Twelve Whole-Food Plant-Based Kale Recipes You Should Try This Week (2024)

Kale every day. Your body will thank you. Kale is incredibly beneficial to your health, and I've selected a mix of stir-fries, salads, grain bowls, and soups to keep your kale levels topped up!

1. Spicy Tahini Noodles with Roasted Vegetables - (101 Cookbooks)
This is my favorite kind of weeknight meal. Noodles tossed with a quick sauce, topped with an abundance of roasted vegetables - roast a pan of kale along with your other veggies here. Really tasty. Get the recipe here.

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2. Instant Pot Minestrone Soup - (101 Cookbooks)
A stand-by. Making really good minestrone in the Instant Pot with dried, un-soaked beans is totally possible! No need to use mushy canned beans. Loads of kale. Skip the Parmesan rind to keep it WFPB. Get the recipe here. Also, more Instant Pot recipes here.

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3. Kale Stir Fry with Crispy Curried Tofu - (Lauren Caris Cooks)
Everyone needs a strong stir-fry repertoire, and this version is packed with goodness - curry-spiced tofu with kale, cabbage, and carrots. Get the recipe here.

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4. Harissa Spaghettini - (101 Cookbooks)
I wrote this recipe nearly a decade ago(!), and it's still in regular rotation. Black olives, pine nuts, lots of kale, and a big dollop of harissa. Boom. Get the recipe here.

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5. Hazelnut & Chard Ravioli Salad - (101 Cookbooks)
We're talking about plump raviolis tossed with toasted hazelnuts, lemony flecks of chard (or kale!), and deeply caramelized onions. You've got crunch from toasted hazelnuts, and brightness from a bit of zest. Choose a vegan ravioli and skip the Parmesan to keep it WFPB. Get the recipe here.

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6. Grilled Corn Kale Salad - (The Almond Eater)
This. For lunch. Today. Get the recipe here.

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7. Curried Cauliflower Rice Kale Soup - (Cotter Crunch)
Curry-spiced and creamy (you can use coconut or a nut milk), this is a hearty soup packed with cauliflower, kale, and carrots. Get the recipe here.

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8. The Prettiest Purple Kale, Eggplant & Blackberry Salad - (Green Kitchen Stories)
Love this brilliant combination of roasted eggplant and purple onions with warm spices. Massaged kale with herby dressing, and black lentils with creamy avocado. Hazelnuts bring the crunch, and juicy blackberries top it off. Skip the feta to keep it WFPB, and use maple syrup in the dressing if you're looking to keep it vegan. Get the recipe here.

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9. Roasted Vegetable Orzo - (101 Cookbooks)
I often make this with a whole wheat orzo (or small bean-based pasta), and non-dairy yogurt. You can also substitute all sorts of different whole grain for the pasta - farro, quinoa, or a brown rice blend. Get the recipe here.

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10. Sweet Potato & Kale Tortilla Soup - (Local Milk)
Sweet potatoes, kale, cilantro, tomatoes, spices, and chiles all in a beautiful bowl. Simply skip the quest fresco, and ase a dairy-free yogurt to keep it WFPB. Get the recipe here.

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11. Chopped Kale Salad with Peanut Chili Vinaigrette - (Little Broken)
A chopped kale salad with feisty peanut chili dressing. I can imagine this in a lettuce wrap (or spring roll) with a bit of grilled tofu as an ideal lunch! Get the recipe here.

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12. An Excellent, One-pan, Protein-packed Power Pasta - (101 Cookbooks)
A full pound of chopped kale goes into this! It's pasta and lentils simmered in crushed tomatoes, finished with lots of chopped kale, saffron, swirls of tahini and chopped almonds.Perfect weeknight dinner. Get the recipe here.

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Bonus! Autumn Kale Slaw - (Green Kitchen Stories)
Another beautiful green Kitchen Stories recipe. Carrots, kale, apples, and hazelnut come together in a crunch-tactic autumn slaw. Get the recipe here.

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Bonus! Creamy Kale Pasta - (Pinch of Yum)
Five ingredients. And I'm going to bet you have all of them. Use whatever pasta you like, and my sense is you can scale back the olive oil a bit, or use a really rich, thick homemade nut milk, and scale it back a lot. Get the recipe here.

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Bonus! Kale Detox Salad with Pesto - (Well and Full)
All the good things in one bowl. This is an ultra-super green salad. With roasted potatoes, brown rice, chickpeas, a bit of kick from jalapeño chiles, and a carrot top(!) pesto. Brilliant. Get the recipe here.

