Turkey Kale Salad Recipe (With Leftover Turkey)

Leftover Thanksgiving turkey? Use it to make a healthy turkey kale salad that’s loaded with flavor and nutrients. It’s quick, easy, and guilt-free!

You should try this turkey kale salad if you want a recipe to help use leftover Thanksgiving turkey. This kale salad balances salty and sweet for a truly delicious treat!

What surprises me most about this salad is that David Spivey loves it just as much as I do. I was shocked when he said yes when I asked him if he would like me to make this salad to take to work for his lunch. He ate it all and commented on how good it was.

This is a great kale salad recipe to use leftover turkey or chicken and eat more greens. I mean, let’s face it, we all need something a little more healthy after Thanksgiving is over. And don’t worry if you don’t have leftover turkey; you can use leftover chicken any day of the year.

How To Make Kale Tender

The key to a good kale salad is to massage leaves with oil to soften them up. Massaging kale breaks down the leaves’ fibrous texture, making them velvety soft, tender, and easier to chew. Not only does massaging help tenderize the leaves, but it also helps release the bitter compounds from the leaves, making them more palatable and easier for your tummy to digest.

Types Of Kale

There are three different types of kale to choose from when making this salad. Each variety is listed below as well as which benefits from being softened.

• Curly Kale: This variety is the most widely available. It can be green or purple. Curly kale is a little tough, so it benefits from softening.
• Tuscan Kale (Dinosaur): This variety is best shredded or cut the leaves into thin strips. It’s somewhat sweeter than curly kale. You don’t have to soften this variety like curly kale, but it certainly benefits from it.
• Baby Kale: This type of kale looks similar to spinach leaves. This variety is very tender and doesn’t need to be massaged to soften the leaves at all.

Ingredients You’ll Need To Make This Turkey Kale Salad

Kale: fresh kale, washed, large stems removed and chopped. You could also use lettuce, baby spinach, arugula, or other mixed greens.

Oil: I use extra virgin olive oil for almost every recipe I post. Use whatever cooking oil you prefer.

Salt: kosher salt helps soften the kale and takes away any bitterness.

Meat: Smoked turkey breast is my favorite meat to use in this salad. You can use whatever leftover turkey you have or even chicken.

Nuts: David and I always keep walnuts and pecans in our pantry. You can use pecans, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, peanuts, pistachios, cashews, or a combination of any of these nuts. Seeds are also a good option. You can use sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds instead of nuts.

Dried Fruit: I adore dried cherries, but they can be expensive and hard to find. Dried cranberries are perfect for the fall. Use whatever dried fruit you like.

Cheese: Crumbled blue cheese adds a lovely tang to the salad. You could also use crumbled feta, goat cheese, or shaved parmesan cheese. 

Vinaigrette or Dressing: I always make homemade vinaigrettes and dressings for my salads. For this recipe, I use a Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette that’s made of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, dijon mustard, cinnamon, kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper.

How To Make Turkey Kale Salad

This salad comes together in less than 15 minutes and with even less time if you make the dressing ahead of time and use a more tender type of kale. Complete instructions for making this salad are in the recipe card at the end of this post.

1. Soften the Kale (curly kale only): drizzle the kale with olive oil and salt. Massage with your fingers until the kale is darker green and velvety smooth.
2. Make the Dressing: Add the dressing ingredients to a small jar with a lid and shake; set aside. Alternatively, add the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk.
3. Toss: Add the kale with turkey, dried cherries, walnuts, and blue cheese. Give the dressing a final whisk or shake the dressing. Drizzle the salad with dressing and toss.
4. Serve.

Tips For Making This Salad

• Prep The Kale Days In Advance: kale is pretty resilient and can be prepped up to 3 days in advance. Simple wash, stem and spin the kale when you bring it home from the store. Then wrap the drained kale in a paper towel and store it in a zip-top bag until needed.
• Don’t Oil The Leaves In Advance: I do not recommend adding oil to the kale too far in advance. Massaging is ok, but add oil only a day in advance. The texture of the leaves becomes mushy if oil is added too far in advance.
• Make The Salad Ahead: Make this salad ahead by layering all of the ingredients (except) the dressing inside a quart Masson jar. Starting with the nuts, cheese, and dried fruit. Next, add the turkey and top it with the kale on top. When you are ready to eat, dump the contents of the jar into a bowl or plate and drizzle with dressing. Wow! A salad in just a few minutes!

Recipe FAQs

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See ya on the mountain!