Butternut Squash Salad

This butternut squash salad is bursting with flavor! Roasted squash combines with crisp apples, chewy cranberries, and crunchy pecans for a delightful textural contrast. A citrusy orange vinaigrette adds a bright and refreshing finish. Perfect as a fall or winter side dish!

Here’s a standout fall or winter salad starring everyone’s favorite ingredient: Butternut Squash Salad! This one is a flavor symphony in a bowl: hearty sweet squash pairs with crisp apple, chewy cranberries and a citrusy orange vinaigrette. The best flavors of fall and winter ingredients sing together in perfect harmony! We’ve served this one to guests and everyone remarks how tasty it is, especially the citrus zing of the dressing.

Tips for the orange vinaigrette

The star of the show in this butternut squash salad recipe is the orange honey vinaigrette! It makes a massive pop of citrusy flavor that brings all the ingredients together. Here’s what to know about this dressing:

• The big flavor comes from orange zest, not juice! When developing this recipe, we played around with using a combination of orange juice and zest. What we found? The juice wasn’t needed (and made the dressing too watery). All you need is a hefty tablespoon of orange zest, and the flavor pops!
• Use about half of the dressing for the salad, then refrigerate the remainder. A good rule of thumb is about 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons dressing per serving. But you can eyeball it! Just make sure there’s good coverage (no one likes naked greens!).

This butternut squash salad recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, omit the cheese. Use maple syrup in the dressing for vegan.

Ingredients

For the butternut squash salad

• 1 recipe Roasted Butternut Squash
• 8 cups mixed greens
• 1 red apple, diced
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup feta cheese or goat cheese crumbles (omit for vegan)
• 3 tablespoons chopped pecans

For the orange vinaigrette (makes ¾ cup; use approximately 6 tablespoons for 4 servings)

• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 2 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup for vegan)
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup olive oil

Instructions

1. Roast the squash: Make the Roasted Butternut Squash, following the instructions in that recipe. (We suggest making this portion in advance; store the roasted squash refrigerated until ready to use and bring to room temperature before serving.)
2. Make the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, orange zest, honey, and kosher salt. Gradually whisk in the olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time until a creamy dressing forms. (Store leftovers refrigerated and bring to room temperature before serving.)
3. Serve the salad: Add greens to a platter or individual salad plates, and top with the roasted squash, diced apple, cranberries, cheese crumbles, and chopped pecans. Drizzle with the desired amount of dressing (use approximately 6 tablespoons for 4 servings; store the remaining dressing refrigerated).