Strawberry Kale Salad with Nutty Granola Croutons
Raw kale, chopped strawberries and radishes, and goat cheese tossed in a tangy lemon dressing, topped with savory granola "crouton" clusters. Delicious!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
I keep thinking that someone will knock on my door and offer to mow my lawn. For a fee, of course—a fee that I will gladly pay. Yet no one has come knocking. My grass is only growing longer. And I am definitely not going to buy a mower and mow it myself. What’s a girl to do?
Google “lawn service,” probably. I will say, though, the overgrown green blanket outside my window is a lovely backdrop for my food photos. At my last apartment, my view consisted of strangers’ windows and a parking garage. Now I have big green trees and a yard that’s being overrun by weeds but if you squint, it just looks like a nice, uniform green.
We’d better start talking about this salad before I start going on about the neighborhood bunnies and squirrels again. (They are everywhere!) I’m totally obsessed with this salad. I basically took Deb’s kale salad and changed it up for spring. I added strawberries instead of apples, swapped lemon juice for apple cider vinegar in the dressing and kept the chopped radishes for some spicy crunch. Then I topped it all off with nutty, savory granola clusters that act as croutons. Granola in salad?! Trust me.
I found the savory granola concept in Bon Appetit Magazine‘s April issue. Bon Appetit is always chock-full of good ideas and the April issue was especially full of them. I had already dog-eared a bunch of pages when I came across their recipe for savory granola. The headnote said that savory granola is a new restaurant trend. I thought, “Well, if all the cool kids are doing it…” and immediately got up to make some.
I’m not usually one to add croutons to my salad, but these granola “croutons” are a different story. You’re basically adding some freshly toasted, spiced nut mix to salad—clearly a good idea. Especially considering how well strawberries and oats play together. (You know what else strawberries go well with? Pizza.)
The first time I made the granola, the egg white bound the nuts and oats together into huge clusters. The second and third times I made the granola, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. Now I’m wondering if it’s because I baked the granola directly on my baking sheet the first time around, rather than lining the sheet with parchment paper like I did on my second and third tries. Does anyone have insight into the matter? I want to settle this matter once and for all!
(Vegans, I have suggestions on how to make this recipe without egg whites and goat cheese in the recipe footnotes.)
Strawberry Kale Salad with Nutty Granola Croutons
Raw kale, chopped strawberries and radishes, and crumbled goat cheese tossed in a tangy lemon dressing. Top that with savory, nutty granola “crouton” clusters for a hearty and healthy meal in a bowl. The recipe below yields enough salad for two full-sized portions or four side salads, and plenty of leftover granola croutons for future salads.
Ingredients
Kale salad
- 8 ounces Tuscan kale or regular curly kale (one medium bunch)
- ½ pound strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 4 to 5 medium radishes, sliced thin and roughly chopped
- 2 ounces chilled goat cheese (or about ⅓ cup goat cheese crumbles), more if you’d like
Lemon honey mustard dressing
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 small lemon)
- 1 tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoons honey
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Nutty granola “croutons”
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- ½ cup raw shelled pistachios (or chopped walnuts or pecans)
- ½ cup whole almonds
- ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup raw sesame seeds
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 large egg white, beaten (optional, see note for vegans)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
Instructions
- To make the granola: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, toss the oats, pistachios, almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, salt, and cayenne pepper. Stir in the beaten egg white, oil, and honey until well blended. Transfer mixture to a rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring halfway, until golden, about 16-19 minutes. Let the granola cool on the baking sheet.
- To make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, honey and salt until well blended. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
- To prepare the kale: Use a chef’s knife to remove the tough ribs from the kale, then discard the ribs (or feed them to your dog!). Chop the kale leaves into small, bite-sized pieces. Transfer the chopped 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.
- To assemble the salad: Drizzle in the salad dressing (you might not need all of it) and toss well, until all of the kale is lightly coated in dressing. Add the sliced strawberries and chopped radishes, then use a fork to crumble the goat cheese over the salad. For the best flavor, let the salad rest for 15 minutes before serving (this gives the dressing time to soak into the kale).
- Top with granola just before serving to preserve its crunch (if you intend to have leftovers, add granola to individual servings and store it separately from the salad). This salad will keep well covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days and the granola will keep in an air-tight freezer bag in the freezer for several months. It’s good on salads or yogurt.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Deb’s kale salad and Bon Appetit’s savory granola.
Massaged kale, what? Massaging the kale helps make the leaves more palatable, flavorful and fragrant. Don’t worry, you won’t hurt the kale in the process. :)
Make it vegan: Add diced avocado instead of goat cheese. Use agave nectar or maple syrup in place of the honey. Skip the egg white in the granola, but keep an eye on the granola near the end of baking. It might be done a couple minutes early.
Make it gluten free: Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats.
Recommended equipment: My Oxo salad spinner helps remove all of the water from the greens. Watery greens repel salad dressing, which makes for a not-so-great salad.
2025 recipe edit: I omitted the optional 1 tablespoon fennel seeds from the granola because I prefer the granola without it.
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.
LOVE the outside pictures, you are right, that long grass is perfect for photos! Also, I’m intrigued by the savory croutons, I need to try. Hope Cookie is enjoying that lawn of yours : )
Thank you, Abby! Cookie is loving the yard. Hope you’ll try the croutons soon!
this is terrific! I’m officially hooked on your recipes!
Hooray! Thank you, Madeline!
oooOOOooooh i could get behind granola in salad! yum!
the other day i got on a lawn mower for the first time and it was scary but then kind of fun ;)
I think you’d like it! I mean, I could buy a lawn mower and mow the lawn myself, but given my inconsistent track record with the vacuum… I’m pretty sure the neighbors would complain.
You’re completely right – strawberries and granola are a match made in heaven. I’ll bet they were perfect combined with the kale. Kale is so popular these days that when I went to buy seeds for my garden, there wasn’t a packet left on the rack!
Wow, we really are going kale crazy! Hope I can find some to plant this year before it’s too late. I keep procrastinating on my vegetable garden plans.
The salad dressing sounds great! I will definitely have to try it!!
What a beautiful salad! The granola croutons are such a nice touch!
The other day I thought of topping my salad with granola for some crunchy texture, but my sweet granola didn’t seem like an ideal match for the greens. Looks like you found the perfect way to do it, can’t wait to try it!
Hope you love this savory granola, Tess! I think you will. :)
Deb’s kale salad recipe is a staple in our house, but it does feel kind of ‘wintery’. Love your update. And granola in a salad sounds pretty cool to me ;)
I haven’t quite gotten onto the kale trend yet (I’m trying to learn to love it) but I do love spinach, and I would assume you could make the salad with spinach or spring mix instead of the kale? I definitely want to try the savory granola — it sounds fantastic!
Hey Sarah! If you haven’t tried massaging kale for your salads yet, it might change your mind about kale. Spinach or spring mix would be fine substitutions (no massaging required), just beware that the greens will start wilting right after you add the dressing, so eat quickly!
The idea of savory granola and of granola as croutons is fantastic :) I love adding tons of seeds and nuts to salad so why not some toasty oats too? Really neat, I make my own maple-every-kind-of-nut-ever granola and I think even sweet it would be a good addition to some of the more generously fruit-topped salads I usually pack for lunch!
Such a pretty spring salad and the granola croutons are brilliant!
Oh man! This looks tremendous. Think it’s gonna be my go to this summer! Good luck with your lawn! :)
Thanks, Amanda! Hope you love the salad as much as I do!
This salad certainly sounds like a delicious way to shovel even more fresh spring strawberries into my mouth! Not that I need an excuse. :) The granola croutons are a really interesting idea too. I might have to make up a batch of them just for snacking.
Yum, yum, yum. I’ve been making a strawberry avocado kale salad for years but this nutty granola addition is totally floating my boat. I like salad for breakfast often anyway but this would be even more breakfast appropriate!!
Oh, your strawberry avocado kale salad sounds good to me!
We desperately need our lawn mowed, as well. I Googled “mowing service” and contacted a couple of places but have yet to hear back. Our grass is seriously getting out of control.
I am in love with those croutons! I can’t wait to try them! :)
Good grief, why is it so hard to find someone to mow a lawn?! When I was in high school, it was the gig to have. Hope you give the croutons a try soon!
I love a good kale sale! And I totally trust you on the granola clusters in a salad…if anyone could make it work, it’d be you! p.s. did your friend tell you about us running into each other a couple of weekends ago?
Hey thanks, Taylor! :) And NO, which friend did you run into?
I think her name was Grace? She said you stayed with her when you were in the Twin Cities after BFG. I was at our neighborhood garage sale and she recognized me…it was pretty funny/random!
Oh, how funny! Yes, Grace is the friend I kept mentioning. We were college roommates. She’s an observant one. :)
this.looks.so.good. mixing up the salad makes it seem really tasty, granola is a weakness of mine !
Another total stunner!! I can’t shed much light on the whole baking directly on the baking sheet vs parchment issue because I always use parchment. It’s not for any reason other than that I hate washing up. As for the granola croutons, I love this idea! There’s a restaurant here that does the same thing (although theirs are quite sweet) and I love the unexpected flavour they add. Awesome job, Kate!
Thank you, Angela! Washing big baking sheets is such a pain, I’m with you on that! Glad you approve of the granola croutons idea.
This salad is seriously a winner. So full of yum!
I would never think to put strawberries in a salad, but this looks heavenly. I bet they really jazz up the kale.
PS Cookie is the cutest. That face.
Thanks, Skye! I happy to think she’s the cutest, too. :)
This salad sounds amazing! I love the granola croutons! Pinned
Hey Katie, this salad looks amazing! I have learned a trick with getting clusters thanks to Pbandpeppers blog, once the granola is finished cooking, turn off the oven and leave it in the oven with the oven door partially opened, I have gotten nice big clusters using this technique!
Interesting! I’ll have to try that with my next batch. Thanks for the tip, Bonnie!
Thanks for coming up with a way for the rest of us to be “cool kids” too! I made the granola yesterday and the vinaigrette this morning so the hubs and I could enjoy this for lunch. Awesome salad. Yay, Cookie & Kate! :)
Hooray, thanks Rachel! So glad you enjoyed the salad. Beware, that granola is addictive.
Savory granola croutons? I missed that in the magazine! Brilliant! Love this salad, Kate. And congratulations on a wonderful Food & Wine feature! Vegetable ribbons ftw :)
Thank you, Sophie! The granola recipe in Bon Appetit was easy to miss—glad it got your attention here. :)
great recipe!! i cant wait to try this. i love kale and strawberries
This looks so good and so fresh! As someone who is turning to a more vegetarian diet, I always find your blog to be incredibly inspiring!
Just came across your site and I’m SO glad I did – will immediately be sharing with my friends/family who also love healthy eats! I popped over and read your Food & Wine blogger spotlight – I’m a KC native so I love to hear when transplants fall in love with the city, too! Maybe I’ll run into you and Cookie walking around Loose Park sometime this summer :)
Hey Lauren, thank you! I really appreciate you sharing my blog. Please say hi if we run into each other!
Salad of summer starts NOW. And given how often I vacuum my apartment, if I had anything resembling a lawn…it would probably look like a mini jungle. :P
I just found this recipe yesterday and made it right away. This is hands down one of the best salads I have ever had! My husband agrees. This will be a regular at our house! The granola makes enough for many more salads and I assume I can just freeze it to have ready for next time. The fennel seeds really add alot. Thanks for the great recipe!
Yessss! So glad you’re loving the salad, Lisa. You can definitely freeze the granola for later.
Another jealousy-inducing lunchbox idea! Thanks Kate.
I love how Cookie’s eyes are trained on that strawberry. She is definitely using the force to will it into her mouth :)
I love the idea of savoury granola – who doesn’t love crunchy things in their salad!
Do you understand how badly I need this!?!?
I’m going to be honest – I was skeptical about this…I typically don’t like fruit in my salad. However, something about this recipe really intrigued me. I’m sure glad it did, because this salad is delicious. I’ve made it multiple times already! It taste just like summer! Thank you!
Elena, so glad to hear you’re enjoying the salad! I don’t like super sweet salads myself, but that tangy dressing balances out the strawberries nicely. Enjoy!
This granola is so great! I’ve honestly never thought of making savory granola before. Such a good idea! We subbed grainy mustard for dijon, and we’re adding avocado to use up leftovers…super delicious!
Glad you are on board with savory granola, Alyssa! Your salad sounds so great!
I put granola on my salads all the time but never thought to use kale as a base, love that idea!!
It’s a really delicious combination! Hope you get a chance to try it soon, Amanda!
This is such a pretty salad. I was so looking forward to making it and tonight I finally had all of the ingredients to give it a try. The granola topping was too spicy for me, but now I know and can modify. The salad itself was kind of plain and for some reason the kale didn’t soften up the way it usually does with kale. The consensus around the table was “strange.” To be fair, I did make some modifications, like baby turnips instead of radish and a bit less dressing than it called for. I would like to magically transport myself into the kitchens where it came out right, lol!
