Kale and Roasted Carrot Salad with Apples and Cranberries

Love a fresh, crisp salad that has all the amazing flavors of the season? This roasted carrot salad has amazing flavors that come together with crisp apples and savory pistachios and sweet cranberries. This apple and carrot salad is easy enough for a weeknight dinner, and beautiful enough to serve for a holiday meal.

If you follow me over on Instagram and watch my IG stories, you’ll quickly see that I make a stop at my local farmers market just about every Saturday morning. I do this pretty religiously from June through November, and always seem to find some wonderfully fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables.

This carrot salad recipe with fresh kale and apples is loaded with many of my favorite farmers market finds. With carrots and apples in their peak in the fall and winter, this salad is great to toss together as a side dish with soup or topped with chicken for a meal on its own.

What do I need to make a kale and carrot salad?

• Fresh, whole carrots – grab a bunch from your farmers market or grocery store. These are typically very economical. You can also use baby carrots.
• Fresh kale – feel free to buy a large bunch of kale. When getting it home, rinse well, then remove the stems and tear into pieces. You can also purchase kale that has been pre-rinsed and cut.
• Large apple – choose a variety of apple you enjoy. Go for a sweet crisp apple, like Honey Crisp, Jazz, Cosmic or Pink Lady. If you like tart flavors, go with a Granny Smith.
• Pickled Red Onion – pickled onion can be found in a jar at your grocery store. Found near the pickles and jarred peppers. You can easily make Homemade Pickled Red Onions at home.
• Dried cranberries – opt for lower-sugar cranberries, as the regular version tend to be loaded with excessive sugar. You can also make dried cranberries at home.
• Pistachios – savory pistachios are a great addition for extra crunch to this salad.
• Feta crumbles – mild and creamy, feta cheese crumbles are a great cheese addition to this salad. You can also substitute goat cheese or bleu cheese crumbles as well.

Ingredients for the Honey Dijon Dressing:

• Apple cider vinegar – every dressing needs an acid and apple cider vinegar works perfectly in this salad.
• Olive oil – a staple in most homemade dressing recipes.
• Honey – added for sweetness, this balances the flavor and acidity of the vinegar and Dijon mustard.
• Dijon mustard – adds a creamy, tart balance to the flavor of the dressing.
• Spices – garlic powder, garlic salt and ground pepper season this dressing perfectly.

For exact ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post for the recipe. Thanks!

What other dressings would work in this kale and carrot salad?

To compliment the kale, roasted carrots and apples, I would recommend a slightly sweeter dressing like the Honey Balsamic and Creamy Lemon Poppy Seed shown above.

Here are some other homemade dressing recipes to try:

• Avocado Lime Dressing
• Chick fil A Creamy Salsa Dressing
• Healthy Homemade Italian Dressing Recipe
• Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing
• Healthy Caesar Dressing
• Lemon Olive Oil Dressing
• Yogurt Dill Dressing

How do I roast carrots for a salad?

To prep carrots for roasting, begin by rinsing, peeling and trimming the tops and bottoms. Slice diagonally, or any way you wish. For this recipe you can also use baby carrots or rainbow carrots (shown above.) Be sure to check out my recipe for roasted tri-color rainbow carrots.

Toss with olive oil, and a little big of salt and pepper, and roast on a sheet pan at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Once done roasting, remove from oven and let the carrots cool to room temperature.

Love the caramelized flavor of roasted vegetables? Try our Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Balsamic Vinegar or Roasted Butternut Squash Medley.

How to make a kale and carrot salad:

Once the carrots have roasted and cooled, you can begin to assemble the salad. Start with the rinsed and trimmed kale, then add in the sliced apples, dried cranberries, red onions, pistachios and top with the feta cheese crumbles.

Toss the salad together so the ingredients become well incorporated. Add the dressing and serve right away.

Are you making the salad in advance of a holiday dinner or gathering?

