Kale, Apple and Pancetta Salad
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This flavor-packed autumn salad, with kale, radicchio, and a zingy maple vinaigrette, will have even the biggest salad skeptics coming back for more!
Made with shredded kale, radicchio, crisp pancetta, tart apples, pecans, and a zingy maple vinaigrette, this gorgeous fall salad, adapted from Food & Wine, is a real flavor powerhouse. Even my husband, who isn’t usually a fan of salads (especially kale), can’t get enough of it. For a heartier meal, you can easily add some poached chicken or grilled chicken—it’s a versatile dish that works as a side or a main course.
What You’ll Need To Make Kale, Apple & Pancetta Salad
Step-by-Step Instructions
Combine the olive oil and pancetta in a small skillet over medium heat.
Cook, stirring frequently, until pancetta is golden and crispy.
Strain the pan drippings into a medium bowl and leave the crispy pancetta off to the side to cool.
Add the Champagne vinegar, maple syrup, salt and pepper to the pan drippings and whisk well.
Combine the radicchio, kale, apples and pecans in a large bowl.
Toss while adding the dressing, little by little, until the salad is well dressed. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Garnish with crispy pancetta.
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Kale, Apple and Pancetta Salad
This flavor-packed autumn salad, with kale, radicchio, and a zingy maple vinaigrette, will have even the biggest salad skeptics coming back for more!
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 ounces pancetta, diced
- ¼ cup Champagne vinegar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 small head radicchio, shredded
- 1 (8-ounce) bunch kale, stems discarded, leaves shredded
- 2 tart-yet-sweet apples, such as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp, sliced into thin matchsticks
- ¾ cup pecans, toasted if desired
Instructions
- Combine the olive oil and pancetta in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until pancetta is golden and crispy. Strain the pan drippings into a medium bowl and leave the crispy pancetta off to the side to cool. Add the vinegar, maple syrup, salt and pepper to the pan drippings and whisk well.
- Combine the radicchio, kale, apples and pecans in a large bowl. Toss while adding the dressing, little by little, until the salad is well dressed. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Garnish with crispy pancetta.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 541
- Fat: 43 g
- Saturated fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 35 g
- Sugar: 24 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 8 g
- Sodium: 363 mg
- Cholesterol: 19 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Comments
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Is there a cheese you would recommend adding to this salad? Manchego? Parmesan? Making this lovely salad for Thanksgiving and considering adding this to it if you have any suggestions!
Hi Emma, This salad really doesn’t need cheese, but if you’d like to add it, I’d go with parmesan. Hope you enjoy!
My friend made this salad for a party at my house. I don’t enjoy Kale salad, never buy or eat Kale…I called her the next day asked her for this recipe…sooooo yummmy!!! The most perfect combination of flavours. One of the more delicious salads I’ve tried.
Hi Jenn. I understand that some cooks rub olive oil on the kale leaves to break down the waxy cuticle making it more tender. Can you recommend this procedure to make the kale leaves more tender? Thank you & as always, I love your website & recipes.
So glad you like the recipes, Mary! I don’t find it necessary here, but you can certainly massage the kale with a bit of oil if you’d like. Hope you enjoy the salad!
Could this salad work using green leaf lettuce instead of kale?
Thanks.
Hi Cecile, the green leaf lettuce won’t be quite as sturdy as kale, but it should work. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Hello,
How many people does this recipe serve?
thank you…
Hi Joo Joo, this recipe serves 4. Hope you enjoy!
Very good, I didn’t have the radicchio so only used kale. It was a last minute add to dinner. Will make again as the recipe recommended.
This is one of my favorite salad recipes due to the incredible richness from the pancetta drippings combined with hearty kale. It almost feels like a guilty pleasure comfort food.
This was really an excellent salad. The crispy pancetta was a pleasant surprise and made it different from other kale salads. I used a bag of sturdy pre-washed greens to save me some time, but followed the rest of the recipe exactly. Very flavorful and an excellent mix of textures. My husband, who doesn’t usually care for salad, said it was the best he’s ever had. I’ll be serving this to guests in the future, since it’s so much better than a boring Caesar or green salad.
Hi Jenn! How would you recommend adapting this salad to serve to vegetarians? Or is there another vegetarian salad you’d recommend serving alongside your mac and cheese recipe instead (this was the recommended pairing). Thanks so much!!
Hi V, I’d probably opt for a different salad because the pan drippings from the pancetta are part of the dressing. This arugula salad would work nicely. You can browse through all of my salads here. Hope that helps!
Thanks, Jenn!
Quite tasty, had to sub bacon for pancetta and I didn’t want to use the bacon fat as the oil component for fear of a coagulated dressing (I was parially assembling this ahead of time for Canadian Thanksgiving) so instead I added the hot bacon to the dressing for about an hour before serving to infuse some of the flavour. It sort of worked but I look forward to making this recipe as directed. Regardless, this salad was still SO tasty.
Just to amend my comment: I just put the EVOO in the dressing directly and mixed it.