Kale Pasta Salad

This hearty and colorful kale pasta salad is full of flavor. It’s has the delicious Mediterranean flavors of feta cheese, Kalamata olives and chickpeas as well as ripe tomatoes and sweet bell peppers to mix with the pasta and healthy kale. If you like Greek salads you will love this kale pasta salad.

You might also like this keto Greek zucchini salad.

This past summer I went to France with my family. One day we had a lot of driving to do and not much time so we grabbed something to eat at a convenience store at a gas station. I got this colorful salad with greens and pasta and it was surprisingly delicious! Even their gas station food was wonderful.

Since then I have been craving big salads with pasta in it. The pasta is not the star but rather adds a tasty component. So today I make this healthy and hearty kale pasta salad and I love it. It’s full of all the favorite ingredients I use in a Greek salad but with kale and pasta shells in addition.

So if you love a big bold salad you have to give this dish a try. The dressing is a simple combination of good olive oil and balsamic vinegar and fresh garlic and goes perfectly with this salad.

Recipe ingredients I used and substitutions.

The simple ingredients I used were red onion, bell pepper, chick peas, olives, feta cheese, tomatoes, pasta and kale. For the dressing it was simply good extra virgin olive oil, good balsamic vinegar, fresh garlic, salt and ground black pepper.

Kale
I bought a large bag of fresh chopped kale from Aldi. If you buy it in the large leaf form you will want to rip the leaves from the stem and chop them up into bite sized pieces. If you really don’t like kale you can substitute with spinach, Swiss chard or other greens.

Pasta
I like this medium shell pasta shape but you can use whatever pasta you want though not spaghetti. You can use a fancy macaroni, penne, rotini or something like that.

Feta Cheese
I was going for a Greek or Mediterranean flavor for this salad so use crumbled feta cheese. You could also use goat cheese, blue cheese, asiago, or even parmesan cheese. You makes sure it’s a flavorful and sharp cheese.

Veggies, Olives & Chick Peas
I use sweet bell peppers, red onion and tomatoes for my veggies. You can really use any kind you want but again I was going for a Mediterranean flavor.

I used Kalamata olives which I love with feta cheese but you can use your favorite kind of olive if you prefer. And the chickpeas or garbanzo beans are great with the other ingredients but you can substitute a white bean or eliminate it if you want.

How to make this easy and tasty kale pasta salad.

Step 1: Get a pot of water boiling and cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water and set aside to cool.

Step 2: In a small bowl add the crushed garlic, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix well and set aside.

Step 3: Meanwhile add the chopped kale to a mixing bowl and add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Massage the greens with oil to soften it.

Step 4: Dice and slice vegetables and add to the massaged kale. Also add tomatoes, olives and chick peas. Mix well.

Step 5: When pasta is done add to the large bowl and pour the dressing over. Mix well and top with crumbled feta cheese.

Refrigerate until ready to eat. Store leftovers in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

While the feta cheese and garbanzo beans are good sources of protein you can also add cooked shrimp or chicken to make this more of main dish.

More delicious and healthy kale recipes to try.

If you have a big bag of kale and don’t know what else to make with it, try one of these tasty recipes.

• keto pumpkin and sausage soup
• salad with lemon tahini dressing and chicken
• salad with apricots and pecans
• beans and green with chorizo

Well I hope you give this tasty and healthy kale pasta salad recipe a try. I even froze extra helping and you can cook it to make a tasty pasta dinner! This cold pasta salad is really filling too which is great when you are watching what you eat. Enjoy!