I am finally back with a new recipe! But trust me, this is a good one. I love this lemon chicken kale salad for lunch or dinner! Flat leaf kale is also called dinosaur kale or lacinato kale and it’s perfect for a salad like this. A lemony vinaigrette topped with crispy chicken, red onion, parmesan cheese, and pepitas make for a salad that’s healthy, filling, and truly delicious. This salad recipe is full of flavor and perfectly delicious. One of my favorite things about a kale salad is that it holds up well! You can enjoy leftovers the next day or make the salad in the morning and pack it for your lunch at work. Kale salads do require one very important step: massaging your kale! You need to put the dressing directly onto the kale and use your hands to work it into the kale. If you don’t, the kale will be tough and bitter.
To make the chicken, I’m simply seasoning it and searing it on both sides before transferring to the oven. To keep this even easier, you can use pre-cooked leftover shredded chicken. The salad won’t be quite as flavorful without the seasoned chicken, but it’ll still be great and the dressing adds a punch of flavor too! The dressing makes enough that you can massage half into the kale and drizzle any additional dressing that you’d like onto the salad as well.
How to Make Lemon Chicken Kale Salad
- First, prep your chicken. I use chicken breast that I split in half lengthwise to make them thinner, then season them with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and smoked paprika. Sear on both sides in a cast iron skillet with olive oil before transferring to the oven until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While the chicken is cooking, I cut my kale into ribbons, slice the red onion, and shave the parmesan cheese.
- Next, make your dressing! When I make salad dressing I like to use a shaker bottle, like the kind you would use for a protein shake. It blends together so well, giving you a smooth salad dressing. This dressing has a lot of ingredients, but most you likely have on hand already. Plain full-fat Greek yogurt, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, olive oil, and a little honey all come together for a creamy lemon dressing that’s the perfect mix of tart and sweet.
- Massage about half of the dressing into the kale before topping with the sliced warm chicken, red onion, pepitas, and parmesan. Drizzle with additional dressing if desired and enjoy!
What to Serve with Lemon Chicken Kale Salad:
- It’s really delicious all by itself! But you can also serve it with crusty bread, garlic bread, or rolls to soak up the dressing.
- I’d love to enjoy this outside in the summertime with a glass of crisp white wine or your favorite sparkling water with a splash of juice and squeeze of lime for an easy mocktail.
- 2 bunches flat leaf kale
- ½ cup pumpkin seeds
- ⅓ cup sliced red onion
- ⅓ cup shaved parmesan cheese
- 3 chicken breasts, split lengthwise
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- Olive oil for cooking
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp. pepper
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. honey
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Pat the chicken dry. In a small bowl mix together salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and paprika. Season the chicken on all sides. Heat olive oil in a skillet and cook chicken on both sides until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- Place the kale in a large bowl, set aside.
- Using a bowl and a whisk or a shaker bottle, mix together all the dressing ingredients and shake until smooth. Pour half of the dressing over the kale and use your hands to massage it.
- Add the red onion, pepitas, and parmesan to the salad.
- Slice the chicken, and place on top of your individual salad servings. Drizzle with additional dressing if desired.
- Enjoy!
Overall, this was a great recipe! I’m a novice cook, and I decided to try this. I even went out to finally buy a meat thermometer. It came out great. My recommendation would be to brine the chicken. It lacked moisture and was tough to eat. However, the rub was delicious, and I’m happy I used the smoked paprika in the cupboard. I loved the parmesan chips and pepitas! So tasty. I added extra red onion. I had no idea how to cut kale so it was a good learning opportunity. Thanks for sharing this dish!