Ingredients Vegetables Greens Kale 30 Ways to Use Your Kale, From Salads to Stir-Fries to Skillet Suppers Kale adds its bitter, earthy bite to vegetable dip, pesto, pasta, and salad alike. By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on February 27, 2024 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Con Poulos Hearty, verdant kale is a leafy green we can never get enough of, and we've gathered many ways you can enjoy the vegetable, especially in the winter. There are delicious salads among our kale recipes, of course, from a crunchy root vegetable salad from chef Marcus Samuelsson to a kale Caesar salad with light and crispy fried chickpeas from Justin Chapple. You can also turn kale into pesto, fold it into macaroni and cheese, and stuff pasta shells with it. Here are some of our favorite ways to use kale in soups, salads, sides, pastas, and main dishes. 01 of 30 Sautéed Kale with Garlic and Olive Oil Diana Chistruga Sautéed with garlic and olive oil, this quick, easy, and versatile kale side dish gets a slight kick of flavor from red chile flakes. Get the Recipe 02 of 30 Kale Salad with Cranberries, Almonds, and Goat Cheese Maxwell Cozzi This winter kale salad dresses up the hearty greens with toasted almonds, dried cranberries, goat cheese, and a citrus-Dijon vinaigrette. Get the Recipe 03 of 30 Baby Kale Stir-Fried with Oyster Sauce Greg DuPree "This recipe is my supermarket take on stir-fried water spinach, a go-to vegetable for everyday Viet meals," Andrea Nguyen writes. "Prewashed greens don't release much liquid, which can dilute flavors and turn a stir-fry sizzle into a fizzle." Get the Recipe 04 of 30 Kale-Basil Pesto Erin Kunkel This fall-forward pesto bolsters traditional basil with Lacinato kale for extra heartiness. Winemaker Clare Carver recommends choosing a mild, smooth extra-virgin olive oil here for a buttery richness that complements the toasted walnuts and balances the fresh garlic. Get the Recipe 05 of 30 Sausage, Kale, and Potato Skillet Supper Jen Causey "The brilliant thing about this recipe is that you can cook it all in one skillet," Klancy Miller writes. "The key is adding each ingredient at the right time so that everything cooks without burning." Get the Recipe 06 of 30 Sheet Pan Baked Chicken, Feta, Tomatoes, and Kale with Pasta Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell This whole dish comes together in under an hour as the chicken, cheese, and aromatics bake in the oven while the pasta and kale quickly cook on the stove. Get the Recipe 07 of 30 Buttermilk Macaroni and Cheese with Baby Kale Kelly Marshall A quick sauté renders baby kale leaves perfectly tender, allowing them to almost melt into the buttermilk-enriched béchamel in chef and cookbook author Alexander Smalls' riff on mac and cheese. For a smooth sauce, make sure all of the dairy is at room temperature. Get the Recipe 08 of 30 Chickpeas and Kale in Spicy Pomodoro Sauce Con Poulos Chef Missy Robbins of Brooklyn's Lilia restaurant swaps chickpeas for pasta in her riff on spicy pomodoro. She finishes the dish with a shower of fresh herbs and salty pecorino cheese. Get the Recipe 09 of 30 Chicken Tortellini Soup with Kale Caitlin Bensel Fresh ingredients team up with store-bought shortcuts to get this comforting dinner on the table in just over 30 minutes. Get the Recipe 10 of 30 Kale-Artichoke Stuffed Shells Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Tender kale is the base for this filling of artichoke hearts, creamy cannellini beans, and spreadable cheese, stuffing pasta shells that top marinara mixed with mildly hot Calabrian chiles and earthy, sweet fennel seeds. Get the Recipe 11 of 30 Greek Kale Salad with Fried Halloumi Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Nidia Cueva Crisp and tender pan-fried Halloumi cheese is the star of this wintry take on a Greek salad. Finely chopped kale holds up a creamy, spicy yogurt-based dressing that gets a kick of piquancy from minced garlic and crushed red pepper. Get the Recipe 12 of 30 Kale-and-Corn Pakoras Cedric Angeles A combination of chickpea and rice flours yields a batter that makes these pakoras fry up light, lacy, and extra crunchy. Sweet summer corn and peppers join with hearty kale to give these vegetarian fritters extra heft. Get the Recipe 13 of 30 Roasted Butternut Squash with Chorizo-Spiced Kale Photo by David Malosh / Prop Styling by Amy Wilson / Food Styling by Maggie Ruggiero With its earthy sweetness and dense texture, butternut squash makes a hearty vegetable steak. At Chaval in Portland, Maine, chef Damian Sansonetti highlights its complexity with his chorizo spice mix. He blooms the blend of cumin, Pimentón, and coriander in oil to release its aroma, which provides a smoky foundation for the