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Deb’s Kale Salad with Apple, Cranberries and Pecans

This flavorful, vegetarian kale salad is loaded with Granny Smith apple, cranberries, pecans, radish and goat cheese, tossed in honey mustard dressing.

Updated by Kathryne Taylor on November 20, 2025

150 Reviews

384CommentsJump to recipe

Kale salads make me happy. They’re a staple in my diet, like boots are in my wardrobe, and I’ll never tire of them. This recipe was the fourth kale salad to appear on my blog, and it’s still a favorite over ten years later. I’m sharing it again today with updated photos.

This beautiful salad is full of crunch from crisp apple, radishes and pecans, studded with sweet dried cranberries and tangy crumbled goat cheese, and tossed in a zippy honey-mustard dressing. It’s a fantastic combination that has garnered well over 100 five-star reviews!

This recipe is hearty and holiday-worthy. I’ve made it for my family’s Thanksgiving, served it at girls’ night, and enjoyed it on a regular weeknight. Kale salads are great to keep in the fridge for quick and healthy meals, since kale doesn’t wilt like more delicate greens.

There are a few tricks to making a kale salad taste really great, which I’ve elaborated on here. My number one tip is to massage the kale—watch the video below to see how! I’m thrilled every time I convert someone to a kale salad fan.

This recipe came from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. I made a few alterations to Deb’s kale salad recipe, given the season and what I had in stock in my pantry.

I added a chopped Granny Smith apple and traded dried cranberries for the dried cherries. I also used apple cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar, though I’m not sure I can really taste the difference in the end.

Watch How to Make Deb’s Kale Salad

More Kale Salads to Enjoy

Here are a few more kale salads suitable for fall and winter:

• Autumn Kale Salad with Fennel, Honeycrisp and Goat Cheese
• Balsamic Butternut, Kale and Cranberry Panzanella
• Farro and Kale Salad with Goat Cheese
• Lemony Kale Salad
• Southwestern Kale Power Salad

Please let me know how Deb’s salad turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.

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Deb’s Kale Salad with Apple, Cranberries and Pecans

• Author: Kathryne Taylor
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 to 6
• Diet: Vegetarian

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 150 reviews

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This hearty, holiday-worthy raw kale salad is made with chopped Granny Smith apple, cranberries, toasted pecans and goat cheese, tossed in a zippy honey mustard dressing. It’s both vegetarian and gluten free. Recipe yields 4 to 6 salads.

Ingredients

Salad

• ½ cup pecan halves
• 8 ounces kale (I used regular curly green kale, but Deb recommends Cavolo Nero or Lacinato, Dinosaur or Tuscan Kale)
• 4 to 5 medium radishes
• ½ cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
• 1 medium Granny Smith apple
• 2 ounces soft goat cheese, chilled

Dressing

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard
• 1 ½ teaspoons honey or maple syrup
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spread the pecans on a baking tray. Toast them until lightly golden and fragrant, about 5 to 10 minutes, tossing them once or twice to make sure they bake evenly. Remove the tray from the oven and set them aside to cool.
2. Pull the kale leaves off from the tough stems and discard the stems. Use a chef’s knife to chop the kale into small, bite-sized pieces. Transfer the kale to a big salad bowl. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the kale and massage the leaves with your hands by lightly scrunching big handfuls at a time until the leaves are darker in color and fragrant.
3. Thinly slice the radishes (this is easier to do if you first chop off the root end so you can place the base of the radish flat against your cutting board). Add them to the bowl.
4. Coarsely chop the pecans and cranberries and add them to the bowl. Chop the apple into small, bite-sized pieces and add it to the bowl. Use a fork to crumble the goat cheese over the top.
5. In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour the dressing over the salad. Toss until the salad is evenly coated with dressing. Serve immediately, or for even better flavor, let the salad marinate for 10 to 20 minutes beforehand. This salad keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days.

Notes

Recipe adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman.

Make it vegan: Omit the goat cheese, and use maple syrup instead of honey in the dressing.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Salad
• Method: By hand