The Everyday Guide to Cooking with Kale

Interested in eating more kale (and liking it)? This complete guide to cooking with kale covers everything you need to know: types of kale, how to prepare it, when it's in season, and kale recipes that actually taste good.

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I can honestly say I adore kale these days, but there was a time when I ate it with a forced smile. The first few times I tried cooking with it, I had harvested it myself from a volunteer garden I was working in. It was SO bitter... but I later realized it was just overgrown!

That experience taught me something important: kale bitterness usually comes down timing, variety, and technique... not the kale itself.

So once I started enjoying kale at its peak and learned how to cook it, I learned how to get past the bitterness. Now I eat it daily, and I genuinely love it so much (especially in this kale farro salad lately!).

The secret is knowing exactly how to prepare it, which involves both technique and good recipes. And I'm summarizing everything here for you in one place so you can enjoy more kale too!

When is Kale in Season?

Kale is a cool weather-hardy vegetable in the brassica family (cousin to cabbage and broccoli). Technically it's in season year-round, meaning it can be grown in most places through all seasons, though it's sweetest when grown in cooler temperatures (between fall and spring, after the first frost).

So if you've ever thought you "don't like kale," there's a good chance you were eating it out of season or past its prime!

My cooking philosophy is that if you're able to get veggies locally, it's the way to go. Local kale will be the freshest, most nutrient-dense, and most eco-friendly you can find. Plus, it'll support your local farms, connecting you with your community!

Types of Kale

You might come across a few different kinds of kale at your local farmers market or grocery store, each offering slightly different textures and/or colors. These are some of the most common:

• Curly kale - Purple or green varieties with curly leaves and thick stems.
• Lacinato kale - Also known as dino kale or Tuscan kale. They have thick, dark green, long leaves.

I use these interchangeably in salads, soups, pastas, and sauces. Lacinato is my personal favorite for texture, but I also love purple curly kale for its color.

How to Prep Kale (So It Actually Tastes Good)

Before cooking with kale, you'll want to make sure you chop it up and wash it first. I love using a salad spinner for this! I also recommend checking the leaves for any caterpillars or worms. Usually they come off when salad spinning, but no one likes a surprise in their salad!

Tools for Making Kale Prep Easy

Salad Spinner

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What about stems?

For raw kale salads, I usually remove the thick stems (they are bitter and tough!). But for soups, sautés and sauces, I often chop them finely and keep them in, as cooking mellows their flavor and reduces waste.

Some other easy ways to reduce kale stem waste:

• Compost
• Steam stems until soft and blend into hummus (like my everything bagel hummus)
• Save them in the freezer with other veggie scraps, to be used later for homemade vegetable broth

Massaging Kale

If you're using kale as the base for a salad, massaging it with a bit of olive oil or vinaigrette helps break it down, soften bitterness, and absorb other flavors (like salad dressing).

It's exactly what it sounds like: put your clean kale in a bowl, drizzle on some olive oil or a vinaigrette and some salt, then lightly massage the leaves with your fingers until the kale starts to darken in color and break down.

Also! Did you know you can massage kale in avocado? Same method applies. Your hands will get a little messy, but it's SO buttery and delicious.

Using Kale in Soups & Sauces

This is one of the most frequent ways I use kale at our house. At the end of a soup or sauce recipe, add in a bunch of chopped kale.

The hot liquid will steam and break down the leaves, which add flavor, color, and nutrition to whatever soup or sauce you're eating.

For example, my ginger lime chicken soup doesn't explicitly call for kale, but you could easily add some and it'd be delicious.

Storing Kale

Keep kale in a an airtight container or reusable produce bag with a damp cloth to keep the leaves from drying out. Sometimes kale can also be kept in a glass of water like flowers, but I find it can be too tall for most fridge shelves.