kale that tops this shoulder-season dish. Get the Recipe 14 of 30 Coulibiac of Salmon with Pickled Beets and Kale Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Heather Chadduck Hillegas This modern update on the classic swaps labor-intensive brioche with store-bought phyllo, which bakes into an ethereally crisp parcel that encases lemony rice, mustard-brushed salmon, pickled beets, and garlicky kale. Each slice reveals clean, vibrant layers, packed with bold flavors. Get the Recipe 15 of 30 Stuffed Kale with Bulgur Tabbouleh and Lime Yogurt Dip © Con Poulos In his clever version of stuffed grape leaves, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten uses tender kale as the wrapper, and stuffs them with a tabbouleh of bulgur, cucumber, mint, and sour cherry. Get the Recipe 16 of 30 Kale Caesar with Fried Chickpeas Eva Kolenko This tangy Caesar salad from F&W's Justin Chapple is topped with light, airy, and super-crunchy pan-fried chickpeas. Get the Recipe 17 of 30 Sunchoke-Kale Hash with Farro © Con Poulos This comforting winter recipe from 2009 F&W Best New Chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, of Animal and Son of a Gun in Los Angeles, combines crispy sunchokes, silky oyster mushrooms, tender kale, and chewy farro. Get the Recipe 18 of 30 Pork-and-Kale Soup with Sizzling Puffed Rice Johnny Miller "I love food that makes noise," says chef Edward Lee. When F&W challenged the Top Chef Season 9 contestant to make a fast dish with pork, kale, and white wine, he created a deeply flavorful soup, then added crumbled crispy rice cakes that crackle as they hit the broth. Get the Recipe 19 of 30 Creamed Kale © Evi Abeler Shallots and nutmeg help enhance the flavor in this 15-minute creamed kale recipe. Get the Recipe 20 of 30 Kale-and-Shiitake Fried Rice Chris Court This comforting, vegetable-packed rice is infused with ginger. It's best made with day-old rice to absorb all the flavorings. Get the Recipe 21 of 30 Spicy Kale-Pistachio Dip © Sarah Bolla This spicy vegetable dip comes together in just 20 minutes and is also great as a sauce on seafood or meat. Get the Recipe 22 of 30 Crispy Ricotta-Kale Tacos Victor Protasio Make these simple, savory snacks, served with tomatillo and pistachio salsa, in 45 minutes. Get the Recipe 23 of 30 Chow Fun with Roast Pork and Kale-Tomato Salad Con Poulos Chow fun noodles are the base for this unconventional dish, from chef Sheldon Simeon, that's topped with roast pork and a tangy kale salad and served with a buttery broth. Get the Recipe 24 of 30 Squash-and-Kale Toasts © John Kernick Chef Steven Satterfield of Miller Union in Atlanta is a huge fan of kale — especially when it's combined with sweet roasted squash. Look for Tuscan kale (also called Lacinato or Dinosaur kale) when possible; it's tender and tasty. You can eat these toasts as an afternoon snack or serve them to guests during cocktail hour. Get the Recipe 25 of 30 Kale Rice Bowl Christina Holmes In this simple rice bowl, Kay Chun combines pork and kale with an abundance of fresh herbs for a dish that's both hearty and delightfully fresh-tasting. Get the Recipe 26 of 30 Kale Salad with Root Vegetables and Apple Paul Costello This refreshing, super-healthy salad is one of chef Marcus Samuelsson's favorite ways to showcase kale; massaging the leaves with vinegar, salt, and olive oil makes them tender and sweet. Get the Recipe 27 of 30 Kimchi-and-Kale Fried Rice Abby Hocking When chef Rachel Yang finishes a long shift at her Seattle restaurant Joule, this fried rice is her go-to quick snack. It's a great use for all of that leftover takeout rice and relies mostly on pantry staples, as long as you have gochujang, a Korean chile paste, in your pantry. Get the Recipe 28 of 30 Ribollita Jen Causey Chef Adam Leonti's ribollita recipe is packed with Yukon Gold Potatoes, cannellini beans, kale, and more. Get the Recipe 29 of 30 Sweet Brown Rice Risotto with Kale and Cremini Con Poulos "Despite its name, sweet brown rice isn't sweet," says chef Marco Canora of Hearth in New York City. Instead, this short-grain glutinous rice resembles whole-grain sushi rice. Here, Canora uses it to make a hearty vegetarian risotto packed with cremini mushrooms, Tuscan kale, onion, thyme, and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Get the Recipe 30 of 30 Cabbage-and-Kale Soup with Farro © Lucy Schaeffer "I love a really flavorful pot of greens," says chef Melissa Perello. For this kale-and-cabbage soup, she uses just a little bit of pancetta and a Parmesan-cheese rind to give the broth a rich flavor. "It's definitely the kind of dish that tastes even better the next day," she says. There's nothing better than a dish that keeps on giving. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit