This Roasted Beet & Carrot Kale Salad is not only pretty to look at, it’s also bursting with flavour and nutrients! It can be made in advance, so it’s the perfect salad for meal prep or those parties and gatherings! {Gluten-free, paleo & vegan}
I have always been a MEGA fan of dark green leafy vegetables. In previous posts, I’ve talked about my passion for spinach, but I don’t think I’ve ever really mentioned my love for kale.
It’s one of those vegetables that’s so incredibly versatile. You can incorporate it into pretty much any meal ranging from smoothies, to kale chips to kale salad.
Because I was always such a spinach girl growing up, I never felt all that inspired to put kale in my salad. For one thing, it was super tough and bitter and just didn’t seem all that appealing at the time.
But then one day on a whim, I took a cooking class and we were experimenting with roasted beet salad recipes.
I learned so much that day, including the *the secret* to making kale taste A-M-A-Z-I-N-G in salad.
Curious what that secret is?
Well, there are a few different steps required to make the PERFECT kale salad.
How to Make an Extra Tasty Roasted Beet & Carrot Kale Salad
First of all, you have to make sure that you massage the kale leaves for a few minutes (I like to do that with some olive oil) to reduce the bitterness and toughness.
This step alone softens the leaves and makes such a difference in the overall taste and texture.
Next, it’s important to combine the kale with the right ingredients. I’ve learned through trial and error, that kale tastes incredible with roasted vegetables.
Throw some dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds in the mix and you have the perfect combination for a beautiful and tasty kale salad.
Finally, it’s ALL ABOUT THE DRESSING.
You can’t have a mouthwatering kale salad without a delicious dressing.
Especially if you allow the kale and roasted vegetables to just sit in the dressing for a few hours absorbing all of those wonderful flavours.
It seems that the longer it sits, the better it tastes.
THAT, my friends, is the secret to a delicious kale salad.
And the perfect example of a gorgeous and mouthwatering salad that incorporates all of these tips is this Roasted Beet & Carrot Kale Salad.
Talk about nutrient-overload! With all of those vibrant colours, this salad is a nutritional powerhouse! Let’s break down each of those colourful vegetables:
Nutrients in this Roasted Beet & Carrot Kale Salad
- Kale – This green, leafy vegetable is all the rage these days and reasonably so. It’s high in vitamins A, C, and K, and is also a good source of fiber and potassium.
- Beets – This vegetable is seriously underestimated, but can be a tasty and nutritious addition to any meal, AND they’re especially great in salads. Half a cup of cooked beets contain only 40 calories and are a good source of fibre. They’re also rich in folate, which is necessary for healthy red blood cells and for synthesizing and repairing DNA. Additionally, it can help decrease the risk of some cancers. Furthermore, they’re a source of potassium, which is good for overall heart health and may help reduce blood pressure. Their pretty jewel-coloured red pigment, known as betalains have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. See, who ever said beets were boring?!
- Carrots – When we think of carrots, the first thing that generally comes to mind is their bright orange colour, which is derived from their beta carotene content. When we consume beta carotene, some of it gets converted into retinol which is the active form of vitamin A. Vitamin A has numerous benefits including strengthening the immune system, preventing dry eyes, night blindness and impaired bone growth.
So there’s a little nutrition lesson 101. AND the best part is, you can find all of these benefits packed into this salad recipe.
Now, we’ve had this Roasted Beet & Carrot Kale Salad a number of times over the past few weeks and it just seems to taste better and better each time we have it.
What to serve along with kale salad
One night for dinner, we served it along with this Curried Pumpkin Chicken Soup. That is a TRUE Fall meal.
Another night, we had it with these Almond and Coconut Crusted Fish Sticks and Cinnamon Paprika Sweet Potato Fries.
So. darn. good.
If you want to make the salad more of a complete meal, feel free to throw some chicken and goat cheese in there. After all, who doesn’t love a good kale and goat cheese salad?! It compliments all of the other flavours so well!
OR if you’d like a plant-based option, some roasted chickpeas would be awesome.
SO many options for this gorgeous salad!
More delicious & colourful salad recipes:
- Kale Salad with Cranberries
- Sweet Potato Kale Bowl with Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing
- Blueberry Walnut Salad with Lemon Dressing
- Creamy Cranberry & Walnut Coleslaw
- No-Mayo Broccoli Apple Salad
- Christmas Wreath Salad
- Nectarine Salad
Did you make this recipe? Scroll down to leave a rating and review!
Roasted Beet, Carrot & Kale Salad
Ingredients
- 2 medium beets trimmed, peeled, quartered and sliced a 1/4 inch thick
- 2 large carrots sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 3 tbsp. olive oil divided
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 4 medium shallots peeled and quartered lengthwise
- 1/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds
- 6 cups chopped kale stems removed and cut into smaller pieces
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
Optional Add Ins:
- 4 oz. goats cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine beets, carrots, 2 tbsp. of the olive oil and salt and pepper. Add carrots and beets to a baking sheet and roast in oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and toss the shallots and pumpkin seeds with the beets and carrots on the baking sheet. Roast for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are just tender.
- Meanwhile, place the chopped kale in the same bowl where the beets and carrots were. Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil and massage into kale leaves with your hands until the leaves are bright green and tender, about 2-5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the dressing.
- Remove vegetables from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes. Add vegetable mixture to the bowl with the kale and toss with the dressing until well combined. Add the dried cranberries. Allow salad to sit for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to combine. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Adapted from the Better Homes & Gardens Magazine
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Fantastic recipe! And you’re totally right – it gets tastier as it sits! I found that the goat cheese provided a much needed sour note to an otherwise sweet dish. Bravo!
So happy you enjoyed it Leon! That’s one thing I love about kale salads is that they just keep tasting better and better as they absorb those flavours! Goat cheese is such a delicious addition too. Thanks so much for stopping by to comment :)
Hi! I make carrot, beet, and kale salad often but usually make it with raw veggies (kind of like a slaw) so Ihave no n issueswith making it ahead of time and eatingit for 2-3 days. I’d like to try this recipe to bring camping this weekend. I’d like to make it tonight but won’t be able to enjoy it until Sunday evening (2 days). Should I wait to dress it?
I find with kale salads, they generally taste better if they’ve had a chance to sit in the dressing for a little while. You could put the dressing on before you leave, or pack it separately and put it on several hours before. Either way, you can’t go wrong. Hope you enjoy the salad and your camping trip!
I can’t believe I’m saying this about a SALAD, but eating this was truly almost a s*xual experience!! The flavors and smells and textures were beautiful together. Threw on a bit of cashew parm to add a little extra saltiness. I’m not much of a salad person, but I may be now!
Hahaha your comment totally cracked me up! But I couldn’t agree more…this salad is pretty tough to beat. Love the addition of the cashew parm…amazing!! So glad you loved this salad!
This salad slaps! It’s so good!! I doubled the amount of dressing, since I like a lot of dressing and it was super yummie. My only gripe was the pumpkin seeds. I wanted them in there but about a third of them burned during the roasting part so I had to take out the brunt ones. I’d recommend adding them when you’re halfway done with the 20-25 minute roasting part, so that they get a good flavor but don’t burn. Other than that, this salad was amazing!
Thanks for the feedback Erin! So glad you enjoyed the salad! Sorry to hear about the pumpkin seeds…it must depend on your oven because I didn’t have the same experience with them burning. I’ll be sure to add that tip to the recipe notes!
Love this salad Big hit!
Thanks for the feedback Kathleen! So glad you enjoyed it!
I made this salad and took it to a potluck dinner tonight without even testing it first! I could tell by the ingredients that it would be delicious, and it was! Thank you for providing such a great recipe.
Thanks so much for sharing Cathy! I’m so happy that everyone enjoyed the recipe!
So good! I received a beet and some kale in my most recent produce box and had no clue what to do with them. Super stoked to come across your recipe! I left off the pumpkin seeds and added some boondi (Indian fried chickpea snack) instead. Boom diggity! I made a half recipe and just ate the whole thing for lunch. Thank you thank you thank you!
I’m so thrilled that you enjoyed the recipe Bethany! Love the substitution with the chickpeas! I bet that would’ve tasted amazing in the salad! Thanks so much for stopping by to comment :)
Elysia, WOW! so simple, yet SO tasty! This is fantastic, yum. Thanks for the recipe.
My pleasure Julia! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Elysia, this is such a delicious meal! I love making it for the family !
So glad you’re loving this recipe Mariya! It’s one of our favourites for sure!
Elysia, it’s very delicious! This salad has EVERYTHING I love.
I’m so glad you love the recipe Alina! Thanks so much for stopping by :)
It’s so tasty! Just made this salad! I Had to make a last minute dish for a party… this was so tasty!
So glad you enjoyed it Nataly — thanks for stopping by to comment! It’s definitely one of our favourite salad recipes!
Elysia, this is absolutely delicious and so easy to make. Fantastic salad! This is going to be a repeat dish in my home!
Thanks so much for the feedback Polly! So glad you enjoyed it!
Elysia, this salad looks amazing! I can’t wait to make it!
Thanks Olga! It’s one of our favourite salads! Hope you enjoy it if you try it out!
Hi Elysia! Can this salad be made the day before and refrigerated overnight?
Hi Shannon! Definitely! I ate the leftovers the next day after it had been sitting in the fridge overnight and it was still delicious. I always find that the longer kale sits in the dressing the better it tastes. Root vegetables would be similar. Alternatively, if you didn’t want to add the dressing to the salad the night before, you could simply assemble the salad ingredients to leave in the fridge and add the dressing a few hours before serving. Hope you enjoy!