Easy Massaged Kale Salad

Name: Easy Massaged Kale Salad
Prep time: 8 min
Total time: 8 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients: 4 cups kale; 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp salt

How to massage your kale to get tender leaves and the most delicious salad base

by Cory Varga

Updated 19 December 2024

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Ever since I discovered how to massage the kale and prepared it for a quick and easy salad, I use kale all the time. Honestly, I go to my local and end up buying 4-5 massive bags of kale. People look at me funny but I am so happy with my green leaves.

Kale is intimidating, especially because it looks tough and so dry. How can you even make it? But it's super easy! It takes just a few minutes to turn it from boring into incredible. And what fantastic ingredient kale is: it's ideal for salads, it's full of vitamins and fibres and it really elevates your food.

If you want to be team kale and start enjoying it, you've come to the right place. Here's how to massage your kale and prepare it for the best ever salads. A few minutes, a large bowl, some olive oil and salt it's all you need.

Delicious green kale before getting massaged

Preparing Massaged Kale

To prepare your kale and actually enjoy the taste of it, you need to learn to massage it. The idea behind it it's super simple. Let me show you step by step how to do it. You'll learn it once and apply the same technique over and over.

First things first. Rinse and dry the kale. Some kale might be pre-washed for you. I like to give it a rinse either way, just in case. Next thing to do is to remove the green leave from the thick stalky stems. I keep the thin stalks, I don't mind them. They actually taste really good. It's the really thick ones you want to remove as those are too chewy and difficult to digest.

Bowl of kale - stems removed, ready to be massaged

Add kale to a large bowl and add the olive oil. I like to use extra virgin olive oil. It's the best oil to use for your food and the kindest to your health. Plus, it really tastes fantastic when combined with kale.

Add olive oil to the bowl of kale

Next, it's time to massage the kale. Using your clean hands, start massaging the kale for 3-4 minutes. The kale will become tender and easier to eat and digest. In combination with the olive oil, the kale will also taste fantastic and become the perfect base for any kale salad.

massaging kale with clean hands for 3-4 minutes

Finally, add some sea salt and massage the kale for another minute or so. Serve it in a bowl of choice with crispy chickpeas of plantains.

massage kale salad with salt

I sometimes like eating the massaged kale on its own as a side dish or as an evening snack.

Is kale healthy?

Kale is a cruciferous vegetable which contains Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Manganese, Calcium, Copper, Potassium, Magnesium Vitamin B1 (thiamin), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (niacin), Iron and Phosphorus.

Kale is very high in nutrients and it's also low in calories making it the ideal food to consume. Besides, kale is packed with antioxidants.

This recipe has been developed entirely by Yuzu Bakes. Any resemblance with other recipes is purely coincidental.