Quick, easy and low calorie pan-seared skillet potatoes and curly kale seasoned with tomato salsa and garlic salt is ready in 15 minutes. This cheap, filling, oil-free meal is tasty as a one-pot meal for weight loss, as a side dish or a filling for tacos or enchiladas.
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This simple, inexpensive vegan, WFPB meal is easy to whip up for lunch or dinner. It's a good option if you're looking to lose body fat, since potatoes and kale are both low in calories and filling.
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🎙 What people say about this recipe
"This recipe is so simple and satisfying, thank you! I'm on a very strict diet at the moment and I'm supposed to avoid oil which isn't easy. This recipe was so comforting, delicious and fast to make. I will definitely be making this again, possibly this week! 🙂"
- Holly
🧄 Ingredient notes
- Pre-steamed russet potatoes - Each week, I steam 5 pounds of potatoes in the Instant Pot pressure cooker to have on hand for easy meals like this. You could pre-cook your potatoes by boiling them or microwaving them instead. Using pre-steamed or pre-cooked potatoes for this recipe makes it come together super fast.
- Kale - curly green kale works great for this recipe. To save time, buy pre-washed, pre-chopped kale in a bag, if available.
- Tomato salsa - use mild, medium or hot Mexican tomato salsa for this recipe, depending on your spice tolerance.
- Garlic salt - Garlic salt, a salt blend that typically includes salt, garlic powder and parsley, adds extra flavor to the potatoes.
📋 Substitutions and variations
Here are some suitable substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe:
- Pre-steamed russet potatoes - instead of russets, use pre-cooked gold, fingerling, baby, red or white potatoes.
- Curly kale - use any type of kale (green, red, tuscan). Or, you can use another leafy green, such as: spinach, swiss chard, collard greens or mixed greens.
- Tomato salsa - instead of Mexican tomato salsa, you can use homemade salsa, green salsa, pepita salsa, roasted salsa or fire roasted canned tomatoes.
- Garlic salt - use seasoned salt, sea salt, kosher salt or another salt blend or salt-free blend instead of the garlic salt. You can also use plain salt with garlic powder or granulated garlic instead.
- SOS-free - make this SOS-free by omitting the garlic salt and using salt-free salsa
🔪 Instructions
Step-by-step instructions on how to make pan-seared oil-free skillet potatoes and kale with salsa and garlic salt.
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for 30-60 seconds, then add the pre-cooked cubed potatoes. Spread the potatoes over the surface of the skillet but do not stir for the first 2 minutes. This will help them start forming a crust.
Stir potatoes and spread them over the surface of the skillet. Let them cook for 2 more minutes. Sprinkle garlic salt over potatoes and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan with your spatula to help remove the starchy crust that is forming.
Once potatoes have heated through and are lightly brown (about 6-8 minutes), turn heat to low and add chopped kale. Stir and saute the kale for about 1 minute, until it's wilted.
Once kale is wilted, stir in tomato salsa, turn off heat and serve!
Serve with sliced avocado, freshly ground black pepper and fresh lime juice.
🧯 Food safety
- Wash hands with soap and water before cooking
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
🍳 Equipment
- Non-stick skillet - Potatoes have a lot of starch, so they tend to stick to cast-iron, stainless steel, metal or even ceramic pans without using a lot of oil. A truly non-stick pan will prevent this from happening. Use a truly non-stick pan to make this recipe. I use Henckels Granitium pans that I purchased from Costco.
🚦 Calorie density score
🟢 This recipe gets a green light on the calorie density chart. All of the ingredients are lower than 600 calories per pound, so eating meals like this regularly may help you lose body fat. Learn more about calorie density from Jeff Novick, MS, RDN.
Get your own printable calorie density chart for your refrigerator and free ebook explaining calorie density in simple terms.
🥡 Make ahead and storage tips
These sautéed potatoes and kale can be made ahead and then re-heated in a pan or in the microwave. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
❓ FAQ
Kale only takes a couple minutes at high heat to wilt and cook down. Add a little liquid (water, broth, soy sauce, etc.) to help the kale steam and become tender.
💜 More recipes you'll love
If you love this recipe, check out these plant-based potato recipes!
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📖 Recipe
Skillet Potatoes and Kale with Salsa (oil-free)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups russet potatoes pre-cooked and cubed, about 3 small-medium potatoes, 430g
- 4 cups kale chopped
- ½ cup tomato salsa
- ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
Instructions
- Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for 30-60 seconds, then add the pre-cooked cubed potatoes. Spread the potatoes over the surface of the skillet but do not stir for the first 2 minutes. This will help them start forming a crust.3 cups russet potatoes
- Stir potatoes and spread them over the surface of the skillet. Let them cook for 2 more minutes.
- Sprinkle garlic salt over potatoes and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan with your spatula to help remove the starchy crust that is forming.¼ teaspoon garlic salt
- Once potatoes have heated through and are lightly brown (about 6-8 minutes), turn heat to low and add chopped kale. Stir and saute the kale for about 1 minute, until it's wilted.4 cups kale
- Once kale is wilted, stir in tomato salsa, turn off heat and serve!½ cup tomato salsa
Holly says
This recipe is so simple and satisfying, thank you! I'm on a very strict diet at the moment and I'm supposed to avoid oil which isn't easy. This recipe was so comforting, delicious and fast to make. I will definitely be making this again, possibly this week! 🙂