Even Fall Leaves Aren't As Crisp As These 34 Autumnal Salad Recipes
Anything summer can do, fall can do better.
As soon as the weather turns cool and crisp, fall desserts, soups, and warm casseroles basically take over our meal planning. While we’re all about these hearty comfort foods, a little balance is always a good thing. Enter: salads chock-full of all the great produce fall has to offer. Summer was all about pasta and potato salads, and fall is an opportunity to get back to salad basics. Check out our 34 fall salad recipes for ideas—trust us, they’ll have you enjoying eating your greens this autumn.
There are a few ways to give salad a fall makeover. Salads are all about the vegetables, so the main change is to fill them with all the bounty autumn has to offer. We’re still utilizing summery greens, like arugula and spinach (available year-round thanks to greenhouses), but are also introducing heartier kale and Brussels sprouts to the mix. Try our Lolita’s kale salad or our shredded Brussels sprouts for relatively simple options, or our crunch salad or our Parmesan Brussels sprouts salad for recipes with a little more going on. Once you’ve got your base green sorted, try adding a variety of raw and roasted veggies to your salads. We like keeping fruit like apples and pears raw and roasting veggies like sweet potatoes, cauliflower, or delicata squash for our salads, but play around with the textures and flavors you like. The final key to making the best fall salad ever is to add some grains to your greens. You can add anything from rice, like in our tomato fried rice salad; to quinoa, like in our cranberry apple quinoa salad; to nutty whole-grain farro, like in our arugula farro salad. You can then serve these salads warm or cold (making them perfect for fall weather that can’t quite make up its mind).
You know what goes great with salad? Soup! Check out our favorite fall soups for pairing ideas.
Spinach Salad
This simple spinach salad is the perfect accompaniment to pretty much anything. We're all about its sharp mustard dressing paired with the creamy feta and toasted almonds here, but you can swap in your favorite cheese and nuts if you like!
Get the Spinach Salad recipe.
Fennel Salad With Apples & Radishes
When you're looking for a side dish that tastes extremely fresh even in the depth of winter, look no further than fennel salad. It’s crunchy, slightly sweet, and perfectly light and refreshing, especially if you serve it alongside heavier cold weather comfort foods.
Sweet Potato Salad
This sweet potato salad is the perfect way to lighten up any fall dinner or even your Thanksgiving spread. It's packed with all the things we like to pair with sweet potato—feta, dried cranberries, and red onions pair really nicely with the earthy sweetness of the orange super food. We can't get enough!
Get the Sweet Potato Salad recipe.
Brussels Sprouts Salad
Making this salad might seem intimidating, but it doesn't actually require much prep. Tossed with a combo of toasted almonds, shaved Parmesan, and pomegranate seeds, Brussels make a great side for any fall get-together.
Pear Salad
This simple yet satisfying cold weather salad packs a flavorful punch with slightly smoky seared pears, creamy blue cheese, and ultra-crunchy candied pumpkin seeds. Tied together by a sweet-sour honey vinaigrette, it’s the perfect holiday side (or add some protein to make it a main!).
Get the Pear Salad recipe.
Harvest Caesar Salad
If you thought kale Caesar was over, you’ve clearly never topped it with crispy frico squash croutons. Featuring butternut squash and crispy baked Parmesan frico, this autumn spin on the classic Caesar salad will have you wishing it was fall all year round.
Get the Harvest Caesar Salad recipe.
Copycat Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl
Attention, Sweetgreen lovers! Your regular weekday lunch is about to get an instant upgrade. Loaded with roast chicken, sweet potato, and that signature balsamic vinaigrette, our copycat version of Sweetgreen’s beloved harvest bowl will make your favorite takeout lunch an everyday reality.
Get the Copycat Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl recipe.
Crunch Salad
We created this kale salad as an homage to crunch. Every ingredient has been chosen to amplify texture while also adding bold flavors. We included green apple, roasted peanuts, and cabbage, but go ahead and add any ingredient with crunch that you like!
Get the Crunch Salad recipe.
