Fall is the best season, no contest. (Obviously, I’m many.) We’re a few weeks into the season, and I’ve made a lot of soups, stocked up and restocked my Trader Joe’s fall favorites, and indulged in my favorite pumpkin pie. But even among all the delicious, comforting classics, I’m on the hunt for recipes that taste and feel like fall, but are healthy and nutritious, too. Enter: the internet’s best fall salad recipes. You are welcome.
19 Fall Salad Recipes That Take Sides to a Whole New Level
The best thing about fall salads is that they include delicious salad basics like Brussels sprouts and quinoa, as well as my personal favorites like sweet potatoes and apples. I’m sure if you put all the best fall ingredients in a bowl, it would be very delicious.
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 Apple, Goat Cheese, and Pecans
Perfect for a cozy night-in or a Thanksgiving feast, this salad relies on some of the best flavors of the season for a filling and delicious fall salad recipe.
Einkorn Salad with Charred Squash
Chef and entrepreneur, Camilla Marcus knows the deliciousness of einkorn well, and with her expertise came this delicious fall salad with bright and bold aromas from pine, fresh herbs, and kabocha squash.
Spicy Greens, Citrus, and Prosciutto Salad
This salad is the perfect combination of sweet, sour, and salty all in one bowl. For a salad that doesn’t rely too much on vegetables and brings a little excitement to your table, this is a must try.
Roasted Cauliflower Salad
Long time, summer salads, this cauliflower salad is the next big thing. Who doesn’t want a cute, yet healthy side to go with every fall entree?
Winter Kale Salad with Apple & Gruyere
Sometimes simplicity is key when you spend your kitchen time preparing other mains and desserts. Luckily, this kale salad is here if you need a breather.
Apple Walnut Salad
Adding apples to a salad is one of the easiest recipes in my heart. Add walnuts and dried cranberries and it’s game over.
Harvest Kale Salad
Packed with superfoods again a fall product, this salad is as good as it looks. (And it looks pretty good.) Squash, brie (yes, brie!), and pears also make it more filling than your average salad.
Sweet Potato and Caramelized Salad of the Day
This recipe has everything I want in a salad: something creamy, something crunchy, something unexpectedly sweet, and something spicy. Here, that means sweet potatoes, pistachios, dates, and lots of goat cheese.
Roasted Delicata Squash with Feta, Almonds, and Herbs
I will say it: delicata squash is the best squash. You don’t need to peel it (looking at you, it’s butternut), and the rings crisp up nicely in the oven—leaving the perfect creamy interior. With so much color and so much variety, this salad knows what it’s doing.
Buffalo Cauliflower Chopped Salad
This may be the fall salad recipe to end all salad recipes. It’s also one of the most unique recipes on this list, thanks to the light-but still bursting with flavor-buffalo sauce that makes roasted cauliflower so delicious.
Kale and Chopped Cranberry Salad
This salad makes all my fall dreams come true. The sweet and savory berries go well with the kale and greens mix, and the crispy tofu gives it a firm, satisfying, and delicious texture.
A Simple Easy Salad from Via Carota
A little nod to our favorite fall salad preparation is always welcome. This tossed green salad is just what we crave when we’ve overindulged in the creamy desserts, pasta, and casseroles that are ubiquitous this time of year.
Roasted Delicata Squash and Kale Salad
Sheela Prakash shared this recipe with us a few years ago, and it has been a fall favorite ever since. It’s healthy, colorful, and tastes amazing. This recipe has the perfect tangy dressing and is gluten free and vegan.
Sesame Salad
Everyone loves a classic green salad, and believe it or not, this recipe takes things up a notch. The green babies happily soak up every drop of ginger-spiked dressing, giving you a creamy, delicious, and spicy dish.
Southwestern Roasted Vegetable Salad with Crispy Quinoa
Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking shared with us this great fall and winter vegetable salad. 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 Beet, Feta, and Crispy Chickpeas
Combined with golden beets (which, if you’re not their bright-red cousin, are very soft and slightly sweet), this salad just lets the seasonal produce do its thing. In addition, it is very beautiful when everything is full.
Chaat Masala Citrus Salad
If this salad was limited to prep time and impressive work, it would be off the charts. This recipe highlights fresh oranges and adds 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 picture to the ingredient list, just screams fall. Not only does it include a delicious maple-mustard vinaigrette, but it also has tons of fall favorites: kale, apples, cranberries, almonds, goat cheese, and more.
Spicy Citrus Kale Winter Salad
If you’ve been off kale for a while like I did, this salad is your welcome gift. The key is to massage the vegetables long enough so that the leaves easily yield to the citrus-tahini dressing. Tossed with lots of citrus, this salad is beauty made to eat.