The Best Way to De-Stem Kale Will Blow Your Mind

As home cooks, we’re always on the hunt to make prepping ingredients easier, especially vegetables. The time it takes to prep some vegetables can sometimes keep us from choosing those vegetables, despite knowing how important it is to get a variety of veggies in our diets. So when we find a tip or trick that makes preparing vegetables and other foods easier, we share it. 

Need to peel tomatoes? Try freezing them first. Need to shred cooked chicken? Use your stand mixer. Shredding a lot of Parmesan cheese for a recipe? Leave your grater in the cabinet and pull out your blender. Tired of sticky ingredients getting stuck in your measuring spoon? Pull the cooking spray out of the cabinet. 

Prepping greens that need to be de-stemmed can be such a hassle that sometimes we resort to buying packaged greens that have already been de-stemmed. But prepped vegetables usually cost more and often come with a lot of plastic packaging we’d rather avoid. 

Kale is one of those greens. Ripping the leaves from the stems takes time, but a new trick floating around TikTok for de-stemming kale is a game changer.

The Easiest Way to De-Stem Kale

If you have a pair of locking tongs in your cooking utensil drawer, they can double as a kale de-stemmer. Locking tongs have a mechanism on the end that holds them closed, making them easier to store. That mechanism usually has a silicone circle on the end for easy grabbing. 

That little silicone circle is your kale-destemming best friend, according to Hungry Harvest on TikTok. Simply put the end of the stem in the circle and pull it through. The kale leaves will rip away from the stem quickly. 

Of course, you can rip the leaves off of kale with your hands or use a chef’s knife to slice the stems off. But since the locking tongs are a tool you probably already have in the kitchen, it’s helpful to know about this quick, easy method to de-stem kale, too.

Once you have it de-stemmed, the kale is ready to use in soups, smoothies, stir-fries, or as chips. We also have some tips to make massaging kale easier for when you want it tenderized to use in a salad.