Kale originated in the eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia, where it was cultivated for food beginning by 2000 BCE at the latest.^[5] Curly-leaved varieties of cabbage already existed along with flat-leaved varieties in Greece in the 4th century BC. These forms, which were referred to by the Romans as Sabellian kale, are considered to be the ancestors of modern kales.

The earliest record of cabbages in western Europe is of hard-heading cabbage in the 13th century.^[5] Records in 14th-century England distinguish between hard-heading cabbage and loose-leaf kale.^[5]