If your salads usually leave you hungry an hour later, this recipe is about to change that. This kale shrimp salad with miso dressing is packed with ingredients that are both filling and nutritious, perfect for a satiating lunch or dinner. Plus, it’s done in under 30 minutes (and can be made even faster if you want to sub precooked shrimp instead of cooking raw shrimp).
Ingredients
Here’s a photo of all the ingredients you’ll need, along with selected ingredient notes:
- Miso paste – This is a fermented soybean paste. You can use either white or red miso paste. White miso paste is milder and a bit sweeter as it’s fermented for a shorter time frame, while red miso paste is punchier with a stronger flavor. If you have never used either and your grocery store carries both, I recommend white miso paste since it is milder in flavor and tends to work very well for dressings.
- Shrimp – I prefer buying raw shrimp and cooking it fresh, as I think the texture and taste is slightly better. However, precooked shrimp is completely fine to use too, and is great if you’re looking for a no-cook dinner. If you are using precooked shrimp, you can thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and then add it chilled to your salad.
Instructions
You’ll find the full recipe amounts and instructions in the recipe card below, but here’s a helpful overview with photos and tips.
Start by preparing your dressing – just whisk all the dressing ingredients together.
Next, add the kale to a large mixing bowl with a little olive oil. Massage it with your hands. This helps tenderize the kale and breaks apart some of the fibrous parts, making it more suitable for a salad.
Add the cabbage, carrots, pepitas, cilantro, and green onions to the bowl. Toss with about half of the dressing, and set both aside for now.
If you’re using raw shrimp, you’ll cook ‘em now. (If you’re using cooked shrimp, you can skip to the last step).
To cook the shrimp, heat olive oil in a skillet. Season the shrimp with a little salt and pepper, then add to the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes, then flip and add a tablespoon of the prepared dressing. Cook another 1-2 minutes. The shrimp are done when they are opaque throughout. I also heard a chef talk about the UCO rule for shrimp, and I like that for a cooking guideline. When you buy raw shrimp, they’ll be shaped like a U for “undercooked”. As you cook them, the muscle fibers tighten a bit and they form a “C” shape for cooked. If you cook them too much and the fibers tighten too much, they’ll form an “O” shape for overcooked.
When the shrimp are done, add them to the salad along with the avocado. Drizzle on the rest of the dressing and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
Storage: Leftover salad can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you know you will have leftovers (i.e. you’re preparing this for 2 people but it serves 4), do not toss the salad with any dressing before serving. Instead, portion out the salad and add dressing and avocado individually to the portions being eaten that night. Then store the leftover salad separately from the dressing and remaining avocado. When you go to eat the leftovers, add fresh avocado and dressing. This will ensure the best quality.
Meal Prep: Because this salad uses kale and cabbage as the main ingredient, it tends to hold up better for meal prep than a lot of options with lighter greens. Again, just store the dressing and avocado separately!
Recipe variations: You can mix up this recipe with different protein options, like swapping the shrimp for cooked chicken, steak, salmon, or tofu. You can also experiment with swapping or adding additional vegetables like shredded brussels sprouts rather than cabbage, or adding in sliced cucumbers. Shelled edamame is another good addition!
Nutrition Benefits
As a dietitian, I love this recipe for a few reasons…
- High in protein: Shrimp provides lean protein to support muscle repair and recovery, and protein-packed meals are also known to be more filling.
- Rich in micronutrients: Because of the variety of ingredients, you’ll get lots of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals to support health and wellness.
- Low-effort, high reward: Nutrient-dense ingredients without complicated prep!
- Gut-friendly ingredients: Miso is a fermented food that can contribute beneficial compounds to your diet. In addition, this salad provides 11 grams of fiber, which is key for gut health.
Helpful notes on nutrition modifications:
- This recipe is high in sodium, which isn’t concerning for most people for occasional meals. However, if that is a concern for you or you need a lower sodium option due to medical reasons, feel free to use low-sodium soy sauce and eliminate the salt when making the dressing and cooking the shrimp. (Frozen shrimp and miso are both naturally salty, so that’s where a good portion of the sodium comes from).
- You’ll notice this recipe provides quite a bit of fat in one meal. However, this is exclusively from healthy fat sources – olive oil, pepitas, and avocado. That said, if you need to reduce the fat for any reason (or need to cut back on the calories in the meal), you can easily do so by using less olive oil in the dressing and cutting back on the total amount of pepitas and avocado used in the salad.
- This recipe is low in carbohydrates. If you’re an athlete that needs more carbohydrates to fuel your exercise routine, you may want to add some cooked quinoa or rice to the salad to boost that.
More Shrimp Recipes
If you’re looking for more tasty shrimp recipes, be sure to give one of these a try:
- Steak and shrimp stir fry
- Shrimp egg roll in a bowl (a favorite among many readers!)
- Jerk shrimp salad
- Coconut curry shrimp ramen
I hope you enjoy this kale shrimp salad with miso dressing! If you get a chance to try it, feel free to leave a recipe rating or comment below.
Kale Shrimp Salad with Miso Dressing
Ingredients
For the Miso Dressing:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons miso paste (white or red)
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the Salad:
- 5 cups shredded kale
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 2 ½ cups shredded green cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup pepitas
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ⅓ cup sliced green onions
- 1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed (or cooked shrimp; see notes)
- Pinch salt and pepper
- 2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and sliced
Instructions
- First prepare the dressing. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, rice vinegar, miso, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, salt, and pepper. Whisk until smooth. Set aside for now.
- In another large mixing bowl, combine the kale and ½ tablespoon of the olive oil. Massage the kale with the oil using your hands for a minute (this will make it more tender).
- Add the cabbage, carrots, pepitas, cilantro, and green onions to the bowl with the kale. Stir together and toss with about half of the dressing. Set aside for now.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season the shrimp with a pinch of salt and pepper, then add to the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, then flip and add a tablespoon of the prepared dressing to the pan. Cook for another 2 minutes (slightly less for small shrimp, slightly more for jumbo shrimp), until shrimp are cooked throughout (they should be opaque). Remove from heat.
- Add the shrimp and avocado to the salad, drizzle the remaining dressing on top, and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- As an alternative to raw shrimp, you can use cooked shrimp. If purchased frozen, thaw properly and add right to the salad (no need to cook again, unless you want to quickly heat it in the skillet with a little dressing).
- If you know you’ll have leftovers, add the avocado and dressing to individual portions right before serving, and set aside the rest of the salad without those. Store the salad in a food storage container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Add dressing and fresh avocado right before serving.
- This meal is a bit higher in sodium. If that’s a concern for you, feel free to use low-sodium soy sauce and eliminate the salt when making the dressing. (Frozen raw shrimp and miso are both naturally salty, so that’s where a good portion of the sodium comes from).
- While this meal is higher in fat, it is all from healthy sources like olive oil, avocado, and pepitas. You can easily modify this to reduce the fat (and calories) by using less olive oil in the dressing and cutting back on the total amount of pepitas and avocado oil.
Nutrition
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