An unbelievably delicious and easy kale salad that makes people realize they don't hate kale! This Kale and Cannellini Bean Salad is so flavorful and crisp, made with a delicious lemon basil vinaigrette and combined with mozzarella, thinly sliced red onion, sundried tomatoes, and pine nuts for the perfect leafy green bean salad!
Looking for more delicious and easy salads? Try our Chickpea Cucumber Feta Salad or Summer Farro Salad with Cannellini Beans.
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Why This Bean Salad?
Kale is a hit or miss vegetable. Not because it's not good or something, but because most people don't know how to use it. If you take raw kale and throw it in a salad, you might as well feed it to a rabbit. I used to try to make salads with just chopped up kale to be "healthy" but I just can't suffer through it to be honest.
Kale needs a little love in its preparation. For this salad, we massage the kale to break apart some of the fibrous texture of the leafy green. It's similar to Chopped Brussels Sprout Salad with Pancetta where we have to thinly chop the sprouts, or in our Italian Lacinato Kale Recipe, we braise it over a period of time to soften the leaves to make them nice and tender.
The reason this kale and cannellini bean salad is so good is that the kale is tender. Definitely choose a Tuscan kale, aka lacinato/dinosaur kale. It's less bitter and fibrous than curly kale, too!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Lacinato Kale. Lacinato kale is slightly sweet and mild with a nutty flavor. You can substitute curly kale, but it's a bit more fibrous and bitter.
- Cannellini Beans. You can substitute white northern beans, but cannellini beans are a bit bigger and have more texture to them. Overall, they're the premier option.
- Sundried Tomatoes. If you have homemade, that's great! If not store-bought works. They're a delicious addition. You could also substitute fresh cherry tomatoes, which I've tried as well. Also, delicious.
- Pine nuts. I like the little crunchy pine nuts on top. They add more texture to the salad, but you could substitute pistachios.
- Lemon Basil Vinaigrette. Our Lemon Basil Vinaigrette is so delicious. You could substitute a homemade Italian dressing or store-bought if you wanted to.
*Please see the recipe card below for more information on the ingredients.
How to Make a Kale and Cannellini Bean Salad
Step 1: Place kale in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Massage the kale well for 3-5 minutes to help soften it.
Step 2: Remove the stems from the kale by slicing or ripping the leaf off. Then chop the kale
Step 3: Drain and rinse the Cannellini beans. In a large bowl, combine kale, Cannellini beans, red onion, sundried tomatoes, mozzarella, salt, and pepper. Combine well.
Step 4: Mix in the lemon basil vinaigrette or Italian dressing. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Top with pine nuts and serve chilled. This delicious kale and cannellini bean salad is best served with another main dish like Chicken Rollatini or Chicken Spiedini. It also is perfect on the side of a sandwich like a Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich or Eggplant Caprese Grilled Cheese.
Pro-Tips
- Kale can be very fibrous and somewhat bitter. Lacinato Kale is less bitter, but still, a few minutes of an oil massage will make the kale more tender and bring out some of the natural sweetness. Plus your kale will feel extra relaxed.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour to allow the flavors to marry before serving. This makes a huge difference in flavor!
Recipe FAQs
The two more popular types of kale are curly kale and Lacinato kale. I prefer lacinato because it is milder and less fibrous than curly kale. You can also find red kale in some stores as well.
You can make kale more tender and less bitter by massaging it with oil before serving it. This will help break apart some of the fibrous texture of the leafy green vegetable. This technique will produce a much more edible version of the vegetable so many people claim to hate.
This kale and cannellini bean salad will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container.
More Delicious Salads
Please leave a comment and star rating below in the recipe card! I love to hear what you think of our recipes. Feel free to tag us on Instagram @vindelgiudice.
📖 Recipe
Kale and Cannellini Bean Salad
Equipment
- 1 large bowl
Ingredients
- 1 Head Lacinato Kale
- 1 14 oz can Cannellini Beans
- ¼ Red onion, sliced thin
- ¼ Cup Sundried tomatoes, chopped
- ½ Cup Mozzarella pearls
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil
- ½ Tsp Salt
- ¼ Cup Pine nuts
- ⅓ Cup Lemon Basil vinaigrette or Italian dressing
Instructions
- Place kale in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Massage the kale well for 3-5 minutes to help soften it. Remove the stems from the kale by slicing or ripping the leaf off. Then chop the kale
- Drain and rinse the Cannellini beans. In a large bowl, combine kale, Cannellini beans, red onion, sundried tomatoes, mozzarella, salt, and pepper. Combine well.
- Mix in the lemon basil vinaigrette or Italian dressing. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Top with pine nuts for serving.
Vinny
This is such a delicious salad especially if you're someone who is normally hesitant about eating kale. This is a tender and delicious way to make a vegetable that somehow has found it's way on to a list of vegetables people hate! Leave a review below if you try it!