This vibrant Fall Harvest Salad is loaded with Autumn flavors and ingredients: roasted butternut squash, apple, pear, crunchy pecans, pumpkin seeds, pomegranate, spinach, feta cheese, and homemade maple-lime vinaigrette dressing. Impress your family and friends by serving it as a side, lunch, or dinner on chilly Fall and Winter nights. Make this crowd-pleasing salad for the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) or bring it to picnics, potlucks, and parties.
Course Salad
Cuisine American, Mediterranean
Keyword fall harvest salad, fall salad
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 45 minutesminutes
Servings 6people
Calories 500kcal
Author Julia
Ingredients
Roasted butternut squash
1lbbutternut squashpeeled, seeded, and cubed into 1-inch cubes
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
Toss cubed butternut squash (peeled and seeded) and 1 tablespoon of olive oil together on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper.
Arrange butternut squash in a single layer (without overcrowding) on the baking sheet. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until softened.
Proceed with the rest of the recipe while the butternut squash is in the oven.
Make salad dressing
Combine all salad dressing ingredients in a mason jar. Whisk well with a fork, until emulsified. Add more lime juice to taste.
Assembly - Option 1
I prefer to arrange the salad in individual bowls for presentation purposes.
Add spinach to each individual salad bowl. Top with the remaining salad ingredients, including roasted butternut squash.
Drizzle with the salad dressing.
Assembly - Option 2
Alternatively, you can combine all the salad ingredients in a large serving bowl, add the dressing, and toss to combine.
Assembly - Option 3
Alternatively, arrange the salad as shown in the photo directly below this recipe card (layering each ingredient separately on top of the bed of baby spinach) ⬇️ in a large salad serving platter. Use tongs to combine everything together when serving. Serve salad dressing on the side.
Notes
Steps that can be done up to 3 days in advance - keep these ingredients in separate, airtight containers in the fridge:
Roast butternut squash.
Toast pecans and pumpkin seeds in the preheated oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes. This is especially recommended for raw nuts and seeds. But even if you bought already roasted or flavored nuts, freshen them up by toasting them for about 5 or 10 minutes.
Cook bacon in the preheated oven at 350 F for about 20 minutes. Drain all fat with paper towels. Chop it up.