If you love a good kale salad with orange then you will adore this recipe. This bright and sunny salad includes chopped raw kale, crunchy bread crumbs, avocado and feta. In addition to orange segments, I also used fresh grapefruit and lemon vinaigrette for three citrus fruits all in one delicious kale salad recipe!

close up of the salad on a white plate

Recipe Highlights for Kale Salad with Orange

  • Classic Flavors: You can’t go wrong with a classic combination of kale and orange in a salad recipe. We added in a few usual suspects, including feta cheese and avocado.
  • Crunchy Sourdough Bread Crumbs: We amped up the crunch factor with delicious homemade skillet breadcrumbs, which are sortof a fun variation of homemade croutons. They cling to every nook and cranny of the kale and soak up any extra lemony dressing and all the juices from the orange and grapefruit.
  • Fast and Easy: Ready in less than 30 minutes and we have a few make-ahead tips to make it even easier!
  • Vegetarian: Serve it with your favorite meatless burger for a Meatless Monday or flexitarian menu.
  • Versatile: Can be adapted to a variety of innovations and goes with fish, chicken and other family-friendly main course recipes.

Ingredient Notes For Kale Salad with Citrus

the kale, orange and other ingredients on a white table with text overlay
  • Kale leaves: You’ll need about a half of a large bunch of kale for this recipe. Regular curly kale with the stems removed or Lacinato kale work equally well. Chop it up nicely.
  • Citrus: This kale salad is all about the citrus! You can either use two large oranges or one orange and one grapefruit like I did today. You’ll also need a lemon for the dressing. Feel free to use clementines tangerine or another variety of citrus fruit in this salad. It works with them all!
  • Feta: Feta and orange compliment each other in kale salad. If you like goat cheese better than feta swap that in.
  • Avocado: Another seasonal favorite is avocado. It adds creaminess to the rustic breadcrumbs and raw kale.
  • Skillet Breadcrumbs: For the rustic sourdough breadcrumbs you’ll need a couple slices of day old or stale sourdough bread. You’ll also need a clove of garlic and olive oil to make them.

For The Kale Salad Dressing:

  • You’ll need extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, shallot, salt and pepper for the dressing.
  • We also added in lemon and orange zest for more citrus flavor!
  • We found the lemon to be too bracing so I added in a little honey to help mellow it out. It doesn’t taste sweet, but it helps to make the dressing less sour.
  • If you like a little dijon mustard in your salad dressing, add in one or two teaspoons.

How To Make Kale Orange Salad with Feta and Breadcrumbs

to make the skillet breadcrumbs

Step 1: Make Breadcrumbs

Tear bread into a few pices and place in a food processor fitted with a steel blade attachment. Pulse several times to chop into large chunky breadcrumbs.

Step 2: Toast Breadcrumbs in Skillet

Heat 3 tablespoons oil and smashed garlic in a medium skillet over medium heat until shimmering hot but not smoking. Add bread, and cook, stirring often. Reduce heat if necessary if it starts to smoke, and continue cooking until the breadcrumbs are browned and the garlic is toasted, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.

make the dressing and assemble the salad

Step 3: Make Kale Salad Dressing

Whisk the rest of the olive oil, lemon zest, orange zest, lemon juice, honey, shallot, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Step 4: Assemble Salad and Toss with Dressing

Combine kale, orange segments, grapefruit, avocado and feta in a salad bowl. Pour dressing over the salad and gently toss to coat.

toss the salad together with the skillet breadcrumbs

Step 5: Add Breadcrumbs and Serve

Add the breadcrumbs and toss again. Serve immediately with avocado.

a white salad bowl with chopped kale salad with sliced avocado, oranges and grapefruit

Serving Suggestions For Orange Kale Salad

Variations To Try

  • Experiment with Other Citrus: We used one grapefruit and one orange, but you could use either or. Also try with blood orange or cara cara oranges. Use clementines, tangerines or tangelos.
  • Add Nuts: We like pepitas or sunflower seeds or toasted nuts in a kale salad. Try spiced pecans or toasted sliced almonds.
  • Dressing: If you want to experiment with the dressing there are so many ways you could go. Our most popular dressings are this Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe and this Apple Cider Vinegar Salad Dressing. You can check out more salad dressing ideas here.
  • Add Beets: We almost added beets to this recipe, but held back so we could let this be all about the citrus, but beets would be amazing in this too! If you have leftover roast beets add them on. And while we’re at it add on a little pickled red onion.

Make Ahead Instructions For Kale Salad with Orange

Wash and cut kale, and supreme the oranges up to 3 days in advance. Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar. Keep all the ingredients refrigerated. Add avocado, cherry tomatoes and dressing before serving.

How To Supreme and Orange or Segment Citrus Fruit

Supreming citrus fruit means removing all the white pith. You can also watch my video of how to supreme an orange if you want more detail! Here is the quick version of how to do it:

segmenting an orange
  1. Before you begin, remove the zest of the orange.
  2. Carefully slice off the citrus peel, then hold the citrus fruit in your hand or rest it against the cutting board.
  3. Carefully slice between each thin layer of skin/pith to remove the citrus fruit slices.
the kale

More Winter Salads and Kale Recipes To Try

Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!

Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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close up of the salad on a white plate

Kale Salad with Orange


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Description

If you love a good kale salad with orange then you will adore this version made with chopped raw kale, crunchy bread crumbs, avocado and feta. In addition to orange segments, I also used fresh grapefruit and lemon vinaigrette for three citrus fruits all in one! 


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 clove garlic, smashed and skin removed
  • 4 ounces day old sourdough bread
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon minced shallot
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 4 cups chopped kale leaves (no ribs)
  • 1 large seedless orange, segmented or supreme-cut
  • 1 ruby red grapefruit, segmented or supreme-cut
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese, 2 ounces
  • 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced

Instructions

  1. Tear bread into a few pices and place in a food processor fitted with a steel blade attachment. Pulse several times to chop into large chunky breadcrumbs.
  2. Heat 3 tablespoons oil and smashed garlic in a medium skillet over medium heat until shimmering hot but not smoking. Add bread, and cook, stirring often. Reduce heat if necessary if it starts to smoke, and continue cooking until the breadcrumbs are browned and the garlic is toasted, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool and sprinkle with a little salt to taste.
  3. Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon zest, orange zest, lemon juice, honey, shallot, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
  4. Combine kale, orange, grapefruit, avocado and feta in a salad bowl. Pour dressing over the salad and gently toss to coat.
  5. Add the breadcrumbs and toss again. Serve immediately with avocado.

Notes

Cooking Tip

Supreming citrus fruit basically means removing all the white pith. Carefully slice off the citrus peel, then hold the citrus fruit in your hand. Carefully slice between each thin layer of skin/pith to remove the citrus fruit slices. There are also plenty of YouTubes you can watch if you want more detail!

Make Ahead

Wash and cut kale, and supreme the oranges up to 3 days in advance. Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar. Keep all the ingredients refrigerated. The breadcrumbs can be made a day ahead and kept at room temperature in a bag or resealable container. Toast them lightly in the toaster oven before adding to the salad. Follow directions for assembling and tossing the salad. 

  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Salad
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 1/2 cup
  • Calories: 286
  • Sugar: 6 g
  • Sodium: 427 mg
  • Fat: 19 g
  • Saturated Fat: 4 g
  • Carbohydrates: 25 g
  • Fiber: 4 g
  • Protein: 6 g