When evenings turn chilly, I start craving hearty harvest salads like this Fall Apple & Sweet Potato Salad with Kale.
With warm flavors, easy cast iron chicken breast, and a nutty dressing, this salad makes a nourishing high protein lunch or dinner!
Quick Look: Fall Apple & Sweet Potato Salad
⏲️Ready In: 1 Hour 5 Minutes
🍽Servings: 4
🥗Nutrition: 586 Calories / 46g Protein
🥘Main Ingredients: Kale, Sweet potato, Carrot, Apple, Apple cider vinegar, Chicken breast, Peanut butter/Sunflower seed butter
📋Dietary Notes: Gluten free, Grain free, Dairy free
⭐Why You'll Love It: This hearty salad incorporates many fall flavors into one high protein bowl!
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Why you'll love this hearty apple & sweet potato salad
HIGH PROTEIN: With over 40 grams of protein per serving, this nourishing salad has it all to keep you full and energized for the day!
WARM SEASONAL FLAVORS: Sweet potato, tenderized kale, and crunchy tart apples invoke the flavors of fall. The peanut butter dressing works surprisingly well to tie it all together!
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Ingredients of note
CHICKEN BREAST: Boneless, skinless chicken breast provides the protein for this recipe. 24 ounces means 6 ounces per serving, which means over 40g protein in one meal!
Start with raw chicken breasts or skip a step by using leftover roast chicken or rotisserie chicken.
KALE: I like curly kale for this recipe, but you can use lacinato kale as well. I use either for salads like this or Orange Kale Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing. The key here is to massage the kale with olive oil and wilt it slightly in the oven, making it more tender.
SWEET POTATO: An easy seasonal carb go-to, sweet potatoes are simple to prepare and add lovely flavor to this salad. You can sub with any squash if you'd like!
APPLES: I love the tart, crisp flavor of Granny Smith apples here, so that's my go-to! Gala or Honeycrisp would work great as well.
PEANUT BUTTER: This might throw some people off, but I'm a firm believe that peanut butter isn't just for sweets! Use peanut butter or sunflower seed butter for a nut free option. Trust me when I say the peanut butter dressing brings everything together here!
Instructions
This apple & sweet potato salad may LOOK like it has many steps, but most of the work is hands off!
- Roast sweet potatoes - toss cubed sweet potatoes in oil, spread on a sheet pan, and roast for about 20 minutes.
- Prepare kale - drizzle a little olive oil over kale and use your fingers to "massage" it in. Partially roast the kale once the sweet potatoes are done.
- Prepare carrots - meanwhile, ribbon the carrots with a Y peeler or grate them with a box grater.
- Cook chicken - if you're starting with raw chicken, pound the breasts to even thickness and cook in a skillet.
- Prepare dressing - while everything's cooling, combine all the dressing ingredients.
- Assemble salad - Toss everything together in a large bowl OR divide ingredients between 4 bowls before drizzling with dressing.
Top tips from Chelsea
Massage the kale - to tenderize the kale and make it more salad-friendly, massage some oil into it with your fingers! It may sound silly, but it makes a HUGE difference and only takes a couple minutes.
Store dressing separately - if you aren't eating this whole salad in one sitting, don't toss the salad in the dressing immediately. Store veggies and chicken separately, and combine with the dressing just before eating.
Eat warm - don't be afraid to reheat leftovers for a minute or two in the microwave! This salad is meant to be eaten warm.
Adapt for meal prep - to use this recipe to meal prep, I suggest keeping the prepared vegetables/apples stored separately from sliced/chopped chicken and dressing. Assemble before taking on the go OR (for best results) just before eating.
FAQs
Sure! Save yourself a step and use leftover roast chicken or turkey, or rotisserie chicken.
Massaging some oil into the kale tenderizes the leaves, making it easier to chew and much more palatable than a recipe with just raw kale.
Sure! Use sunflower seed butter for the dressing and omit the almonds or substitute with pumpkin seeds.
No, but I did develop it to be eaten that way. I'm not going to stop you from eating cold leftovers if it doesn't bother you!
Cook to 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the breast. I recommend pounding chicken breasts to even thickness before cooking in a skillet - it takes a couple minutes but means they cook faster and more evenly.
You're welcome to try - while I haven't tried them all, I bet tahini would be great as a substitute.
More kale salad recipes
Did you try this Apple & Sweet Potato Salad recipe? I'd love to hear what you think! Please leave a comment and rating or tag me on Instagram - I appreciate your feedback.
📖 Recipe
Warm Kale, Apple, and Sweet Potato Salad
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entree
- Method: Roasted
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This hearty kale, apple, and sweet potato salad is perfect for lunch or dinner on chilly autumn days! It does require a bit of work, but you can prep the kale, sweet potatoes, and dressing in advance to make this salad a cinch to make before eating. Serve this salad warm - you won't regret it!
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 3 cups cubed sweet potato
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 6 cups kale, roughly chopped
- 1 large carrot
- 16 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast (2-3 breasts)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups chopped granny smith apples (2-3 apples)
- 3 tablespoons slivered almonds
For the Dressing:
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter or sunflower seed butter
- 2 tablespoons tamari or coconut aminos
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- Water, to thin if desired
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss the cubed sweet potato with ½ tablespoon olive oil and arrange in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring halfway through, until sweet potato is tender and browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before transferring to a large bowl.
- Meanwhile, prepare kale for the oven. In a large bowl, massage kale with 1 tablespoons olive oil. Transfer to the baking sheet used to bake the sweet potato. Bake for about 10 minutes or until wilted and crisped at the edges. Transfer to the same bowl as the sweet potato.
- Use a vegetable peeler to ribbon the carrot by "peeling" the carrot lengthwise down the carrot until you can no longer peel anymore. Alternatively, grate the carrot using the large side of a box grater. Add the carrot ribbons to the bowl along with the chopped apples.
- Preheat the remaining ½ tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Pound the chicken breasts to uniform thickness and season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken breasts to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes on each side or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Transfer to a plate or cutting board to rest. Once the chicken has rested for 2-3 minutes and is cool enough to handle, slice thinly.
- To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Add additional water, as necessary, to thin out the dressing to your liking.
- Toss the kale, sweet potato, carrot ribbons, and apples together. Divide the mixture between 4 plates or bowls. Place half the chicken on each salad, then sprinkle with slivered almonds. Drizzle half the dressing on to each salad, and eat immediately.
Notes
If you plan to prep this for eating throughout the week, I suggest keeping the kale, sweet potatoes, and chicken separate from the rest of the ingredients. Combine and dress just before eating.
Andrea says
Very good!! I was lazy and used raw kale and loved it.
Chelsea says
Woop woop! Glad you liked it. Happy to hear it works with raw kale, too!
Anne says
I absolutely love all the flavors of this recipe! I made it with raw kale and no almonds and it was delicious!
Chelsea says
Glad to hear that, Anne!
Lori says
This recipe is incredible. This is my third Whole30, but honestly I eat this when I'm not on Whole30 too. This is truly a crave-worthy salad and it is PERFECT for fall/winter when you know you need greens, but you really just want something warm and hearty. Thanks for this!
Chelsea says
I'm so glad to hear that, Lori! Thank you!
Katie says
I am doing my first Whole30 and I am not a person who has ever enjoyed or really eaten kale, and I was expecting not to like it. This salad is so unbelievably delicious and amazing. This will be in our dinner rotation well beyond the Whole30. Thank you for this recipe!
Chelsea says
Thank you so much, Katie! I'm glad you like the recipe!