If you are a lover of Flower Child, you’ve likely enjoyed their Organic Kale Salad! It’s simple– yet irresistibly good and I just had to make my own rendition at home — Shredded Kale Salad with Grapefruit!
I know kale salads have a bad reputation for being, well… DULL! While simple, this kale salad is far from that. It’s easy to make but the flavors are bright, tangy and just really damn good.
At Flower Child, they include smoked almonds. Since I couldn’t find any smoked almonds in the store, I opted for dry roasted almonds and then I added a dash of smoked paprika to the apple cider vinegar dressing.
While I served mine with salmon, any protein works great with this salad! Rotisserie chicken, seared chicken, sauteed shrimp, or even a seared steak work well here! You can really have fun with it. The Shredded Kale Salad with Grapefruit also keeps well, thanks to the sturdy kale — making it a perfect make-ahead dish for grab-and-go lunches!
Shredded Kale Salad with Grapefruit

Ingredients
For the Apple Cider Vinaigrette:
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp honey
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
For the Salad:
- 1 head lacinato kale stem removed and thinly sliced (about 6 cups)
- 1 honeycrisp apple thinly sliced and halved
- ½ cup dry roasted and salted almonds, roughly chopped
- 1 grapefruit cut into supremes *see note
- ½ cup grated aged cheddar cheese I use Trader Joe’s Unexpected Cheddar
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, smoked paprika, salt and pepper until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the kale, apple and almonds. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until well coated and the kale has slightly wilted, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the grapefruit and the grated cheddar and gently toss once more.
- Serve with desired protein and enjoy!! *I served mine with Salmon that I made in my air fryer. Method: drizzle a 6 ounce filet of wild caught salmon with a little bit of olive oil and lightly sprinkled with salt and pepper. Cook in an airfryer at 375 degrees until it flakes easily with a fork, about 8 minutes.
Notes
Photography by Eat Love Eats.
7 Comments
Nancy mandl
April 20, 2022 at 4:09 pmLove this so so much and I always order this salad! You nailed that dressing!!!Don’t forget to add currants though- they are small but mighty in this!!
Alex B
March 16, 2022 at 2:35 pmWe had this the other night for dinner and it was so good I’m planning to make for a party this weekend. Wondering, has anyone made this a day ahead? Do the apples keep?
Alex
March 22, 2022 at 5:17 pmI would save the apples and cut the same day to prevent browning! But you can definitely make ahead the dressing and prepare the kale ahead of time! Just assemble the rest.
Krista
February 11, 2022 at 2:39 amOh my gosh I can’t believe HOW much it pretty much tastes IDENTICAL to the one at flower child!! I crave this salad often, but the closest flower child to me is about 20 minutes! You have made my LIFE by recreating this salad!!! 🙌🙌🙌🙌
Alex
February 15, 2022 at 12:09 amso glad you love it!!
Ginette
February 8, 2022 at 4:52 pmI cannot wait to try this!!! Have you ever tried Trader Joe’s smokehouse almonds? Just wondering if they might help with the smoked almond find 🙂
Liz
May 10, 2022 at 2:45 amYes, I tried the Trader Joe’s Smoked Almonds and they were a very nice touch!