Baby Kale Caesar Salad with Crispy Chickpeas

This baby kale caesar salad is perfect when you need a light yet satisfying salad. You can use this as your main dish, pair it with a bowl of soup, or add it to the side of any meal.

I use baby kale in this recipe but you can also use regular kale, just make sure to chop it up. You could also substitute spinach or romaine lettuce.

What is baby kale?

Baby kale is just young leaves of the kale plant. These leaves are typically more tender. Most kale varieties can be eaten at this stage.

I typically find baby kale in the bagged lettuce area near the spinach. Sometimes you can get it by itself, but it can also be bought in a salad mix.

How to make crispy chickpeas

Crispy chickpeas are probably one of my favorite salad toppers. It gives a perfect crunch to a salad. Chickpeas are also a great way to add a little protein and fiber to your salad. Just one serving of chickpeas can have 10g of protein.

To make crispy chickpeas, you need to add your drained chickpeas, oil, and salt to a baking sheet. Bake at 425° F for 16-20 minutes. I like to move them around halfway through the cooking process to make sure they all get crispy.

In this recipe, I add a little bit of red chili flakes to the chickpeas when cooking. It gives it a nice heat, but if you don’t like spice, I would remove it.

How to make the caesar dressing?

Let’s talk dressing. This is a full recipe of the Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing. You won’t need the whole dressing amount. You only need about 1/4-1/2 cup for this recipe so feel free to cut the recipe in half if you need.

If you make the full recipe, you can store the leftovers in an airtight jar in your fridge for about one week.