This farro salad recipe is delicious, healthy, and festive! It’s the perfect fall salad, worthy of your holiday table. Made with kale, almonds, and pomegranate seeds, it’s vegan and tasty!
Leap into the boundless and make it your home.
Yang Zho
I love farro, and this farro salad recipe is what we’ve been serving up in our catering business- especially beautiful during the holiday season. The color of the salad alone is sure to bring a smile to your face. It’s so festive, perfect for the holiday table.
What you will love about this farro salad is how easy it is to throw together, especially if you cook the farro ahead of time! This is one of our most popular salad recipes on the blog, and it never fails to satisfy! It has the three things I love most in a salad: nutrition, flavor, texture and beautiful presentation!
Farro Salad Recipe Ingredients
- Whole farro: You can sub pearled farro, wheat berries, bulgar, quinoa, brown rice, or any other grain of your choice.
- Lacinato kale: Lacinato is an heirloom variety of kale, dark in color and a little less bitter than curly kale. It is sometimes called Tuscan kale, black kale, or cavolo nero.
- Toasted almonds: Use chopped, slivered, or sliced.
- Pomegranate seeds: Cut open fresh pomegranate, or, for ease, buy pre-packaged seeds as you see above.
- Flat-leaf parsley: Very finely chopped. Tender stems are okay! Adds a floral, herby taste.
- Red onion: Finely chopped, to add a pop of aromatic flavor and crunchy texture.
- Extra virgin olive oil, salt, garlic clove, and lemon zest: To season the kale, giving it a citrusy, tangy, bright, and garlicky flavor.
- Lemon juice, allspice, and cinnamon: A simple dressing for the salad with festive, cozy flavor.
- Optional garnish: Add avocado slices for extra richness!
How to Make the Best Farro Salad
Step one: Add 1/2 cup uncooked farro to a medium saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer until tender, 30-40 minutes. Drain the liquid.
Step two: Finely chop kale and toss in a large bowl with oil, salt, garlic, and lemon zest. Massage kale with clean hands until tenderized, 4-5 minutes.
Step three: To the bowl, add parsley, onion, pomegranate, almonds, and drained and cooked farro. Toss with lemon juice, allspice, and cinnamon.
Step four: Taste and adjust for salt, allspice, and lemon juice. Season with pepper if desired. If making ahead, taste again before serving. The farro will soak up some of the salt and lemon, so you will likely need an extra pinch of salt or more.
Step five: For extra richness, add slices of avocado just before serving.
Variations
- Cheese: Goat cheese or feta cheese make a nice addition.
- Dried cherries: Add extra tartness along with the pomegranate seeds.
- Nuts: Add more nuts like walnuts, pecans, or pine nuts for extra crunchy texture.
- Sweet potatoes: Add sweet potatoes or any winter squash for an even heartier dish.
Chef’s Tips
- Meal prep: To make this salad in advance, do everything before adding the lemon juice and spices. Store in the fridge and just before serving, toss with lemon juice, allspice, and cinnamon. Taste and adjust.
- Short cut for chopping kale: To save time prepping, toss the kale in a food processor and pulse once or twice. Be careful not to let the food processor run for too long.
- Buy fresh and seasonal: Buy kale and pomegranate mid-winter for optimal flavor and freshness!
Storage
Leftover farro salad holds up well! You can store this salad in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Serving Suggestions
- Soup: Cauliflower Cheddar Soup, Creamy Parsnip Soup, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Vegetarian mains: Moroccan Cauliflower Chickpea Bowls, Butternut Squash Noodles, Butternut Squash Pizza
- Protein mains: Pomegranate Salmon, Mushroom Dusted Halibut, Braised Chicken with Fresh Figs
- 50+ Comfort Food Recipes!
- Other festive party appetizers: Winter Cheese Board, Moroccan Meatballs, 50+ Mouthwatering Appetizer Recipes
FAQs
No, farro does contain gluten. For a gluten-free substitute, try quinoa or black rice!
Farro is made of three different wheat species. It is a whole grain rich in fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Farro has an earthy, nutty flavor and it has a deliciously chewy texture.
Here we use cooked farro with kale, almonds, and pomegranate seeds for a winter-inspired kale tabbouleh salad. Herbs, lemon, oil, spices, onion, and garlic add even more flavor!
Yes, but cook it for less time. Pearled farro has most or all of the bran removed -it cooks much faster, 15-20 minutes.
More Favorite Farro Recipes!
Love farro as much as we do? Here are more farro recipes to get your creative juices flowing!
Please remember to rate this recipe for us in the comments below! Enjoy it! xoxo-Sylvia
How to cut a Pomegranate (the fun way)
Farro Salad Recipe
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: salad, vegan salad
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Farro Salad is one of my all-time favorite vegan salads. Think of it like a Winter Tabouli Salad. It’s loaded up with nutty farro, chopped kale and parsley. Pomegranate seeds replace out-of-season tomatoes here and toasted almonds give this a nice crunch! The best part? It can be made ahead!
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked farro (see notes)
- 1 bunch lacinato kale ( 8-10 ounces), finely chopped, about 4–5 cups.
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, very finely chopped ( tender stems, OK) about 1-2 cups
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds (or purchase frozen)
- 1/2 cup – 1 cup toasted almonds, chopped, slivered, or sliced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Optional Garnish: Avocado slices for extra richness
Instructions
- Start farro (see notes) to cook on the stove (1/2 cup dry= 1 cup cooked). Place in a pot of salted water, bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, simmer gently until tender, 30-40 minutes. Drain.
