Fall salads are my fave so I had to make a rendition that would shut down all others. My harvest salad is next level boos. I take all that beautiful Autumn produce like crisp apples and pears and add in smoky bacon, fresh greens, and feta and drizzle on a homemade apple cider dressing. It’s hearty and filling enough to serve on its own or as a side with a bowl of sweet potato soup.
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How to Make the Perfect Harvest Fall Salad
Step 1: For the Vinaigrette, whisk in remaining ingredients until it is smooth and well mixed. Add apple cider, apple cider vinegar and shallots to a small pan over high heat. Bring the liquids to a boil and cook for about 7 or 8 minutes or until it has reduced to about ½ cup then remove from heat. Allow cider liquid to cool slightly then add to a bowl.
Step 2: Combine all salad ingredients into a large bowl and toss together. Pour over salad and toss together and serve.
Harvest Fall Salad Recipe
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Ingredients
For the Salad
- 7 oz mixed green salad rinsed
- 1 pear thinly sliced
- 1 apple thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 4 cooked bacon slices chopped
- 1/3 cup feta cheese
For the Dressing
- 1 cup apple cider
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp minced shallots
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Salad
- Combine all salad ingredients into a large bowl and toss together.
For the Vinaigrette
- Add apple cider, apple cider vinegar and shallots to a small pan over high heat.
- Bring the liquids to a boil and cook for about 7 or 8 minutes or until it has reduced to about ½ cup then remove from heat.
- Allow cider liquid to cool slightly then add to a bowl.
- Whisk in remaining ingredients until it is completely smooth and well mixed.
- Pour over salad and toss together and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Make the salad your own! Change up the ingredients and use other fall produce such as figs, baked sweet potato or butternut squash, and add on some crunchy toppings such as pecans, pumpkin seeds, or walnuts. You can even swap the feta cheese for blue cheese!
- Crisp and tart apples such as Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples work best for making this salad!
- If making ahead of time, toss the apples and pears in some lemon juice to keep them from browning or wait until the last minute to chop them up.
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Recipe Help
This fall salad recipe is pretty jazzy already, but you can add some extra ingredients for crunch on top. I really like candied pecans or walnuts! Or even some cornbread croutons.
Grilled chicken, roasted chickpeas, salmon, white beans, grilled shrimp and shredded chicken would all work great to add on top of this fall salad recipe to make it heartier.
More Amazing Salads to Try
If you love it, you will also love this Peach Salad, Cornbread Salad, Jerk Shrimp Cobb Salad, Creole Shrimp Egg Salad, Shrimp Caesar Salad or this Cucumber and Onion Salad.
Best Fall Recipes
- Chicken Chili With Black Eyed Peas
- Carrot Ginger Soup
- Brown Sugar Mississippi Pot Roast
- Potato Soup With Crunchy Kale
*Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating and leave comments below!* Post a photo of how your version of the recipe came out on Instagram (using #grandbabycakes)!!
This recipe was originally published in September 2020. It has been republished in October 2022 with updated content.
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Love this recipe! We subbed goat cheese for feta but did everything else the same. It was a perfect fall side dish. QUESTION: has anyone made the dressing ahead of time and stored it? (e.g., in the fridge for a couple days?)
Delicious salad! I planned on serving at a family pot luck but misread the recipe and didn’t buy the apple cider – left it out of the dressing and it was still delicious!
I broke a cardinal rule of trying a new recipe. I forgot to read all the way through again before starting. I had mixed all the ingredients for the dressing before realizing that I skipped a step of reducing it. I through the entire dressing recipe in a pan and reduced anyway. It turned out just fine, so don’t throw your ingredients out and start over if you made the same mistake. While I didn’t eat mine with shredded chicken, I do believe it would complement the salad and make it a main meal if it was added. Being from northern Florida and now New Mexico which produces the most pecans in the US right now, I couldn’t help but to throw a few tablespoons on top. It was very good that way. One of the other aspects of this recipe that I really like is that the dressing has a lower fat content. All-in-all, a very good base of a solid and one that you can really make to your taste. I think cubed, cooked sweet potato would also go well.
Yummiest salad ever!! Made it for company last weekend and it was a huge hit! Everyone commented on how fresh and yummy it was. Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe! Will definitely keep making it!
I added candied walnuts and chicken, so good!
When I saw I was getting honeycrisp apples in my CSA box, I knew I HAD to make this salad! I’m so glad I did – it’s heavenly. I love all salads with fruit and feta and this might be my new favorite! My husband and I had it for a light dinner and I’m packing the leftovers (sans dressing and fruit) as our lunches tomorrow. I wish I had pepitas because I bet those would be perfect with this! I’ll be making this one again and again this fall!
What a gorgeous end of the growing season salad! Fresh and delicious. I can’t wait to give it a try!
What a lovely salad. So many colors, textures, tastes, flavors, all in one. I love the sweet, salty and tart mix.
Crunchy, Fruity and healthy. Best Salad for a light Dinner. Combination awesome. Love the dressing option too.
Your salad looks delicious, can’t wait to try it. Really like the idea of the salty Feta cheese with the fruit and cider dressing. Thanks for sharing.