14 Healthy and Hearty Kale Side Dishes That'll Make You Forget It's Good for You

Easy Garlic Kale

You only need three things to make fresh kale taste delicious: olive oil, garlic, and a stove. Cooking kale helps reduce its bitterness, and the mixture of garlic and olive oil give the kale pops of taste and a friendly, smooth texture.

Simple and Delicious Kale Soup

This easy, healthy soup comes together in just 30 minutes and can be adapted to what's in your pantry. As long as you use kale, broth, and onions, you can play around and add virtually anything including beans and a host of other vegetables.

Kale Tabbouleh Salad

This healthier take on tabbouleh utilizes whole-wheat couscous for a grain base and fresh kale for its deep green hue and extra nutrients. It's an easy, creative approach to using up a bunch of fresh kale.

Italian Kale

You can never go wrong with a classic Italian recipe, and this crispy sautéed kale is both healthy and delicious. If you aren't a huge vinegar person, reduce the amount of balsamic to 1 tablespoon or to taste.

Indian Kale with Chickpeas

This vegetarian dish maintains a great balance of nutrients and flavor. It makes a great complement to Indian dishes such as dal, but you can also serve it over basmati rice for a quick and easy meal.

The Talk of the Potluck Kale and Apple Salad

"I made this per the recipe. It was a hit — all gone at the end of the event," says Allrecipes home cook gonzodoggies. "I think you could get away with less olive oil or add more cider vinegar. And I think massaging the kale was key. I could tell if it was massaged enough by the way the color went from light green to a deep green and the color on my hands! I like a nutritious salad — this fits the bill!"

Dawn's Kale Side Dish

This sautéed kale get a good dose of crunch from an unexpected ingredient: freshly toasted cashews. You don't have to roast the cashews yourself, but the extra effort makes a huge difference.

The Best Kale Salad

"I have tried this salad a few times when somehow kale wound up in my shopping," says community member tiggerknit. "I didn't want to throw it out and didn't know how to prepare it. I got on my favorite food app and found this recipe. The dressing is amazing and I wasn't intimidated by kale any more! as I buy it on purpose now and use whatever veggies I have on hand!"

Roasted Vegetable and Kale Soup

Think of this soup as an earthier and healthier take on minestrone. The roasted veggies and mixture of beans provide a good deal of heartiness, so this recipe can easily be adapted for a vegetarian diet by leaving out the sausage.

Easy Kale Slaw

This simple slaw recipe transforms kale into something tangy, bright, and irresistible. The mixture of julienned vegetables and dried cranberries provide a nice balance of textures, and the homemade Key lime dressing permeates into all the ingredients, giving them a zippy flavor.

Chef John's Raw Kale Salad

What's Chef John's secret to making kale as tasty as can be? Slicing it thin and tossing it with persimmon, apple, oranges, and nuts before adding a tangy homemade dressing. The array of ingredients is so flavorful that it mellows out kale's bitterness, and the kale helps balance the sweeter elements.

Mediterranean Kale

Steaming kale softens its tough leaves while keeping its nutritional value intact. This simple, but bright homemade salad dressing adds a nice tart flavor, so this side tastes just as good as it is for you.

Red Quinoa and Tuscan Kale

Quinoa and kale are both superfoods, and when they're paired in this salty, sweet, and savory dish, they're unstoppable. This side has solid base elements that can stand up to slight tinkering for taste, and the entire thing comes together in 35 minutes.

Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

This cozy soup centers around a trifecta of super-healthy ingredients: kale, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas. An aromatic spice blend and coconut milk soften the soup and make it just as delicious as it is healthy.

More Inspiration:

• How to Get the Most Nutrition From Your Kale
• 10 Kale Smoothie Recipes That Pack a Powerfully Healthy Punch
• Browse More Kale Recipes