Kale Caesar Salad (with Romaine and Shaved Parmesan)

Kale Caesar Salad (with Romaine and Shaved Parmesan) is a salad I’d happily make when I want a green salad for a special meal! And if you like kale and Caesar dressing, I bet this kale and romaine Caesar salad is a recipe you’ll make over and over!

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Kale Caesar Salad might not be a hit with kale avoiders as a salad for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, but I love this recipe! And through the years I’ve made this salad with kale, romaine, and shaved Parmesan cheese so many times times. I’ve adapted it to use milder baby kale, shaved the Parmesan for more cheesy flavor, and replaced the anchovy paste in the original dressing with a little bit of fish sauce.

I love the idea of a Caesar dressing recipe without raw eggs, and the dressing in this recipe is really good. But even if you use bottled Caesar dressing this will still be an amazingly delicious salad. And no judgement from me for using bottled salad dressing either, especially if you make it during the holidays!

And this amazing Kale Caesar Salad is low in carbs and gluten-free, so that also makes the recipe even better as an option to serve for guests! Even if this doesn’t make it on your holiday table, if you like kale and Caesar salad at all I hope you try the recipe!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• baby kale
• romaine lettuce
• shaved Parmesan (preferably from a block of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese)
• fresh-squeezed lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
• fish sauce, preferably Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link)
• garlic puree
• Dijon Mustard (affiliate link)
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Is the Kale Caesar Salad a vegetarian recipe?

I do know that some strict vegetarians avoid Parmesan cheese because it’s made with rennet. But if you’re not that strict, you can use Vegan Fish Sauce to make the dressing and still enjoy this recipe.

Why add kale to a Caesar Salad?

I know not everyone is a fan of the slightly bitter flavor of kale. But for people who enjoy it (like me!) this Caesar Salad with kale is more nutritious and flavorful and I think it makes a more interesting salad! Of course you can skip the kale or use another type of greens if you prefer.

How low in carbs is the Kale Caesar Salad?

This interesting Caesar salad variation has only 4 net carbs per serving and 5 grams of protein.

How to make Kale Caesar Salad (with Romaine and Shaved Parmesan):

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. We used ice cold water in the salad spinner to crisp the baby kale. Make sure the kale leaves are as dry as you can get them, then put the kale into the salad bowl.
2. Chop Romaine, wash in the salad spinner and spin extra dry and add to salad bowl.
3. Buzz together the fresh lemon juice, Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link) or anchovy paste or Vegan fish sauce, garlic, Dijon, olive oil, salt, and pepper to make the dressing.
4. Use a vegetable peeler to shave large strips of Parmesan from a block of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and then coarsely chop it with a knife (or use coarsely grated Parmesan from a jar if you don’t have a block.)
5. Toss the baby kale and washed Romaine together in a bowl with the desired amount of dressing.
6. Then add a generous amount of shaved Parmesan (saving some for the top) and toss again! That’s all!
7. Add fresh-ground black pepper at the table if desired.
8. Devour the salad and start thinking about how quickly you can make it again.
9. If you’re making more than you’d eat at one time, refrigerate the greens and dressing separately and combine the Kale Caesar Salad when you’re going to eat it.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

I’d love Kale Caesar Salad as a delicious side dish with any of these low-carb main dishes:

• Air Fryer Salmon with Mustard-Herb Sauce
• Instant Pot Balsamic Pork Roast
• Air Fryer Pork Chops
• Chicken Cutlets with Mustard Sauce
• Air Fryer Marinated Chicken Breasts

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe for Kale Caesar Salad has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Want more recipes with Kale?

If you’re a fan of kale and other dark leafy greens, you can use the category for Leafy Greens to find lots of recipes using them!

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Yield: 4 servings

Kale Caesar Salad (with Romaine and Shaved Parmesan)

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

I could make an entire meal of this Kale Caesar Salad (with Romaine and Shaved Parmesan), and this tasty and healthy salad is low in carbs and gluten-free!

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 5 oz. package of baby kale, crisped in cold water if needed and dried well (See notes.)
• 5 oz. romaine lettuce, chopped, washed and dried very well
• 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan from a block of Parmigiano-Reggiano (more or less to taste, see notes)

Dressing Ingredients:

• 2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice (See notes.)
• 1 tsp. fish sauce (See notes.)
• 1 tsp. garlic puree (I used garlic puree from a jar)
• 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 6 T olive oil
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. If the kale seems even the tiny bit wilted I’d put it into a salad spinner with very cold water and let it crisp for a few minutes.
2. Then spin the kale dry, dry more with paper towels if needed, and put kale into large salad bowl.
3. Chop the romaine lettuce (discarding root ends and any damaged outer leaves).
4. Then wash the lettuce in the salad spinner with very cold water, spin dry, and dry more with paper towels if needed. Put the lettuce into the salad bowl.
5. In a blender, food processor, or the mini-processor bowl of an immersion blender combine the lemon juice, fish sauce (or anchovy paste or soy sauce), garlic puree, and Dijon and pulse together a few times. (Links are affiliate links)
6. Then add the olive oil 2 tablespoons at a time, pulsing for a few seconds after each addition of oil is.
7. Season the dressing with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
8. Put dressing in the fridge and chill until ready to use,.
9. Add desired amount of dressing to the greens and toss, until all the salad greens are very lightly coated with dressing. (You may not need all the dressing, but save it in the fridge for another time.)
10. Add the shaved chopped Parmesan to the salad and toss again.
11. Serve right away, adding fresh-ground black pepper at the table if desired.
12. If making this dressing is just not going to happen at your house, I’d still make the Kale Caesar Salad and simply dress it with your favorite purchased Caesar salad dressing.

Notes

I used a salad spinner (affiliate link) to dry the greens and then dried more with paper towels. I use my frozen fresh lemon juice for the dressing. I like Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link) for this. This salad is also great with my favorite bottled Caesar Dressing if making dressing just isn’t happening at your house. You can use coarsely grated Parmesan from a jar, but I don’t recommend finely grated Parmesan for this salad.

We had a little bit of the salad left and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted the next day even after being in the fridge overnight.  I think this would be a great salad to take to work already made for lunch, as long as you have a fridge to keep it in during the morning. But if you’re making this on the weekend for food prep and you know it’s more than you’ll eat at one time I would store the extra greens, grated Parmesan, and dressing separately and combine it right before you eat it.

Recipe adapted from Tuscan Kale Caesar Slaw at Bon Appetit Magazine.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 258Total Fat 24gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 18gCholesterol 12mgSodium 542mgCarbohydrates 6gFiber 2gSugar 1gProtein 5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Caesar Salad with Kale, Romaine, and Shaved Parmesan is perfect for low-carb or Keto Diets and a long as you use a moderate amount of dressing, this salad is a great choice for any phase of the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
The Kale Caesar Salad was first posted in 2011, and I’ve made it so many times since then! It was last updated with more information in 2025.

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