Kale Salad with Garlic Tarragon Dressing
Author: Heather Scholten · Posted: Jul 13, 2015 · Updated: May 24, 2025
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A beautiful Kale Chopped Salad with Garlic Tarragon Dressing that is loaded with cabbage, carrots, herbs and topped with a creamy dressing. Incredibly delicious.
I don’t know about you, but my garden is busting at the seams this summer already. The hot dry conditions have my kale, cabbage, and tomatoes zooming through their growing cycle. This is definitely not a complaint, as usually I’m waiting around impatiently for the first ripe tomato, but not this year. We’ve been eating them for weeks.
One of my favorite meals from the garden is a giant kale salad. This Kale Chopped Salad is one I make frequently during the summer. The crunch from the 2 varieties of cabbage mixed with the sweetness of dried cranberries compliments the tangy dressing perfectly. Toss a few chopped pistachios on the top and this can be dinner or a side in a flash.
Imagine all of the possibilities with this salad; you could top it with grilled shrimp or chicken, add sliced radishes, switch up the herbs in the dressing by using basil instead of tarragon. It’s such a great salad base and so easy to modify with what you have in season in your garden or farmer’s market, or what’s available at your grocery store. I’m a huge fan of Dole’s chopped red cabbage to make tossing together a salad much quicker. The convenience of it being chopped is not the only one, it’s also great because it’s a smaller quantity and you’re not left with that half of red cabbage in the veggie drawer staring at you each time you pop open the fridge.
Kale Salad with Garlic Tarragon Dressing
Ingredients
- 6 cups chopped kale, stems removed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cups chopped white cabbage
- 1 cup chopped red cabbage, radicchio
- 1 cup grated carrots, about 2 medium
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro, optional
- 4 tbsp chopped green onions, optional
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar, or rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped pistachios
Instructions
- In a very large bowl add the kale, salt, and olive oil. Using your fingers, rub the oil and salt into the kale. This will soften the kale and make it less bitter. Rinse kale in a colander under cold water. Drain well. Chop more if desired. Add both chopped cabbages, carrots, parsley, cranberries, cilantro and green onions. Toss to combine.
- In a blender jar, add the mayonnaise, sour cream, champagne vinegar, tarragon, sugar, and garlic. Pulse to combine. Add a little milk or water to thin if the consistency is too thick.
- Toss the kale mixture with the dressing to coat. Sprinkle pistachios over and serve immediately.
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Recipe Nutrition
* Nutritional information is not guaranteed to be accurate.
Recipe By:
Co-Founder at Spiceology | More About Heather…
Heather is a recipe developer and content creator living in Vancouver, Washington. She started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006, almost 20 years ago, as a way to share recipes with friends and family. Heather is also the co-founder of Spiceology , a unique spice company, which she started in 2013. She shares family friendly recipes for easy everyday meals with a gourmet twist.
I really love this recipe and hope you will too!
Hi Looks Delicious ? Could you substitute the mayo and sour cream with smashed avocado or yogurt
Thanks
Of course. That would be a great sub. Even Greek yogurt in place of the mayo would be delish!
I don’t like the smell of garlic much, but this kale salad looks really delicious, thanks Heather Scholten for the tasty recipe.