Fall Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette
This fall salad is full of seasonal flavors! Mixed greens, crisp apples, smoky bacon, and blue cheese are all tossed in a sweet and savory maple apple cider vinaigrette. It’s the perfect fresh and colorful side dish for Thanksgiving, fall dinner parties, or any cozy autumn meal.
If you need more fall salad ideas, try this easy, crowd-pleasing autumn salad, this spinach salad with beets and feta, this festive fall fruit salad, this harvest salad with spinach, or this delicious autumn pasta salad.
Recipe Ingredients: Fall Harvest Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette
For the dressing:
For the salad:
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Apples: I like to go for the sweet and savory balance, so I use one sweet apple and one more tart apple such as Granny Smith.
Candied nuts: The sweet nuts are key and just make this salad so festive! Candied pecans and walnuts are my favorites, but any candied nuts are fine!
Blue cheese: I know blue cheese can be a very polarizing ingredient, so feel free to swap it with feta, leave it out, or just serve it on the side.
Expert Tips
- Dressing in a jar: Place all of the dressing ingredients in a medium mason jar (I even like to use a clean pasta sauce jar!) and shake until everything is combined.
- Make ahead: This salad can easily be made up to a day ahead. Dress the apples with lemon juice to keep them from browning.
- Storage: With the dressing on, this salad doesn’t last too long in the fridge. However, you can store leftovers without the dressing in an airtight container for about 2-3 days.
How to serve
Holiday table: This salad is a show stopper for your holiday spread. Serve it on a festive platter or in a rustic wooden bowl.
Baked chicken or pork dishes: This salad perfectly complements baked chicken dishes like this one or as a side for pork chops.
Add protein: You can easily add some grilled chicken breast to this salad and make it a healthy fall dinner or light lunch.
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Thank you! ~ Casey
Fall Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the apple cider vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 tsp. maple syrup
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp. coarse salt (sea salt, kosher salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
For the salad
- 6-8 cups mixed greens
- 1 small sweet red apple, thinly sliced
- 1 small Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
- 8 slices bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup candied walnuts or pecans
- 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds can substitute dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled can substitute feta cheese or omit
Instructions
- Cook the bacon: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon pieces and cook for 6-8 minutes until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Make the dressing: While the bacon is cooking, make the dressing. In a small bowl or medium-sized jar, add the dressing ingredients. Whisk or shake until combined.
- Assemble: To a large bowl, layer the mixed greens. Top the greens evenly with all other salad ingredients (apples, bacon, nuts, red onion, pomegranate seeds, and blue cheese). Drizzle with the dressing and toss well.
Notes
- Dressing in a jar: Place all of the dressing ingredients in a medium mason jar (I even like to use a clean pasta sauce jar!) and shake until everything is combined.
- Make ahead: This salad can easily be made up to a day ahead. Dress the apples with lemon juice to keep them from browning.
- Storage: With the dressing on, this salad doesn’t last too long in the fridge. However, you can store leftovers without the dressing in an airtight container for about 2-3 days.
This fall salad is a must on our Thanksgiving table! I hope you love it as much as we do! XO ~ Casey