If you’re making your salad in advance of a holiday dinner or party, I recommend doing two things. First, make and store the dressing separately in a resealable container or mason jar. If you dress the salad before serving, it will become very soggy and unappealing.

Secondly, assemble the salad with the kale, apples, onions, cranberries and feta. In addition to the dressing, store the pistachios in their own separate container. If added to the salad, then refrigerated, the pistachios will become soft and lose their crunch.

Assemble and store the salad (pistachios and dressing separately) in an airtight container and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Dress the salad, add the pistachios and toss just before serving.

Wondering what to serve with carrot salad?

This kale and carrot salad is great served with a cup of soup and some delicious bread. Here are some recipes for inspiration:

• Creamy Carrot and Butternut Squash Soup (shown above)
• Creamy Tomato & Tortellini Soup
• Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup
• Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
• Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup
• Easy Cheesy Breadsticks
• Air Fryer Garlic Bread from It Is A Keeper

Want to make a full meal out of this salad? Here are some protein options that would pair well:

• Orange Glazed Spiral Holiday Ham
• Easy Slow Cooker Turkey Breast
• 8 Minute Air Fryer Salmon with Maple Soy Glaze
• Brown Sugar Balsamic Grilled Chicken
• Honey Dijon Chicken
• Easy 7 minute Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp Recipe
• Italian Grilled Chicken
• Apple Cider Glazed Pork Chops

If you loved this delicious Roasted Carrot Salad, check out some of my other delicious salads and sides:

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Kale and Roasted Carrot Salad with Apples and Cranberries

Erin Indahl-Fink

This Roasted Carrot Salad has wonderful flavors that come together with crisp apples and savory pistachios making the most amazing salad! Easy enough for a weeknight dinner, and beautiful enough to serve for a holiday dinner.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Salad and Sides

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Calories 255 kcal

Equipment

• Sheet Pan These USA stainless steel sheet pans are great for one-pan meals!
• Cutting Boards This 3-Pack of non-slip cutting boards are a fantastic tool for every home cook.
• Santoku Knife This 7" santoku knife comes with a bonus 5" knife. Sold through Macy's and at an AMAZING price I've never seen anywhere!

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 lbs. carrots peeled, sliced thinly on the diagonal
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cups kale rinsed, torn, stems removed
• 1 apple sliced thinly
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup pickled red onion jarred
• 1/4 cup pistachios shelled and roughly chopped
• 2 Tablespoons feta crumbles

Honey Dijon Dressing:

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

 

For Roasting the Carrots:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a sheet pan, place the sliced carrots and drizzle with olive oil and toss together. Evenly disperse the carrots on the pan so they are in a single layer. Roast carrots for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Stir carrots half way through (at 10 minute mark) to ensure they are roasting evenly. Once roasted, let carrots cool to room temperature.

For the Salad:

• In a large bowl or platter, add the kale and toss together with the cooled, roasted carrots, sliced apples, onion, cranberries, pistachios and feta. Chill until ready to serve.

For the Honey Dijon Dressing:

• Just before serving, mix together the dressing. In a small bowl whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, honey, mustard, garlic, and spices. Feel free to dress the entire salad before serving, or serve the dressing on the side. Enjoy right away.

Notes

Substitutions: Instead of Kale, feel free to choose any leafy greens you prefer. Spring mix, spinach, arugula, butter leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, Boston or Bib would all be great choices for this salad.

Making Ahead: Are you making this salad in advance of a holiday dinner or party? Assemble all the ingredients in advance, keeping the pistachios separate. (They will get soggy if added to the salad.) Mix the dressing and store it separately. Dress the salad just before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 255kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 4gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 332mgPotassium: 667mgFiber: 7gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 27073IUVitamin C: 28mgCalcium: 136mgIron: 1mg

Keyword roasted carrot salad, carrot salad with spring mix, tossed salad with carrots, roasted carrot salad recipe

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