This Fall Harvest Salad Recipe is crunchy, sweet, salty, and hearty. It’s loaded with apples, feta cheese, and candied pecans and tossed in a homemade honey mustard vinaigrette for the perfect Thanksgiving or holiday salad.
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Fall Harvest Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
You will want to make some room on your Thanksgiving menu for this Fall Harvest Salad - it is always a major hit. It’s got crunchy apples, sweet candied pecans, and salty feta cheese, all coated in a light and tasty honey mustard vinaigrette.
It’s also easy to adapt, swapping in kale for the spring mix, pepitas for the pecans or using apple cider vinaigrette instead of honey mustard. For some more recipe variations ideas, see our suggestions below. No matter what you do, just be sure and make plenty.
And if you are looking for more homemade salad dressing options, we've got you covered.
Ingredients in Fall Harvest Salad
- Salad Greens - we suggest using a Spring Mix, but you can use any combination of lettuces, spinach, arugula or other salad green mixes that you like. This would also taste great if you substituted kale.
- Feta Cheese - buy crumbled feta, or crumble it yourself from a block. You could also use goat cheese instead.
- Candied Pecans - it’s easy to make your own candied pecans. If you have a nut allergy, use toasted or candied pumpkin seeds instead.
- Apples - we suggest a crisp, tart apple such as Granny Smith or Honey Crisp. If you want to prevent them from browning, toss in a small amount of lemon juice just after cutting.
- Honey - use your favorite type of honey or even substitute maple syrup.
- Mustard - dijon mustard tastes best in this recipe.
- Olive Oil - since this will be eaten raw and not for cooking, we suggest using a higher quality olive oil.
- Lemon Juice - fresh lemon juice tastes best.
- Salt and Pepper
How to Make Fall Harvest Salad
- Add salad ingredients to bowl. In a large bowl, add the Spring Mix salad greens, feta cheese, chopped candied pecans and sliced apples. Gently toss.
- Make the honey mustard vinaigrette. In a blender, combine the honey, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Turn on to medium speed then slowly add in the olive oil, giving it time to emulsify.
- Toss and serve. Transfer the dressing to a pourable container and drizzle over the salad. Toss, then serve. Enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Add bacon, prosciutto or sliced chicken.
- Use a different dressing, such as apple cider vinaigrette.
- Add diced roasted butternut squash.
- Sprinkle in pomegranate seeds for extra crunch and color.
- Switch up the salad greens and use baby arugula, spinach or any mixture that you like.
- Use toasted or candied pumpkin seeds instead of candied pecans for nut allergies.
- Add other mix-ins such as dried cranberries, chopped figs, toasted pepitas or peanuts.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can make parts of this salad ahead of time. The vinaigrette can be made up to 4 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Just before using, shake it well to re-emulsify, then drizzle over the salad.
You can also make the candied pecans 3 weeks in advance, as long as they are stored properly in the fridge.
Yes! This salad tastes great with either regular or baby kale. You’ll want to be sure and massage the kale first. Just remove any tough stems and add the kale to a large bowl, along with a few pinches of salt, a bit of olive oil and lemon juice. Massage forcefully with your hands until it turns darker green and is much more tender.
If you don’t have a blender, never fear! Add everything but the olive oil to a large bowl, whisk together, then slowly stream in the olive oil while whisking until it emulsifies.
Fall Harvest Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound Spring Mix Salad Greens
- ⅓ cup Feta Cheese crumbled
- ½ cup Candied Pecans chopped
- 2 large Honey Crisp or Granny Smith Apples sliced thinly
Honey Mustard Dressing
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- 1 pinch Pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the Spring Mix salad greens, feta cheese, chopped candied pecans and sliced apples. Gently toss.
- In a blender, combine the honey, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Turn on to medium speed then slowly add in the olive oil, giving it time to emulsify.
- Transfer the dressing to a pourable container and drizzle over the salad. Toss, then serve. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Here are more of our favorite salad recipes:
- Winter Fruit Salad
- Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad
- Berry Salad with Citrus Glaze
- Broccoli Salad with Bacon
- Grilled Chicken BLT Salad
- Warm German Potato Salad with Bacon
- Best Chicken Salad Recipe
- More Salad Recipes
- More Winter Recipes
- Best Holiday Recipes
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This Fall Harvest Salad is made with crunchy apples, sweet candied pecans and salty feta cheese all coated in honey mustard vinaigrette. It's the perfect salad to serve at Thanksgiving or any other fall feast.
Marsha
This salad was a big hit with my family! I loved the dressing, so delicious.
Allison
This was a great light meal after a weekend of indulging. Thanks for sharing!