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This healthy fall harvest salad is the ultimate seasonal recipe! It’s packed with roasted sweet potatoes, crisp apples, crunchy pumpkin seeds, tart cranberries, creamy goat cheese or feta, and juicy chicken breast for protein. Tossed with a light apple cider vinaigrette, this salad is fresh, flavorful, and filling! It’s perfect for cozy fall lunches or weeknight dinners.
Whether you enjoy it as a main dish or a colorful side, this salad celebrates everything we love about fall produce. Plus, it’s easy to customize with roasted beets, lentils, chickpeas, or even butternut squash.
If you love this recipe, you’ve got to try our kale pomegranate salad and pear walnut blue cheese salad next! They’re both seasonal favorites that are just as fresh, colorful, and delicious.
Why You Will Love This Fall Harvest Salad Recipe
- Seasonal & Fresh: It’s made with fall favorites like sweet potatoes, apples, and pumpkin seeds.
- Healthy Option: This salad is packed with fiber, protein, and healthy fats.
- Quick & Easy: It’s perfect for meal prep or a weeknight dinner.
- Customizable: This fall harvest salad is easily customizable! Add your favorite grains, veggies, or proteins.
Ingredients Needed
- Kale: Fresh chopped kale is the base of this harvest fall salad. Make sure to remove the stems.
- Sweet Potatoes: Roasted sweet potatoes add sweetness, warmth, and cozy fall flavor.
- Chicken: Cubed fully cooked chicken breast adds protein to this salad.
- Apple: Diced Granny Smith apple adds a crisp, tart flavor that perfectly complements the other ingredients.
- Pumpkin Seeds: Add crunch, texture, and flavor to the salad.
- Dried Cranberries: Roughly chopped dried cranberries add a burst of sweet and tart flavor. For a lighter option, use reduced-sugar dried cranberries to cut back on sugar without losing flavor.
- Cheese: Add crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese, whichever you prefer.
- Vinaigrette: Our homemade vinaigrette ties everything together with a blend of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, mustard, salt, and pepper.
Find the full measurements in the recipe card below.
Make This Salad Your Own
Ella loves adding creamy avocado to this salad, while I can’t resist adding roasted beets with hearty lentils or chickpeas. What makes this salad so great is that you can make it your own! Here are some great substitutions and variations to try!
- Beets: Add 1/2 cup of diced roasted beets for an earthy sweetness.
- Avocado: Add one medium diced avocado for flavor and creaminess.
- Chicken Options: To keep this recipe super simple, use fully cooked, shredded rotisserie chicken or cubed cooked chicken breast. Or, try our slow cooker shredded chicken recipe for another easy option!
- Vegetarian Option: To make this salad vegetarian, omit the chicken and replace it with rinsed and drained chickpeas, cooked lentils, or cooked quinoa.
- Sweet Potatoes: Make our oven-roasted sweet potatoes for this recipe. Or, substitute them with air fryer butternut squash cubes!
- The Best Apples to Use: We like making this salad with a Granny Smith apple. The tart flavor balances the sweetness of the salad. However, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Gala, or Fuji apples work well if preferred.
- Cheese to Use: Use crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese for a creamy, mild flavor. For a bolder, tangier option, try crumbled blue cheese instead.
- Kale Swap: We used chopped kale as the base of this salad, but feel free to swap in baby spinach or mixed greens, if preferred.
- Nuts: Replace the pumpkin seeds with chopped walnuts or pecans.
How To Make Fall Harvest Salad
Step 1: Roast the sweet potatoes.
Step 2: In a small bowl or jar, whisk together apple cider vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon, salt, and pepper.
Step 3: In a large bowl, layer your greens, roasted sweet potatoes, cubed fully cooked chicken, diced apples, pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped dried cranberries, and crumbled goat cheese.
Step 4: Drizzle with the vinaigrette, toss gently, and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
Serve this fall harvest salad as a main dish for lunch or dinner. It’s hearty, flavorful, and satisfying on its own. For a cozy fall meal, pair it with a warm bowl of soup, such as our butternut squash apple soup, copycat Panera autumn squash soup, carrot ginger soup, or roasted tomato soup.
Shawna’s Expert Tips
- Meal Prep Tip: Store the salad ingredients in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. For the freshest flavor and texture, keep the vinaigrette in a separate jar and add it just before serving.
- Massage the Kale: If you’re using kale, take a minute to massage it with a spray of olive oil and a pinch of salt. It softens the leaves and makes them so much more enjoyable. Make sure to remove the stems.
- Roast Ahead: Roast the sweet potatoes in advance and store them in the refrigerator. This makes it easy to toss the salad together quickly on busy days!
- Chop the Cranberries: I love to roughly chop the dried cranberries before adding them to the salad. It gives you maximum flavor in every bite while using less, which means fewer calories without missing out on that sweet and tart flavor.
- Add the Vinaigrette Before Serving: To keep the greens crisp and fresh, toss with the vinaigrette just before serving.
More Healthy Salad Recipes to Try!
- Healthy Caesar Salad With Chicken
- Kale Pomegranate Salad
- Pear Walnut Blue Cheese Salad
- BBQ Chicken Salad
- Italian Chopped Salad
If you try this recipe, please be sure to leave us a comment and star rating, ★★★★★, letting us know how it turns out for you.
FALL HARVEST SALAD
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 4-5 cups chopped kale, baby spinach, or mixed greens
- 1 cup cubed roasted sweet potatoes
- 1 cup fully cooked chicken breast, cubed
- 1 medium Granny Smith apple, diced
- 3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
- 3 tablespoons dried cranberries, roughly chopped
- 3-4 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese or light feta cheese
For the Vinaigrette:
- 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup or sugar-free maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Toss the peeled and cubed sweet potatoes with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 400°F for 35-40 minutes, or until golden and tender. Or, try our roasted sweet potatoes recipe!
- In a small bowl or jar, whisk together apple cider vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
- In a large bowl, layer your greens, roasted sweet potatoes, cubed fully cooked chicken, diced apples, pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped dried cranberries, and crumbled goat cheese.
- Drizzle with the vinaigrette, toss gently, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes: Make our oven-roasted sweet potatoes for this recipe. Or, substitute them with air fryer butternut squash cubes!
- The Best Apples to Use: We like making this salad with a Granny Smith apple. The tart flavor balances the sweetness of the salad. However, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Gala, or Fuji apples work well if preferred.
- Kale Swap: We used chopped kale as the base of this salad, but feel free to swap in baby spinach or mixed greens, if preferred.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
You’re going to love this fall harvest salad. It’s got sweet potatoes, apples, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, creamy cheese, and chicken. So cozy, fresh, and perfect for any meal!