- Chop kale finely and place in a large bowl. Add oil, salt, garlic and lemon zest. Massage the kale with clean hands until kale becomes tenderized, 4-5 minutes.
- Add parsley, onion, pomegranate, almonds and farro. Toss to combine and add lemon juice and allspice and cinnamon.
- Mix and taste, adding more salt, allspice and lemon to your taste. If making ahead, make sure to re-taste right before serving- the farro will soak up much of the salt and lemon, so usually I’ll add more.
- For extra richness, right before serving, add slices of avocado if you like.
Notes
Farro: The original recipe called for 2 cups of cooked whole-grain farro; feel free to add more. I reduced it to make it more kale-heavy. You can also use pearl farro -a type of farro with the bran removed -but keep in mind, this cooks in 15-20 minutes- so cook to al dente.
This will keep 2-3 days in the fridge.
Sometimes I’ll add other herbs to this as well – cilantro and/or mint. Tasty!
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 199
- Sugar: 5.2 g
- Sodium: 205.7 mg
- Fat: 15.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.6 g
- Fiber: 4.4 g
- Protein: 4.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Hi Sylvia
I’ve only just come across your site and really love the recipes. Do you have any books I can buy.
Thanks Grace
Not yet Grace!
My brother, who insisted he hated kale, returned for seconds of this at Thanksgiving. This is a beautiful recipe in terms of both taste and presentation. I made as written and without the avocado.
Haha! Love it!
Unbelievably delicious. This is now a “go to” for a vibrant salad especially when entertaining. Rave reviews from all.
Loved it! I used finely chopped green onion instead of red and it still came out great! This is the first salad I’ve had that is good as leftovers.
Totally agree! Made 2 days ago and just as yummy today! It’s so pretty to serve too. Added some green apple because we had it on hand, flavors mixed so well together! Another great Sylvia recipe ❤️
This is amazing! The cinnamon and allspice give it a really great twist! I had to substitute pecans for the almonds and some cherry tomatoes for the pomegranate but still delicious
Made this with bulgar wheat for a family BBQ last weekend. My brother in-law said he’d be happy to pay good money for such a great salad if he was served this in a restaurant. 😍
Nice! Love it!
This is delicious! My grocery store didn’t have pomegranates so I used dried goji berries and blueberries. I also added a splash of balsamic vinegar because my parsley was kind of bitter.
This is so so so so yummy!!!!
Awwww thanks so much Joelle. Love and miss you. Xoxo
This looks so good. I just made your kale quinoa salad with apples and chickpeas so this is going to be my next salad. Question, can I use my food processor for the kale, parsley and red onion? Wasn’t sure.
Thanks
Hi That is a great question- I have never tried it! Let us know what you think if you do try it in there!
Excellent! And now I know what I’m having for lunch tomorrow, too! (I used cinnamon and cloves, since I didn’t have allspice)
So happy you like it!
I made this for yesterday’s lunch the night before. I had an open bag of Freekeh and beautiful rainbow chard, stems and all, so I used those. I also used walnuts instead of almonds. It was great and the chard really did stand up to the dressing for 16 hours+, I was thinking that next time I would try juice from a mandarin or blood orange instead of the lemon. I do not use All spice often and was surprised that I had ground all spice in my cabinet. It did give it an interesting flavor.
Glad you enjoyed this Janet!
I made this today. Skipped the cinnamon/all spice. Added green onion. So delicious! bought the pomegranet seed from Trader Joes.
I just made this salad for the first time and I love it. What a wonderful variation on my usual kale salad and tabouli. Delicious! I am not a fan of raw onion and so I omitted that and it’s still quite tasty. I might add some diced apples for the left over salad but it’s great just as is! Thank you!
Glad you made it your own Cindy!
I keep trying but I have not joined the kale salad band wagon. I love all other greens and was thinking this would work with chard. My farmers market still has beautiful rainbow chard in January. What are your thoughts?
Give it a try! I’m not sure it will hold up as well, and may be a bit tangier??? What if you mixed with another green?
Hi Sylvia, this recipe looks so delicious but I’m struggling to find farro in South Africa. Is there an alternative grain that you think I could use?
Yes, check the recipe- feel free to use quinoa, bulgar, whole wheat or rye berries, or any other whole grain!
Added diced bosc pear and 1/4 c gorgonzola cheese. Mmmm…
This turned out great. Love the addition of allspice, very tasty! Leftovers were good as well- will definitely make this again!
When do you use the apple cider vinegar referred to in the comments?
Hi Sue, I updated the recipe and removed the vinegar!
Can you use regular kale in this recipe?
Yes, just make sure to massage well!
Do you have the original recipe with allspice ?
Hi Tara! Haha you caught the recipe, in the middle of an update. Sorry about that! Start with 1/2 teaspoon, add more to taste!
Beautiful salad!
I’ve had this recipe marked since I found it on Tastespotting and I finally got a chance to make it tonight… so fabulous! I love farro and the seasonings you used and this was wonderful. Thank you! (And I’ll be coming back when I get to pantry reorganization on my to-do list 🙂 Thanks for the great ideas!)
I am glad to hear it turned out!
perfect!
Came across this on tastepsotting… I’m feeling isnpired to clean out my panty, closet but also to make this salad. Thanks!
I love reading your writing – I love the idea of lighter – we do this twice each year and it makes me feel so good. Good job Sylvia!
Sylvia-Your blog is just stunning! You inspire me by fresh ideas and writing that is from the heart. Happy New Year.Kirsten