Guys. THIS SALAD. I know I say a lot of my recipes are a “must make” (because truly, they are) but this salad is one I guarantee you’ll make again and again.
Let me reintroduce my scoop it up kale couscous salad bursting with freshness, texture, and zippy, savory flavors. We’re loading this bowl up with salty feta cheese, protein from chickpeas, the best-ever Castelvetrano olives, OH, and pickled red onion for good measure. I call it “scoop it up” because whenever I make it I end up scooping it straight from the salad bowl with pita chips because mama loves that crunch factor.
Take 30 minutes and make it for lunch or as a yummy side dish this week with your favorite proteins, or bring it to your next BBQ as a crowd-pleasing dish. You’re going to love this one.
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Everything you’ll need to make this kale couscous salad
Crunchy veggies! Couscous and chickpeas! Olives and feta! Oh, and the best lemon vinaigrette you’ll want to put on every salad forever. Here’s everything you’ll need to make this beautiful salad:
- Couscous: you may know by now that I’m obsessed with pearl couscous. It’s like little tiny pasta that creates the perfect base for soups, one pot meals, and salads.
- Kale: the other base of this salad is, of course, kale! I have a few tips for making kale salads below that make them extra delicious.
- Chickpeas: we’re adding plant-based protein from a can of chickpeas.
- Mix-ins: you’ll get savory flavor from feta cheese and my fav Castelvetrano olives, freshness from parsley, and a sweet-and-zesty flavor from pickled red onion. YUM.
- For the dressing: this incredible lemon vinaigrette is made with fresh lemon juice, a little olive oil, dijon mustard, garlic, red pepper flakes, sugar (or honey), salt and pepper.
Make this salad gluten-free or vegan
- To make gluten-free: feel free to swap the couscous for gluten-free orzo or even quinoa! You can also omit the orzo to keep the salad grain-free, but I love the little bites of grains.
- To make vegan: simply omit the feta cheese.
Looking to add a little crunch?
Throw in ½ cup salted roasted pistachios, sunflower seeds, or toasted sliced almonds. As the title suggests, I also like scooping this salad up with tortilla chips, pita chips, or pita crackers for an even bigger crunch. SO GOOD.
More ways to boost the protein
This kale couscous salad packs 18g of protein as is, but feel free to serve it with:
- Grilled steak or shrimp
- My Baked or Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken
- Or my Honey Lemon Garlic Salmon
The key to making kale salads
Raw kale is actually pretty tough, but there are a couple of ways to prep it in a salad to make it perfectly crunchy and nicely marinated with the dressing:
- Finely chop it. Be sure to chop it very finely so that the bites aren’t too large. Use a sharp knife or salad chopper, or pulse the kale a few times in a food processor.
- Dress it first. You’ll want to add your chopped kale in a bowl with the chickpeas and couscous and mix the dressing in for at least 1 minute until everything is well coated before adding the mix-ins. This will ensure that the kale marinates well with the dressing and isn’t as tough in texture.
- Meal prep it. This kale couscous salad is amazing when prepped ahead of time because the kale doesn’t break down like other greens do.
How to store this kale couscous salad
This salad will stay good in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Our fav salad tools
Check out more of our go-to kitchen essentials here!
More salad recipes you’ll love
- Summer Glow Strawberry Kale Salad
- Curried Chickpea Couscous Salad
- Grilled Corn Salad with Avocado, Goat Cheese & Hot Honey Vinaigrette
- Italian Chopped Brussels Sprouts Salad
- Spicy Ranch Chopped Chicken Cabbage Salad
Get all of my salad recipes here!
I hope you love this kale couscous salad! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Spoon It Up Kale Couscous Salad
Ingredients
- For the couscous:
- 1 cup pearl couscous
- 1 ½ cups water
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- For the lemon vinaigrette:
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon sugar or honey
- Freshly ground black pepper
- For the salad:
- 1 bunch of Tuscan kale, finely chopped
- 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ⅔ cup Castelvetrano olives, coarsely chopped
- 4 ounces feta, crumbled
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- ½ heaping cup pickled red onion, plus more if you love them!!
- Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the couscous: In a medium pot, add the water, couscous and salt and bring to a boil. Stir couscous, then reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until all of the liquid is absorbed. Transfer to a large sieve and rinse the couscous with cold water for about 1 minute, until the couscous has cooled. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl or mason jar: add the lemon juice, olive oil, dijon, garlic, salt, red pepper flakes, sugar (or honey) and a few grinds of pepper. Whisk until well combined and emulsified, or alternatively, place a lid on the jar and shake until well combined.
- Prepare the salad: In the large bowl with the couscous, add the kale and chickpeas. Pour the lemon vinaigrette over and use tongs to toss until dressing coats everything well, about 1 minute.
- Next, add in the olives, feta, parsley and red onion. Toss again with tongs until well-combined. Add salt and pepper to taste, as needed. Serve immediately or keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Salad is excellent prepped ahead of time. Try serving with tortilla chips, pita chips or pita crackers for scooping up. This salad is also fantastic served on the side with your favorite protein such as grilled steak, chicken, shrimp or salmon. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on June 22nd, 2024, and republished on June 24th, 2025.
Absolutely delicious! The flavors blended together perfectly, and it was so easy to prepare. I served it with grilled salmon. A perfect light summer meal that I’ll make again.
The perfect meal! Glad you enjoyed!
