon. Combine it all in the pot while the pasta is still steaming. Twelve ounces of pasta feeds a family, and leftovers reheat with a splash of water.
Get the full tutorial at Two Peas and Their Pod.
