Fall is the best season, no contest. (Clearly, I’m in the majority.) We’re several weeks into the season, and I’ve made soups aplenty, stocked and restocked my Trader Joe’s fall favorites, and indulged in my favorite pumpkin cake. But to even things out amidst all the sweet, cozy classics, I’m on the hunt for recipes that taste and feel like fall, but are healthy and nourishing, too. Enter: the internet’s best fall salad recipes. You’re welcome.
19 Fall Salad Recipes That Take Sides to a Whole New Level
The best thing about fall salads is that they feature delicious salad bases like Brussels sprouts and quinoa, along with my favorite toppings like sweet potato and apples. I’m convinced that if you put all the best fall ingredients in a bowl, it would taste pretty good.
Read on for the best fall salad recipes that will bring the season into your kitchen. (And help you change things up once the pumpkin-induced coma subsides.)
Squash & Farro Salad With Apples, Goat Cheese, & Pecans
Made for cozy nights in—or the Thanksgiving feast, this salad leans on some of the season’s best flavors to curate a filling and delicious fall salad recipe.
Einkorn Salad With Charred Squash
Chef and entrepreneur, Camilla Marcus knows einkorn’s deliciousness well, and with her expertise came this exquisite fall salad with bright and bold flavors from pine nuts, fresh herbs, and kabocha squash.
Bitter Greens, Citrus, and Prosciutto Salad
This salad is the perfect blend of sweet, sour, and salty all in one bowl. For a salad that doesn’t lean too heavily on the greens and brings a bit of excitement to your table, this is a must-try.
Roasted Cauliflower Salad
So long, summer salads, this cauliflower salad is the next big thing. Who doesn’t crave a hearty, yet healthy side to accompany all of the fall entrées?
Winter Kale Salad with Apple & Gruyere
Sometimes simplicity is key when you’re spending your kitchen time whipping up other elaborate mains and desserts. Luckily, this kale salad is here for when you need a breather.
Apple Walnut Salad
Putting apples in a salad is one of the easiest ways to my heart. Throw in some walnuts and dried cranberries and it’s game over.
Harvest Kale Salad
Packed with superfoods and fall produce, this salad is as good as it looks. (And it looks pretty dang good.) The squash, brie (yes, brie!), and pears also make it more filling than your typical salad.
Sweet Potato and Caramelized Date Salad
This recipe has everything I crave in a salad: something creamy, something crunchy, something unexpectedly sweet, and something tangy. Here, that means sweet potatoes, pistachios, dates, and plenty of goat cheese.
Roasted Delicata Squash With Feta, Almonds, and Herbs
I’ll say it: delicata squash is the best squash. You don’t have to peel it (looking at you, butternut), and the rings crisp up perfectly in the oven—leaving the perfect creamy interior. With plenty of color and a variety of textures, this salad knows what it’s doing.
Buffalo Cauliflower Chopped Salad
This might be the fall salad recipe to end all fall salad recipes. It’s also one of the most unique recipes on this list, thanks to the lighter—but still bursting with flavor—buffalo sauce that makes the roasted cauliflower all the more delish.
Shredded Kale & Cranberry Salad
This salad makes all my fresh fall dreams come true. The sweet and tangy berry pairs so well with the kale and herb blend, and the crispy tofu gives it a crunchy, satisfying, and delicious texture.
Simple Green Salad from Via Carota
A little nod to simplicity in our favorite fall salad recipes is always welcome. This pared-down green salad is just what we crave when we’ve overdone it on the creamy desserts, pasta, and casseroles that are everywhere this time of year.
Roasted Delicata Squash & Kale Salad
Sheela Prakash shared this recipe with us a few years ago, and it’s been a fall favorite ever since. It’s wholesome, colorful, and incredibly flavorful. This recipe has the perfect tangy dressing and is gluten-free and vegan.
Sesame Salad
Everyone loves a classic green salad, and if you can believe it, this recipe takes things up a notch. The baby greens happily soak up every drop of the ginger-spiked dressing, giving you a bowl of creamy, crunchy, and nutty goodness.
Southwestern Roasted Vegetable Salad With Crispy Quinoa
Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking shared this beautiful veggie salad with us that’s full of fall and winter’s best. The red pepper flakes add the perfect amount of spice, the quinoa brings just the right amount of crunch, and the pinto beans give the salad some protein.
Grapefruit and Avocado Salad with Golden Beets, Feta, & Crispy Chickpeas
Combined with golden beets (which, if you’re not a fan of their pinky-red cousins, are far milder and a little sweeter), this salad simply lets the seasonal produce do its thing. Plus, it’s so pretty when it’s all plated up.
Chaat Masala Citrus Salad
If this salad were rated on a function of prep time and impressiveness, it would be off the charts. This recipe spotlights the fresh citrus and supplements the flavor with radishes, mint, and as much chaat masala as your taste buds can handle.
Kale and Wild Rice Salad with Maple-Mustard Vinaigrette
Everything about this recipe, from the image to the ingredient list, just screams fall. Not only does it feature a tasty maple-mustard vinaigrette, but it also has tons of fall favorites: kale, apples, cranberries, almonds, goat cheese, and more.
Spicy Winter Kale Citrus Salad
If you’ve long been turned off of kale as I have, this salad is your welcome-back gift. The key is to massage the greens long enough that the leaves easily give to the citrus-tahini dressing. Tossed together with an array of citrus, this salad is beauty made edible.
