Harvest Apple Salad

This harvest apple salad is loaded with so many delicious ingredients, like crisp apples, baby greens, feta, bacon, pecans, and more.

Tossed with a honeyed apple cider vinaigrette, the combination is one of the tastiest salads ever! You’ve got crunch. You’ve got the tastiest vinaigrette. You’ve got the perfect fall salad!

The beauty of this salad is that the ingredients are easily customizable! Swap the salad ingredients in and out depending on your taste preferences. I’ve included lots of tips for where to source ingredients and make-ahead options below! ⬇️

I’m always looking for extra-yummy salads that are showstoppers for entertaining…but also simple and delicious enough to serve just for my little family. This harvest apple salad definitely fits the bill for all of the above!

Harvest Apple Salad Ingredients

• Baby Greens: Like baby spring greens, baby arugula, baby kale, baby spinach, or a combination!
• Chopped Apples: Use a crispy, sweet, tangy variety, like Honey Crisp or Cosmic Crisp.
• Sweet Spicy Candied Pecans: Store bought or homemade candied pecans work great in this salad. If you can’t find (or don’t have time for) candied pecans, toasted pecans or another type of nut can work. See the note in the recipe for my go-to homemade recipe and how I adapt it for this salad.
• Dried Cranberries: Craisins or dried cherries work great. If in season, pomegranate arils will make a great substitution.
• Pumpkin Seeds: Look for these in the snack/nut aisle of the grocery store. If you can’t find them, shelled, lightly salted sunflower seeds are a good substitution.
• Bacon: Cook and crumble about 6 strips of bacon for this salad (obviously, no one will fire you if you use more than that). 😉
• Feta: If you are looking to take this salad (and feta) up a notch, buy a block of feta cheese (pretty widely available; usually by the specialty cheeses) and crumble it yourself – it is so much creamier than already crumbled feta. 
• Red Onions: Thinly sliced!

Swap ingredients in and out and tailor them to your taste preferences. Also, feel free to add more or less of any ingredient!

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

The dressing for this salad is tangy, lightly sweet, and so yummy. Keep this recipe in your back pocket, because It makes a great dressing for other salads besides just this one!

In a blender, combine olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, garlic, and salt and pepper and process until smooth.

That’s it! So easy, and so yummy.

Make-Ahead Tips

This salad requires a bit of chopping and prep, however, many components of this salad can be prepped ahead of time so the assembly and serving is quick and easy.

1. Vinaigrette: Make this up to a week ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. Give it a good stir to recombine, if needed, before serving.
2. Red Onions: Thinly slice the red onions up to a day in advance. Additionally, to take the pungent bite out of the onions, store or soak them in ice water for several hours before serving. Drain and pat dry.
3. Candied Pecans: If making these yourself, they can be made several days in advance and stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
4. Bacon: The bacon can be cooked, crumbled, drained on paper towels, and then stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. Take the bacon out to come to room temperature before serving in the salad.

Make it a Main Dish

This loaded salad is full of crunch (so much crunch!). The texture and flavors are incredible. While it makes a wonderful side dish, it can easily transition to main dish territory, by serving it with cooked, chopped chicken.

Here are a few favorite chicken recipes/ideas that would pair deliciously with this harvest apple salad:

• Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken
• Grilled Island Chicken
• Grilled Rosemary Ranch Chicken
• Store bought rotisserie chicken

I can’t wait for you to try this salad! It is an epic combination of ingredients so tasty on their own, you know the tossed salad is going to be a slam dunk hit. It is as delicious as it is beautiful (and as we both know, that doesn’t always happen with pretty food!).

Harvest Apple Salad

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 40 minutes mins

5 stars (6 ratings)

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Ingredients

Apple Cider Vinaigrette:

• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• ¼ teaspoon coarse, kosher salt (use half for table salt)
• Pinch black pepper

Salad:

• 6 cups baby spring greens, baby arugula, baby kale or a combination
• 1 cup chopped honeycrisp or cosmic crisp apples (about 1 medium apple)
• ¾ cup sweet spicy candied pecans (see note for the recipe I use and store bought options)
• ½ cup dried cranberries (i.e. craisins)
• ½ cup lightly salted, roasted pumpkin seeds (see note)
• ½ cup cooked and crumbled bacon (about 6 strips)
• ½ cup crumbled feta cheese (see note)
• ¼ cup thinly sliced red onions

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Instructions 

• For the vinaigrette, combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve. The vinaigrette can be made several days ahead of time.
• For the salad, combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss lightly.
• Give the dressing a stir to recombine, if needed. Serve the dressing on the side or toss the salad with the dressing and serve.

Notes

Candied Pecans: my favorite, easy recipe for homemade candied pecans is this one. When making them for this salad, I usually halve the recipe, use chopped pecans instead of whole, reduce the cinnamon to 3/4 teaspoon, and add 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more, to taste). For store bought, look in the snacks/nuts aisle of the grocery store. (Trader Joe’s has sweet and spicy whole candied pecans that can easily be chopped for this salad.) If you can’t find/don’t have time for candied pecans, toasted pecans or another type of favorite nut can work. 

Pumpkin Seeds: I’ve seen these in multiple grocery stores in the snacks/nuts aisle. If you can’t find them, shelled, lightly salted sunflower seeds are a good substitution.

Feta Cheese: if you are looking to take this salad (and feta) up a notch, buy a block of feta cheese (pretty widely available; usually by the specialty cheeses) and crumble it yourself – it is so much creamier than already crumbled feta. 

Apple: the chopped apples can be tossed in 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice to keep from turning brown, if desired.

 

Author: Mel Gunnell

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Method: No-Bake

Serving: 1 serving (1 1/4 cups salad), Calories: 251kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 13mg, Sodium: 172mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 10g

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