Kale Couscous Salad

This Kale Couscous salad is absolutely perfect for meal prep – it doesn't get soggy and it tastes even better after a day or two in the fridge!

It's packed with nourishing ingredients, like cucumber, mandarin oranges, chickpeas, pomegranate, feta, pickled onions and mint and tossed in a simple lemon vinaigrette.

This post is sponsored by Zwilling. All opinions are our own. This post contains affiliate links, and I may receive commissions for purchases made through links on this post.

Spoon salads, or scoop-able salads, are a personal favorite of mine. They're great to enjoy with some pita chips, but they're also just easier to eat than a normal salad! Everything gets finely chopped, so you can eat the salad with a spoon and get a little bit of everything in one bite.

If you're looking to try out some more spoon salads, try this Edamame Crunch Salad or this Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Pomegranate and Candied Pecans.

If you want your salads to stay fresh for extra long in the fridge, we highly suggest using Zwilling Fresh & Save vacuum seal containers! They keep food fresh for up to 5x longer than regular storage containers (thanks to the vacuum seal) and they come in so many different shapes and sizes. This 7-piece set is a great starter set if you're looking to invest in high quality containers that will last for years!

Jump to:

• Kale Couscous Salad Ingredients
• How to Make this Kale Couscous Salad Recipe
• Storage
• Tips and FAQ
• More salad recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

Kale Couscous Salad Ingredients

For the salad

• Curly kale: We used curly kale because it's much easier to chop up into small pieces than its cousin, lacinato (aka dinosaur) kale. It also has a ton of tiny ridges that hold onto dressing really well without getting soggy!
• Couscous: If you've never had couscous, it's basically tiny pasta balls (they're made of rolled semolina), and when cooked they provide a soft, pillowy, and hearty aspect to this salad. We like to use pearl couscous, which is larger and gives this salad a bit more heft.
• Chickpeas: Be sure to rinse and drain your chickpeas before adding them to this salad.
• Cucumber: We used mini (aka persian) cucumbers, which are a bit denser than their larger, English counterpart. This makes them a lot easier to dice into small pieces without becoming a mushy mess.
• Pomegranate: Fresh, in-season pomegranate would be best. If you can't get ahold of good pomegranates, you can sub in something like dried cranberries.
• Mandarins: We used mandarins that come in a big bag. You can also use oranges, or any citrus fruit you like.
• Pickled red onion: To make these, follow our quick pickled red onion recipe. If you don't have time, you can also just use raw red onion.
• Feta: Provides brininess and creaminess that other cheeses can't really deliver, and it also crumbles really well, which is a key component to make this salad scoop-able. You could also use mozzarella balls if you're not a fan of feta.
• Mint: Mint rounds out the flavor profile of the salad, and adds some much needed freshness.

For the dressing

• Olive oil: This is the base of the dressing, so be sure to use a good quality EVOO.
• Lemon juice: Use freshly-squeezed lemon juice for the best possible flavor.
• Lemon zest: Be sure to zest your lemon before juicing it - it really is worth the extra flavor.
• Honey: Adds sweetness to the dressing.
• Dijon Mustard: If you don't have dijon mustard, you can use whatever mustard you have on hand in a pinch.
• Kosher salt, dried oregano, pepper: Seasonings round out the flavor profile of the dressing.

How to Make this Kale Couscous Salad Recipe

STEP 1: Prep your ingredients: Cook couscous according to package instructions. Finely chop your kale, drain and rinse chickpeas, chop cucumber, tangerines, and pickled red onion, and de-seed pomegranates.

STEP 2: Add each component to a large bowl.

STEP 3: Combine all of the dressing ingredients and whisk together.

STEP 4: Pour over the salad, toss, and enjoy!

Storage

You can keep this kale couscous salad stored in the refrigerator for up to a few days. For best results, we highly suggest using Zwilling Fresh & Save vacuum seal containers! When we use Fresh & Save, this salad stays fresh for up to a week.

These containers can be vacuum sealed to keep food fresh for up to five times longer than regular containers. We've been using Zwilling's Fresh & Save line for years now, and they're the only storage containers we use - there's a drawer in our house that's filled with them, and our fridge is packed with Fresh & Save containers.

Best of all, they're dishwasher safe, microwave safe, freezer safe and they come in plenty of sizes. The glass ones that we show here are also oven safe! So go ahead, try them out!

We also love that the Fresh & Save line has vacuum seal bags – they're ideal for long term freezer storage.

If you're looking to store dried foods in your pantry, Zwilling also has you covered with their CUBE container sets. It's the same vacuum seal technology as the Fresh & Save containers, but made for dry ingredients!

Tips and FAQ

• Let the couscous cool completely before adding it to the salad to avoid wilting the greens.
• Make sure to chop your kale very finely – you don't want any big pieces! To make this even easier, you can add kale straight to a food processor and pulse several times until the pieces are very tiny.
• Not a fan of kale? Try this salad with another green, like arugula or spinach, but note that they will get quite a bit more soggy, so we don't suggest storing for quite as long as you would with kale.
• Feel free to substitute any vegetables you'd like – use a different type of citrus, or try adding avocado or shaved brussels sprouts for an easy variation. You can also add nuts or seeds – we think pistachios or almonds would be great here!

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