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Twelve Whole-Food Plant-Based Kale Recipes You Should Try This Week (2024)

FAQs

What are 3 ways you can eat kale? ›

Here are 10 ways to use it.
  • As a Substitute for Spinach. Kale works nicely in recipes that call for spinach, like those for egg dishes, salads or lasagna. ...
  • In a Dip. Cooked kale can be chopped or pureed to make a variety of dips. ...
  • Juiced. ...
  • Sauteed with Veggies. ...
  • In a Salad. ...
  • As Pesto. ...
  • In a Soup.

How do you sneak kale into your diet? ›

Below are a few tips to get them to enjoy kale, or to sneak it into their diet:
  1. Kale chips. ...
  2. Kale smoothie. ...
  3. Mix them into these delicious vegetarian kale-quinoa burgers.
  4. Mix it into their favourite salad. ...
  5. Make kale pesto. ...
  6. Blend kale into a soup. ...
  7. Make it disappear. ...
  8. Make it sweet.

How do you use large amounts of kale? ›

Method One: Kale Chips. Consensus is: kale chips are the go-to method for most people when they're confronted with more kale than they can eat raw or cooked in a week.

Why can't you eat kale everyday? ›

Consumption of kale in excess can lead to constipation and stomach irritation. Due to the presence of oxalates, kale can increase the risk of kidney stones. Kale contains goitrogens, substances that inhibit the synthesis of thyroid hormone. So, its intake can increase the risk of iodine deficiency.

Why is kale a laxative? ›

The findings suggest that kale intake could be beneficial for alleviating mild constipation by increasing stool bulk with dietary fiber and leading to an increase in stool frequency. Correlation analysis showed that several gut microbes and fecal metabolites correlate with the subjects' responses to kale intake.

What happens to your body when you eat kale everyday? ›

Kale offers an abundance of nutrients that support heart health, including potassium, fiber, folate, and calcium. As part of a heart-healthy diet, kale can reduce the risk of heart disease by helping lower LDL cholesterol, or “bad cholesterol”.

What does kale do to your gut? ›

Leafy greens, such as spinach or kale, are excellent sources of fiber, as well as nutrients like folate, vitamin C, vitamin K and vitamin A. Research shows that leafy greens also contain a specific type of sugar that helps fuel growth of healthy gut bacteria.

Is 2 cups of kale a day too much? ›

She recommends one to two servings maximum of kale per day, leaving room for other healthy foods that provide an assortment of nutrients. When you do nosh on this dark leafy green, pair it with foods rich in fatty acids like oil or nuts to boost the uptake of fat-soluble vitamins, according to Manganiello.

How many cups of kale should you eat a day? ›

“You can get plenty of nutrients in just 1-2 cups of raw kale,” Giles says. “There's not really a limit. However, it's best to get a variety of veggies throughout the day.” If you're on blood thinners or anticoagulant medication, you can still enjoy kale, but do it in a consistent manner.

What goes well with kale? ›

It's delicious with spaghetti squash and sweet potato noodles too! In a grain bowl. Add it to this buddha bowl or this veggie bowl, or make your own bowl with the sautéed kale, a grain like quinoa, farro, or brown rice, and a protein like baked tofu, tempeh, lentils, or roasted chickpeas.

Is it better to eat kale and spinach raw or cooked? ›

The primary difference is that you can consume more spinach or kale in their cooked versus raw form simply because there is less volume. This also means you'll get more nutrients per serving in cooked versus raw leafy greens. Nutritionally, leafy greens have much to offer regardless of whether they are raw or cooked.

What are the top 3 benefits of kale? ›

Kale is a leafy green vegetable that provides a wide range of nutrients. Possible health benefits of kale include lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes, protecting against heart disease, and helping prevent constipation. Kale may also improve bone, skin, and hair health.

How do you cook kale so it is tender? ›

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Stir in garlic and cook until sizzling. Add kale to the skillet, toss, cover, and cook (tossing occasionally with tongs) until the kale is tender and vibrant green.

Should you steam or boil kale? ›

Kale is great as a side dish or in a smoothie, and you can't go wrong with steaming it. Steamed kale retains important nutrients, such as calcium, that are important for you to have. Luckily, steaming kale can be as easy as chopping it and putting it in a steamer or microwave.

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