Steak Frites Salad
We can’t think of a better way to indulge and also feel good about eating French fries than this summery play on French steak frites. A common dish at bistros in France, Belgium, and beyond, we took the concept and combined it with American steakhouse vibes for this all-in-one salad.
Get the Steak Frites Salad recipe.
Cranberry Apple Quinoa Salad
We don’t believe in boring salads at Delish, and crunchy apples and tart cranberries bring a lot of life to this one. The slightly sweet and lemony dressing is easy to make, so do yourself a favor and make extra to pour over everything.
Get the Cranberry Apple Quinoa Salad recipe.
CPK Italian Chopped Salad
California Pizza Kitchen may be famous for BBQ Chicken Pizza, but the Italian Chopped Salad is the unsung hero on their menu. An exuberant jumble of lettuce, chickpeas, turkey, salami, tomatoes, and cheese, all tossed in a Italian mustard-herb vinaigrette, this is one salad that might actually tempt us to put down the pizza in favor of the greens.
Get the CPK Italian Chopped Salad recipe.
Turkey Salad
Making turkey salad is just as quick and easy as making chicken salad or egg salad. And just like all those other salads, you can always add your favorite mix-ins to make this fit your taste. P.S.: You can use turkey breast instead of leftover turkey in this recipe!
Get the Turkey Salad recipe.
Lolita's Kale Salad
At Lolita’s, one of Poughkeepsie, New York’s best restaurants, the ultra-creamy kale salad is bound with what is essentially a Caesar dressing amplified by extra lemon juice, then grounded and offset by toasted bread crumbs, pistachios, and Pecorino.
Get the Lolita's Kale Salad recipe.
Taco Salad
Few dinner salads are more hearty and versatile than classic taco salad. Loaded with meat, veggies, and a fair amount of cheese, it’s got all the right things to make for an extra-satisfying weeknight dinner. We went for a classic version in this recipe, but the best thing about taco salad is how customizable it is. Prepare all your favorite salad toppings and ingredients, then assemble throughout the week for the easiest make-ahead lunch or last-minute dinner.
Get the Taco Salad recipe.
Shredded Brussels Sprouts
We love classic sautéed Brussels sprouts, but sometimes we crave something with a bit more kick. These slightly spicy salty-sweet sprouts make for a unique and easy fall salad that can be served warm or cold.
Get the Shredded Brussels Sprouts recipe.
Roasted Cauliflower Salad
The roasted cauliflower here is perfectly spiced with just a little bit of heat, and the creamy avocado dressing helps balance everything out. This salad good enough to be a main dish but is easy enough to make a great, simple side too.
Get the Roasted Cauliflower Salad recipe.
Roasted Beet Goat Cheese Salad
Beet lovers rejoice! Creamy goat cheese (sub feta if you prefer it), roasted beets, avocado, and arugula make this the ideal fall salad. The secret is that instead of buying precooked beets, you simply wrap them in foil and bake them like a baked potato.
Farro Salad
With pecans, Parm, green apples, and leafy arugula, this salad really feels like a full meal—AKA a make-ahead dream. It's got ALL the elements you need: sweet, salty, soft, crunchy, fatty, fresh, but feel free to make it your own with your preferred mix-ins too.
Get the Farro Salad recipe.
Italian Antipasto Brussels Sprouts Salad
Selfishly, we want to enjoy the flavors of antipasto in as many ways as possible, so we made a showstopping salad inspired by an antipasto platter that is fit for a special occasion. Shredded Brussels sprouts are a great hearty option as the greens in this salad. The mini cabbage-like veggie pairs well with the antipasto mix-ins, and they offer a crisp and crunchy texture.
Get the Italian Antipasto Brussels Sprouts Salad recipe.
Niçoise Salad
According to food historians, the first Niçoise salad (from Nice, on France’s southeastern coast) contained only tomatoes, olive oil, and anchovies. Over the years, ingredients have been added and subtracted, so feel free to do the same and go with your favorites!
Get the Niçoise Salad recipe.
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