I have made this salad many times and it is one of my all time favorites! It is great as written but my fave version is subbing farro and cannellini beans for the couscous and chickpeas, then throwing in some halved cherry tomatoes.
Love that! One of my all-time favs, too 🙂
I topped with some toasted seasoned panko for crunch. Delish!
Sounds amazing!!
Fresh and vibrant salad to kick off the arrival of warmer weather. Creative recipe. Surprisingly filling!
Absolutely! One of my all-time favs 🙂
This is fantastic. I’ll be making it on repeat all summer.
One of my all-time favs! Glad you loved it 🙂
so delicious! especially with those olives and pickled red onions – a dream! i made this the first time with farro and it is amazing and adds a bit of a different texture.
So good! This one’s great for customizing 🙂
I LOVE this salad – it’s part of my regular meal prep rotation and every time someone sees me eating it they say “that looks good.” It’s easy, delicious and stays fresh all week once portioned. I haven’t tried it with the chips – it’s good enough eaten with a fork. Would love more recipes like this!
So happy to hear that! It’s one of our go-to’s 🙂 Try this one next!
thank you for introducing me to Tuscan kale! I make this recipe so often for the week, if I’m lazy I just do kale, cous cous and garbanzo beans and it’s so so good for meal prep. Trader Joe’s has Tuscan kale leaves pre washed that I’m newly obsessed with. Don’t get the chopped leaves, as it’s hard to de stem every single leaf. Get the big leaves. De stem in one pull and then chop the leaves finely, that was another thing I learned from your recipe! Love your content and recipes Monique! I live in Chicago too!
YES such a great, staple green for salads! Good way to get our veggies in here in Chicago 🙂
This is become a staple in my lunchtime routine since finding it last fall. I am obsessed. I eat it for 4 days in a row without getting sick of it and can’t wait until the next time I get to make it. I’ve sent it to so many friends who say the same. Thank you!
Omg I love that!
Delicious and nutritious! The first time I made it I used quinoa instead of couscous but followed everything else really closely. The second time I made it I only followed the ingredients but not really the measurements and it was still delicious. A very adaptable recipe. The leftovers are just as good, so this is a nice one for making ahead of time.
This one’s great for customizing! Such a great lunch.
This salad is sooo yummy! Definitely a crowd pleaser! I love how you can make it vegan or gluten free depending on who you’re cooking for. Delish!
Absolutely! Truly one of my all time favorites 🙂
Kale hater over here! If I could give this recipe extra stars I would! This was so delicious. Even my picky 8 year old took a bite and said “oh this is good!”. Total win! Thank you!
Amazing! What an honor to convert a kale hater 😉
Wow, this is addictively delicious and definitely a new favorite! I’m always looking for healthy bowls/salads to meal prep for lunches for the week, and this was so insanely good that I accidentally ended up eating a serving on the spot for dinner and texted the recipe to several friends and family members. This one is going to be on repeat! I bought chicken to add more protein but once I saw how big the servings are, I skipped it. I added a diced bell pepper and massaged the kale with 1 tbsp of the dressing before adding the rest, otherwise followed the recipe exactly. YUM!
Amazing! So happy you loved it!
Just a question- I always worry about my proportions – dressing to kale- when the recipe says 1 bunch of kale (our farmstand has HUGE bunches of greens!) Do you have an approximate measure (packed cups or weight?) of the chopped kale?
Thank you!!
It should be about 8-10 cups finely chopped!
Another winner! Delicious. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed!
This salad is to die for! I didn’t have olives but I added some toasted pepitas and chopped cilantro. I love how versatile it is, how well it saves and that I can consume it with readily available ingredients year round. An absolute winner.
So good and easy to customize!!
I picked up some fresh Kale at the Farmer’s Market yesterday and had this recipe in mind. I made it today and it is delicious. When I have it again tomorrow, I will sprinkle sunflower seeds on it, just to change it up. I can never go wrong with any Ambitious Kitchen recipe. They always end up being the ones I make over and over again. We start receiving a CSA box in the middle of July, so I will be searching for recipes here to use what I receive in it!
Amazing! This one’s great for customizing 🙂 Be sure to check out my Recipe Index where you can search by ingredient!
so yummy! so easy.
Agreed!!
I just made this recipe exactly as written and I’m obsessed. It’s so tasty and such a good summer lunch for me to prep. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
So happy to hear that!
This looks delicious! I was wondering, what type of feta did you use? It looks nice and creamy. All I can ever ever find is dried looking stuff.
I typically buy a block of feta instead of the pre-crumbled kind!
Nice!
This was absolutely fantastic! We loved it. Quick and easy to make and we had all the ingredients on hand. Fortunately we have leftovers for tomorrow and I predict it will be even better tomorrow. If that’s even possible.
Your information and directions were very helpful. Thanks for your great recipes and beautiful photography.
The best leftovers! So glad you loved this one!
No words to describe how delicious this salad is!!! Trust me when I say just make it. Make the pickled onions too. Had to go to another site for the recipe because I couldn’t find here. I didn’t have pearl couscous. Used 1 cup of uncooked whole wheat couscous. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The best! I still make this one all the time 🙂 Glad you love it, too!
This is truly the BEST salad – it stays just as delicious on day 1 vs. day 4 and is always something I look forward to having for lunch!
YES one of my all-time favs, too!
Loved it! Great flavor combination. I have never used pearl couscous but that was a great addition. Thank you!
The best!! Happy you enjoyed!
Would frozen and thawed out kale work?
I wouldn’t recommend it!