Garlicky Kale Salad (Inspired by Whole Foods)
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This garlicky kale salad is the best kale salad ever and so easy to whip up. The zesty tahini dressing is absolutely delicious and makes this recipe taste JUST like the Whole Foods garlicky kale.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m semi-addicted to the Whole Foods salad bar. Granted, my addiction may have subsided a tad since I haven’t been in the store since March, but I still vividly remember my favorites!
There are so that I often end up filling my container to the brim with different veggies, beans and salads. Sure, I end up paying an arm and a leg for my meal, but it’s totally worth it. 😉
Whole Foods Salad Bar Recreations
Of course, I have some favorite items on the bar — one being the Cracklin’ Cauliflower, which I’ve already recreated and the second is the garlicky kale salad. After reading the ingredient list for the garlicky kale salad at the bar (Yep, here’s a little secret – all items on the bar have an ingredient list posted!) I decided to make my own variation at home. I knew the ingredients, but didn’t know the exact measurements so it took a little trial and error. I’ve made it several times now and I have to say, it’s pretty spot on!
Ingredients Needed for This Kale Salad
- kale
- tahini
- apple cider vinegar (or water)
- lemon juice
- Bragg’s liquid aminos (tamari or soy sauce will work)
- nutritional yeast
- garlic
Zesty Tahini Dressing
The dressing I use for the garlicky kale salad is my zesty tahini dressing. It’s made with tahini, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, tamari, nutritional yeast and garlic. I love the zesty flavor from the garlic and apple cider vinegar and the fact that it’s oil-free.
It’s definitely one of my favorite dressings ever! You’ll love it on this kale salad, but you’ll likely want to use it for other salads too. I highly recommend making a double batch!
How to Serve this Kale Salad
This garlicky kale salad is a great side option but I also love it as a base to other salads! My trick is using this as a base and then layering leftovers on top… you can’t go wrong with leftover veggies + protein (like crispy roasted chickpeas) on this tasty salad base!
More Kale Salad Recipes to Try
- Kale Caesar Salad
- Mexican Street Corn Kale Salad
- Massaged Kale Salad
- Kale & Cabbage Pad Thai Salad
- Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad
- Butternut Squash Kale Salad
- Sweet Potato Kale and Quinoa Salad
- Detox Salad
- Kale Salad with Peanut Dressing
- Easy Kale Salad
More Healthy Salad Dressing Ideas
- Mexican Goddess Dressing
- Maple Dressing
- Avocado Ranch Dressing
- Lemon Vinaigrette
- Turmeric Tahini Dressing
- Avocado Caesar Dressing
- Chili Almond Dressing
- Zesty Tahini
- Healthy Caesar Dressing
Be sure to check out my healthy salad dressings as well as my salad recipes.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Garlicky Kale Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bunch raw kale, washed, de-stemmed and dried
- 2 Tablespoons tahini
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar, or water
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos, tamari or soy sauce will work
- 4 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons 1-2 cloves minced garlic
Instructions
- Break or cut kale into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl.
- Puree all ingredients except kale in a blender or food processor to blend the dressing.
- Pour dressing over kale and massage into the kale with your hands until all pieces of kale are coated.
- Let the salad sit in the fridge for an hour or so to marinate. You can skip this step if you need to eat right away, but allowing some time to marinate will wilt the kale a bit and make it a little more palatable – particularly for those who are skeptical of eating raw kale.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This Recipe? Rate & Comment Below!
Thank you for this! I only just discovered WH’s kale salad last weekend and am completely in love. Amazing that I can now recreate it!
You are my hero!!!
I don’t have a whole foods where I live and when in holiday found this dish at the salad bar and basically stocked my entire box up with this as its so tasty.
Just made it for the first time myself and it’s amazing!!! I added a tad more garlic but I do love garlic and but of water plus the cider vinegar.
Thanks so much for posting this recipie. It’s garlic kale party time at my house for the foreseeable future!
Your recipe was PERFECT! Thank you so much for sharing it!
Yay! So glad you liked it.
I used your recipe last week and it was PHENOMENAL! It really does taste like the one at Whole Foods! I’ll def. share this with my blog audience. Awesome awesome awesome! 🙂
Hooray! I’m so glad that you liked it. It’s definitely one of my favorite recipes.
This was fantastic! I have a feeling this will be a weekly recipe 🙂
This is a great recipe for one of my favorite dishes at whole foods….however I have discovered what you can actually buy and what I have been told they actually use this one item and eliminate all the above ingredients because they are in this one whole foods product. Found in the cold section and called “GARLIC TAHINI DRESSING” by whole foods “health starts here”.
Yup! I’ve mentioned this dressing several times in other posts. It’s awesome when you just want to buy it rather than taking the time to make your own!
I am so pumped to try this, as I’m OBSESSED with the garlicky kale (and eating it at this very moment!) Would you happen to know how long this dressing would last if kept on the side? I want to try on lettuce and other salads
I didn’t really like it. It’s just my tastebuds. After figuring out I didn’t like if, I just rinsed it off. But I think people should give it a try just in case they’d like it 🙂
Sorry you didn’t like it, Katie. :/
I love the WF garlicky Kale as well, and had a photo of the window tag as well for prep in making it and thought I’d do a search before I began and found you. This tastes so good-I upped the garlic another teaspoon because I just love it so much. Thanks for the recipe and the R&D !
Thanks Darrell. Glad you like it. 🙂
I love the garlicky kale at WF so this is exciting! But can you confirm they list nutritional yeast as an ingredient? I really don’t care for the taste of it.. and there’s a good amount in this recipe. Hoping I can substitute with something else. But then again, if they have used it… I must not mind!
Yes, I’m positive it’s in the original recipe. 🙂