The best kale salad on the face of the planet: Lemony kale salad with parmesan crisps and a sunny side up egg. This incredibly simple recipe features delicious flavors for a salad worthy of putting on repeat!
At some point between writing my cookbook, Let Them Eat Kale!, and…well…now, I began a hot pursuit of the best kale salad in all the land.
After trying every kale salad at restaurants in town, I settled on my personal favorite.
Very unfortunately, the restaurant no longer exists, but thankfully I took the time to re-create it in a way I think closely mimics the original version.
This simple kale salad includes fresh kale tossed in a simple lemony dressing with a generous amount of parmesan cheese crisps scattered throughout. I enjoy it with a poached egg, fried egg, or sunny side up egg on top.
Easy to customize, rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken are excellent options for adding more protein for a more substantial meal.
Let’s chat about the simple ingredients.
Ingredients for Lemony Kale Salad:
Fresh Kale: Pick up a head of kale. Any kind of kale works here! I like using Lacinato kale, also known as Tuscan kale, because I personally think it tastes less bitter than some of the other types of kale. Nevertheless, pick your favorite.
Dressing Ingredients: Olive oil, fresh lemon juice, stone ground mustard or dijon mustard, fresh garlic, and salt. This combination of ingredients makes a tangy, rich dressing, perfect for coating the kale leaves.
Parmesan Cheese: All we need to make the parmesan crisps is Parmesan cheese!
Egg: An optional protein addition. Serve the salad with an egg cooked to your preference, or add any kind of cooked chicken.
Have you ever had parmesan crisps? They’re dope, mates. Real dope. And they’re easy to make.
Here’s what you do: Plop piles of fresh grated parmesan on a parchment-lined baking sheet, like so.
How to Make Cheese Crisps:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Grate 5 tablespoons worth of aged parmesan cheese
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Measure 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese and place it in a pile on a baking sheet. Repeat for remaining cheese
- Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, or until browned and crispy.
- Allow parmesan crisps to sit on the hot baking sheet a couple of minutes before gently peeling them off of the parchment. Use your hands to break the parmesan crisps up into small bits for adding to the salad.
Bake parmesan cheese at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 5-8 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown and reaches your desired level of crisp. I typically bake mine on the lower end so that the parmesan crisps still have a bit of a chew to them.
BOOM! A new obsession for cheese lovers.
Once finished, break up the cheese crisps into smaller pieces and add them to the salad. This is, in my opinion, what makes this salad the bomb diggity.
How to Make Lemony Kale Salad:
- Rinse the kale well, then chop the leaves, discarding the stems. Add the raw (or blanched) chopped kale to a medium-sized serving bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, mustard, and salt until well-combined.
- Pour the dressing over the kale and toss until everything is well coated.
- Add the parmesan crisps and serve with a poached, fried, or sunny side up egg.
And that’s it! A quick, easy, unique kale salad recipe, which might just become your new favorite kale salad.
If you’re a big fan of kale, try out one of my other kale salad recipes.
More Kale Salad Recipes:
- Sunflower Crunch Kale Salad
- Roasted Sweet Potato Kale Salad with Avocado and Jammy Egg
- Roasted Butternut Squash Kale Salad
- Massaged Kale Salad with Rosemary Walnuts
What’s in your favorite kale salad?
Lemony Kale Salad with Parmesan Crisps
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons aged parmesan cheese grated
- 1 head lacinato kale stems removed, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- 2 fried poached or sunny side up eggs for serving
Instructions
To make the parmesan crisps:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Grate 5 tablespoons worth of aged parmesan cheese
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Measure 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese and place it in a pile on a baking sheet. Repeat for remaining cheese
- Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, or until browned and crispy.
- Allow parmesan crisps to sit on the hot baking sheet a couple of minutes before gently peeling them off of the parchment. Use your hands to break the parmesan crisps up into small bits for adding to the salad.
Prepare the salad:
- Add the raw (or blanched) chopped kale to a medium-sized serving bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, mustard, and salt until well-combined.
- Pour the dressing over the kale and toss until everything is well coated.
- Add the parmesan crisps and serve with a poached, fried, or sunny side up egg.
I think it deserves the title of the best! This looks amazing!
Thanks, love! Hope you try it 😀
I have only started making kale salad, let me see…. one month ago. So I am a super newbie at it. This one looks like a winner!
As a cheese lover, and an egg lover, and a kale lover, I am looooving this salad! Definitely the best in all the land! And there’s nothing wrong with being a snot when it comes to good food!
Wow, this does look like a great salad! You can’t go wrong with a runny egg and crunchy cheese!
If you’re a kale snot, you’re my favorite kale snot in alllll the land. How have I never made parm crisps?! DREAMY.
I say screw the naysayers and change the title! It looks worthy in my opinion. Although I might be biased due to my crack addiction. I mean, cheese. Parmesan crisps are my weakness. Ugh, so good!
Well I’d say this is pretty darn perfect! I have to have this, especially with the egg and parm crisps!
Oh I’m definitely a kale snob! This looks ah-mazing. How dare anybody write in the comments that it’s not the best. Sheesh. Love those parmesan crisps! I want them on everything…and most importantly right in my mouth!
This is clearly a wonderful salad. I haven’t had many kale salads, but my favorite is the kale and Brussels sprout Caesar salad at Steamworks Brewing in Durango, CO. I really like the idea of the egg on top of yours, because it makes it pretty much into a whole meal.
love a good kale salad. I me member the first time I saw Parmesan crisps. Had to make them immediately. So easy and sooooooo good! Love the flavor combinations here! Thanks for sharing!
This post cracks me up! I can relate to being a kale snot and this one is too good not to pin and make tonight!
PARMESAN CRISPS! <– In my mind, I was trying to figure out if there's an accurate textual way to describe the way my soul dances when I say that. Parmesan crisps are my jam — I ordered a salad that comes in a parmesan crisp bowl, just so I can eat the bowl. The whole bowl, obvs, because salad. This looks SO tasty and I love the egg on top
I believe you!! This looks amazing!!! Kale chips are amazing with parmesan, I can only imagine how yummy with crisps in a salad.
I was sold with the runny egg, then I saw the Parmesan crisps, and now I have to rethink lunch!
I love me a killer kale salad….and bonus points for parmesan crisps! I could eat this for lunch or dinner, any day!!
We are on the same kale wave length today lady! This salad looks amazing and those parmesan crisps soooo look like something I would make…even just by themselves.. so simple and cheesy.