This winter Kale Pomegranate Salad is simple yet festive and packed with flavor. Crunchy toppings like apple slices, roasted chickpeas, pomegranate and sunflower seeds add texture and a pop of color. This salad is perfect to serve at a holiday party!

Kale, slices of apple, baby spinach, chickpeas, and pumpkin seeds in a large glass bowl with wooden spoons, dressing in a small bowl and pomegranate sliced in half on a chopping board with knife

The holidays are fast approaching! There will be dinners and party galore, and while you may be (mainly) looking forward to a slice of pie, extra servings of stuffing or a dreamy creamy mac and cheese, one thing is for sure-- there must be a salad too!

So how about this beautiful and festive KALE POMEGRANATE SALAD with all the crunchy toppings and vibrant colors!

In my humble opinion, salads are an important part of the menu. No matter what holiday we are celebrating, you can bet that there is always a large bowl of salad greens on the table. Better yet, a beautiful festive bowl of salad like this Roasted Garlic Vegetable Salad or this Winter Retreat Blood Orange and Kale Salad, and who knows people might get excited about it too 🙂

Salad greens topped with colorful seeds in a large glass bowl surrounded by a small bowl of dressing and pomegranate slices on a chopping board

Table of Contents

how to cut fresh kale for the winter kale salad

If a big green bunch of kale caught your eyes but you don’t know how to handle it properly, the solution is very simple. Usually the leaves come apart but bunched in together, simply separate each leaf as you rinse under room temperature water (this will help soften the leaves).

Once they are rinsed and separated, grab a pair of kitchen scissors and cut alongside the stem. Removing the stems completely will eliminate part of the roughness of the kale. Then cut into bite size pieces.

how to make kale less bitter

To help make kale less bitter I run through a second wash, again at room temperature water. This is a very hands on job. Grab each leaf under running water, pinch and separate them much like you would if you were counting money (I know silly right?). Take your time here, this kale salad with pomegranate will be worth it in the end.

Transfer kale to a salad spinner or clean kitchen towel. Grab a few folds of paper towel and pinch kale until dry. I said ‘pinch’ not pat dry. Do it until the kale is almost all dried.

how to make sure that your kale pomegranate salad is tasty and delicious

The last step to assure your kale is perfectly soft, tasty and delicious is to massage the kale with avocado oil or olive oil until the leaves are soft and completely coated with oil. There is nothing worse than rough kale with no dressing on!

A heavy citrus squeezer on a half slice of pomegranate held by a hand on top of a glass bowl

how to remove pomegranate seeds

This salad recipe requires half a cup of pomegranate seeds. You love them, you know they are pretty but you’re not sure how to get all those tiny seeds removed from the shell without missing a whole entire episode of Friends re-run? Hmm... fear not!

Removing the seeds from a pomegranate fruit is quite simple. The illustration above shows us how.

cut pomegranate in half
hold pomegranate half, cut side down above a bowl
grab a heavy kitchen tool like a wooden spoon or a citrus squeezer and hit the pomegranate sides real hard.
all the seeds will magically fall out!

Colorful salad in a glass bowl containing kale leaves, spinach, apple slices, pomegranate seeds, sunflower seeds, and chickpeas

A delicious and attractive salad does not need to have a lot of ingredients. I topped my Kale Pomegranate Salad with fresh apple slices, crunchy roasted chickpeas, pomegranate and pumpkin seeds. The salad dressing is not overpowering but flavor enhancing and healthy.

other festive recipes for the holidays

Eye of Round Roast with Gravy

Sausage & Apple Stuffed Honeynut Squash

Honey Roasted Carrots

Cranberry Orange Cookies

Instant Pot Turkey Gravy

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Brown Butter Sage Sweet Potato

If you make this Kale Pomegranate Salad be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thanks a bunch!

Print Recipe

Kale Pomegranate Salad

Prep Time15

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Holiday Recipe, Kale Salad, salad

Servings: servings

Author: Silvia Ribas

Ingredients

1 bunch fresh kale or bag of pre-cut kale
2 cups fresh baby spinach
½ large pomegranate, seeds removed
1 whole honeycrisp apple or any other kind sliced thin
⅓ cup roasted chickpeas
¼ cup pumpkin seeds

Dressing

⅓ cup avocado oil or EVOO
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 pinch sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

Using a salad spinner wash and dry the kale. I try to spend a few minutes here, not only to get the kale really clean but to massage the tough leaves as I rinse under room temperature water. After you spin the kale, grab a few folds of paper towel and give it a rough dry, again taking the time to massage the leaves to soften. Transfer clean and dry kale to a large bowl along with washed spinach. Set aside
In a small glass bowl add the dressing ingredients. Stir it or shake if using a jar, to combine.
Pour half the dressing over the kale. Massage, massage, and massage the kale until leaves are soft and completely coated with dressing. There is nothing worse than rough kale salad with no dressing on!
Add on all the toppings; apple slices, pomegranate seeds, chickpeas and sunflower seeds. I don't usually mix it at this point as the ingredients will move down on its own. Top with remaining dressing and serve.