Hey Annie, I’m bummed your salad didn’t turn out well. I don’t know that turnips would lend the same bite and crunch that radishes do, and it’s probably pretty difficult to find great strawberries this time of year. Did you massage the kale as directed? The acidic component in the dressing usually further softens up the kale (in this case, lemon juice), but if you didn’t use enough dressing to lightly coat the kale, then that wouldn’t happen. Anyway, I’m sorry you all didn’t love it!
This was delicious, a really unusual combination. Love kale salads for lunch, and love your index of 12 different ones—please keep them coming!
Thanks, Rhonda! Happy to hear it!
What a beautiful spring salad! I write a newsletter that includes recipes for a local CSA and I’m definitely going to include a link to your site!
Thank you, Jen! I appreciate it!
I REALLY enjoyed this recipe. So did my husband. And I cannot stop picking at this granola. So good! Although there is truly nothing “unhealthy” about this recipe… I couldn’t help but calculate the nutrition info. For 4 servings, instead of the suggested 2, here are my (surprising and kinda sad) numbers: 779 calories, an astonishing 59 grams of fat, 54 grams of carbs and (woohoo) 20 grams of protein. I will most definitely be making this recipe again but I was sad to see how high the calories and fat were. Thank you for the amazing meals!
Thanks, Elizabeth! So glad you two enjoyed the salad. I wonder, are you including the full nutrition breakdown for the granola with the salads? I had quite a bit of granola left over, so if that’s the case for you, too, then your salads will have significantly fewer calories, etc.
I made this last week for the first time and so far I have eaten it five times! This is so unusual as compared to most UK salads. I have slightly varied it with additional rocket and parsley when I have been in a hurry. The granola is such a bonus.
I am so delighted to have found your website and really love your recipes. So “Thank You” for introducing me to so many delightful new salads.
Kate, thanks for this recipe! A friend made it last night for a dinner party and I couldn’t get enough of it! I had her send me the link and I plan to buy the ingredients this weekend. I definitely need to keep some of the granola on hand for salads — I too am not a huge fan of croutons, they just don’t get me excited — but having the nutty crunch in this salad was exceptional!
This was probably the best salad I’ve ever eaten! It took a while to prepare, but totally worth it. I will be making this again! Thanks!
Delicious, even without the granola.
Great recipe! Me and my boyfriend likes it a lot. Although i did some modifications for savory granola as i didn’t have fennel seeds, cayenne pepper and enough almonds (snacked too much of them before). So I added in granola flaxseed seeds, a little cardamom, habanero pepper (from my small garden) and maple syrup instead of honey. Came out very delicious too.
Tried it – Liked it! My so liked it too! I only had the ingredients for the dressing, plus kale and beets. So thought I’d give it a shot, but the dressing made it delicious. The beets being slightly sweet were a good stand-in for the strawberries.
I’ll make this again, a lot, but next probably with the recommended ingredients.
I’m glad it worked with what you had on hand, Bonnie! Let me know if you try it again.
Made this for lunch today (and the next few days). Delish! The cayenne gives such a wonderful unexpected flavor to the granola.
Yes! I’m so glad you enjoy the cayenne, too. Thanks, N!
Made this for lunch with my girlfriends and everyone loved it! The savory granola is a touch that adds crunch and flavor balanced out with the sweet strawberries. I will certainly be making it again!
Thank you, Angela! I’m happy to hear everyone enjoyed this one. Thanks for sharing it with your friends, too!
I just tried this recipe for lunch yesterday and OMG it was amazing! The dressing paired so well with the kale and strawberries. I would have never thought of that. The granola was Phenomenal! Will be using that in smoothie bowls and yogurt parfaits. I’m so happy I came across your site and will now follow you on IG. Cant wait to try your other recipes. Thank you!
Hooray! I’m so happy you found C+K, too. Thanks for the review!
Very good recipe! I added avocado rather than goat cheese but I know it’d be even better with the goat cheese!
Thanks for your review, Kelli!
Ever since I bought your book and started coming from it last year, my entire family have become your fans. This was the first recipe that wasn’t a hit. I followed ask the instructions and the kale softened and darkened as you said. But there just wasn’t enough flavor. I had to give feedback because of how wonderful all your recipes are.
I’m sorry you didn’t love this one! I appreciate your feedback.
There are few salads that I crave. This is one of them. Once the warmer weather comes along, this becomes a lunch staple. I made this salad again today for the first time this year. My belly and heart are happy. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe, Kate!!
we only loosely followed the granola recipe (just toasted walnuts with oil, maple syrup, and salt) but the rest is quite great! I found it could use a bit less oil and maybe a bit more mustard for a tang to balance the sweet toppings. added chickpeas as well. will eat again :)