Kale
Peak season in the Midwest · down 43% this week
This vegetable is at its local-harvest peak from October through December, and is sold in stores year-round. This week it's peak season in the Midwest — buying it in season usually means better quality and, as the regional prices below show, a lower price.
Per a typical 67g serving, scaled from the per-100g figures in USDA FoodData Central (Kale, raw).
Buying kale in the Northeast saves about 20% versus the Southwest this week.
- How to pick a good one
- Firm, deeply coloured leaves with no yellowing or slimy patches, and moist-looking cut stems. Smaller leaves are more tender. Curly, lacinato, and red varieties are interchangeable in most recipes, so buy on price.
- What a good price looks like
- A bunch is $2 to $3.50, and bagged pre-cut kale runs about double per pound of usable leaf once you account for the stems you would have removed anyway. Under $2.50 a bunch is a good price. It is hardy and cheap through cold months when most greens are not.
- What you actually get
- A bunch is about 8 oz of leaf once stemmed, from perhaps 12 oz as sold — you lose a third to the ribs. That gives around 4 cups raw, which wilts to barely 1 cup. Kale collapses less than spinach but still dramatically, which is the number people get wrong when shopping for it.
- How to store it
- Refrigerate unwashed, wrapped loosely in a towel inside a bag, for up to a week. Washing before storage guarantees slime.
- In the kitchen
- Strip the leaf from the stem by pinching the stem and pulling upward — the rib is too tough to cook in the same time as the leaf. For raw kale, the massaging step is not a fad: a minute of scrunching the leaves with a little salt and oil breaks down the cell walls and turns it from leathery to tender. Cooked, it wants longer than spinach and takes acid well at the end.
- Getting the most out of it
- Strip the leaves off the tough central rib. For raw salads, massage the leaves with a little oil and salt for a minute — it genuinely changes the texture from leathery to tender. Kale holds up in soup far better than spinach and does not collapse to nothing.
- Creamy Potato Kale SoupRecipe by Pinch of Yum~$0.46 / serving 3 in-season
- Kale Caesar SaladRecipe by Well Plated~$0.79 / serving 3 in-season
- 7-Layer Beet SaladRecipe by Pinch of Yum~$0.80 / serving 4 in-season
- Vegan Cauliflower Gnocchi with Kale-Cashew PestoRecipe by The Modern Proper~$0.87 / serving 2 in-season
- Spaghetti with Chickpeas & KaleRecipe by Two Peas & Their Pod~$0.87 / serving 4 in-season
- Caesar Salad with ShrimpRecipe by Eating Bird Food$0.90 / serving 4 in-season
See all 506 recipes with kale →Filter by diet, time, budget, and macros.
Price from the USDA National Retail Report. Nutrition per typical serving, computed from USDA FoodData Central.
Kale — FAQ
When can you buy kale in season?
This vegetable is at its local-harvest peak from October through December, and is sold in stores year-round. This week the Midwest has kale marked peak season.
What's the price of kale right now?
As of the week of October 2, 2026, the price of kale in the Midwest is $1.99/lb, down 43% from last week. It's cheapest in the Northeast at $1.99/lb.
How many calories and how much protein are in kale?
A typical 67g serving of kale has about 23 calories, 1.9g protein, 2.9g carbohydrates, 1g fat, and 2.7g fiber, per USDA FoodData Central.
What can I make with kale?
SeasonSort indexes 506 recipes that use kale, each with its cost per serving computed from this week's prices — starting from about $0.21 a serving. The cheapest are listed on this page, with a link to the full filtered list.