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The World’s Best Vegan Kale Recipes

Kale is among healthiest foods you can eat, and it’s a key ingredient of a wide assortment of vegan recipes. It’s one of the best sources of vitamins, calcium, antioxidants and phytonutrients. It’s certainly among the top foods worth eating regularly, and luckily that’s easy to do since you can prepare it in all sorts of delicious ways.

Types of Kale

As a close relative of broccoli, the nutritional profiles of these two foods are remarkably similar. Kale comes in three varieties:

  1. Curly. The most common variety, available in either green or purple. The thick and fibrous stems of curly kale require more cooking time than do the leaves, so you may wish to tear the stems from the leaves’ centers, chop them up, and give them some extra cooking.
  2. Russian. This variety has flat leaves and a much less fibrous stem. You can find it in green or reddish varieties. Russian kale demands less cooking prep than does curly kale since it’s easier to clean and there’s no need to strip out the stem.
  3. Dinosaur. Also called lacinto or black kale. This stuff lives up to the dinosaur name and looks positively prehistoric. It’s the most imposing variety of the bunch and has super thick, waxy, forbiddingly dark green leaves.

The thick, coarse texture of kale, coupled with its bright green color, may make it seem more like goat food than people food, but you’ll be amazed by the numerous delicious ways that kale can be prepared. Any standard preparation method will make even dinosaur kale delicious!

Delicious Recipes that Feature Kale

Kale is a perfect addition to some of the most popular foods. You can include kale in:

Steaming will soften the leaves to a delicate texture. Just add your favorite spices and it’ll make for a delicious side dish.

Dehydrated Kale

Dehydrated kale is as delicious as potato chips, yet it’s one of the healthiest foods imaginable. Food dehydrators are excellent and inexpensive nowadays, so they’re the perfect appliance if you want to up your kale intake. Just wash your kale, chop it into large pieces, and dry it in a salad spinner. Then use a mixing bowl to combine it with lemon juice, spices, tamari, and nutritional yeast. Next, just put it in a dehydrator until crispy and you’ll have some of the most delicious chips you’ve ever eaten.

Massaged Kale

If you’ve never tried a massaged kale salad, you’re in for a treat! Chop your kale coarsely—stems and all—and put it in a large mixing bowl. Add the dressing of your choice and then get in there and grab and squeeze entire handfuls of kale. This will rapidly break down the fiber, shrinking its volume by half while infusing the kale with the rich flavors of your dressing. Suddenly you’ve got kale in its rawest form, yet super digestible and with its intimidating texture nowhere to be found.

For further reading: please see our salad page and our vegan nutrition guide.
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