This Mexican Kale Salad is packed with delicious ingredients and topped off with a flavorful Cumin Lime Dressing! It’s fresh, filling and healthy.
I haven’t been doing a ton of grocery stopping lately, so when I finally went and stocked up on fresh veggies, I just had to make a big salad! We have lots of beans and corn on hand so I immediately decided to make this Mexican Kale Salad and it was just what I needed.
My favorite thing about this Mexican Kale Salad might just be this amazing Cumin Lime Dressing! It’s inspired from a salad I got at a restaurant when Eric and I went out for our first date after having Sawyer. I finally re-created it and it was so good!
Mexican Kale Salad
If you really, really don’t like kale then you can absolutely use your favorite kind of lettuce in this salad. I like kale because it’s heart and can stand up well to lots of toppings and a tangy dressing. If you’re on the fence about kale, you should definitely try it in this salad! It might just change your mind 🙂
My secret to a delicious kale salad is to massage the kale leaves with a little bit of the dressing before adding all he other toppings. Kale can be a little tough but if you give it a little massage, it softens it up and gives it a great texture.
Choose Your Toppings
I love salads like this that have a bunch of delicious toppings! The trick is to not go too overboard that you forget there’s kale in there, but you want a good mix of textures and flavors. Here is what I like to use:
- Corn – I had some frozen corn that I just defrosted. Fresh or canned would be great too.
- Black Beans – I always have canned beans on hand and love black beans for salads but pinto would work as well.
- Tomato – If you don’t have fresh tomato you could use a chunky salsa instead.
- Cheese – I used crumbled feta because that’s all I had on hand but shredded cheddar or crumbled cojita cheese would be great. You could also omit cheese to make dairy free.
- Guacamole – I had a store-bought guacamole that made things easy but you could make your own or just use avocado slices.
- Tortilla Strips – You can use store-bought tortilla strips or make your own. I just sliced up some corn tortillas and cooked them ins one olive oil, salt, garlic powder and smoked paprika.
- Pumpkin Seeds – Totally optional but I love the crunch they add.
Enjoy more satisfying vegetarian salad recipes:
Kale Salad with Sweet Potato and Lentils
PrintMexican Kale Salad with Cumin Lime Dressing
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 1-2 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Mexican Kale Salad is full of flavor and healthy ingredients!
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped kale
- 1/2 cups black beans
- 1/2 cup corn kernels
- 1/3 cup shredded or crumbled cheese
- 1/3 cup diced tomato
- 2 tablespoons guacamole, or avocado
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
Cumin Lime Dressing:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Juice of two limes, 1/4 cup
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
- 1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Mix all dressing ingredients together in a small jar. Add the kale to a bowl and pour on about 1 tablespoon of dressing. Use your hands to massage the kale until softened, 30 seconds.
- Add all the remaining toppings and dress with desired amount of remaining dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe makes enough for one large kale salad or two medium sized salads but can easily be multiplied of making for more people.
Salad will keep well in the refrigerator for about 3 days.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Category: Salad, Lunch
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Mexican
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