Crisp apples, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and hearty walnuts come together in a fresh Autumn Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad. An easy side dish for any favorite meal!
You see that gold bowl in the pictures here? It’s new. I flew out the door in a panic the other day when I realized I didn’t have a bowl for the salad I was about to photograph. At least, not one that would fit my vision for this salad. It’s an autumn salad and I had no idea what exactly I was looking for when I rushed into Target at 9:50 am in my fuzzy slipper boots (don’t judge. a gal’s gotta have some comfy go-to shoes) and mop-top hair. But when I saw this bowl it screamed “photograph me, I was practically made for for a fall salad!”
And I agreed. Naturally.
Yesterday though, this big gorgeous autumn salad bowl was sitting on my countertop when a whole bunch of neighborhood girls (girls=teenagers) came over to my house to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. One of them saw the bowl and said, “What’s that?” You should have seen the look on my face. I mean, obviously it’s a bowl…. Which is exactly what I told her. Except I said that it was a salad bowl. Her immediate reaction? “Ewe I hate salad. I don’t like the taste of leaves.”
She was dead serious.
Doesn’t everybody know that these “leaves” are really just a vehicle for getting loads of really delicious flavor combinations into your mouth? Because a bowl full of walnuts, apples, dried cranberries and feta cheese covered in dressing would be nothing short of wonderful, but also somewhat… odd. So we put it on top of some leaves, call it a salad, and dig it.
And as you can see, here I am doing just that…..
What people are saying about this Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad
“Made this for a lunch at work to go with a Turkey & Cranberry Sandwich. It was delicious! Hands down the best salad of this kind I have ever tasted. The only thing I did alter was I only used half the dressing. Even had a couple people ask for the recipe, so I sent them here. 
Yum I’ll be making this again before the week is out no doubt.” – Jennifer
“Yum! My mom makes a salad similar to this, so I knew I would like it. It turned out delicious. I followed the recipe exactly and used canola oil in the dressing.” – Katie
“I really liked this salad… I liked how the apply flavor complemented the salad but overall it was not a dressing I’d make again. All of your salads look so appetizing, and it’s fun to be able to choose one that will go with the main I’m making. Thanks for sharing.” – Allison
“This was such a delicious fall salad. I made it for my family, and they loved it. I think the best part was the dressing (which also tasted surprisingly very yummy over some plain chicken). I ended up throwing about 2 T of water and a peeled apple into my ninja to make the apple juice for the dressing. Soooo delicious. ” – Katherine
Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad
Ingredients
- 6 cups salad - (I used a combination of arugula and baby spinach, any spring green mix will do)
- 1 red apple
- 1 green apple
- 1 cup walnuts - roughly chopped, (such as Diamond of California)
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
Dressing
- 1 cup apple juice
- 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar - (or white vinegar in a pinch)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup oil
Instructions
- Core and chop apples (thin slices or 1 inch chunks). Toss lettuce, apples, walnuts, feta, and cranberries together in a large bowl.
- Whisk together all dressing ingredients. Toss with salad immediately before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
**Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for a larger group.
Nutrition
i just made this for thanksgiving, delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
I like your dressing recipe. People love these kinds of salads, don’t they? I’ve linked to your recipe on my weekend healthy recipes roundup, and can’t wait to give it a try.
Ummm thanks for this I love the pictures and everything seems delicious, will try with a new raw honey I just bought http://www.tiana-coconut.com/products/organic-honey/ it is not easy to spread but it tastes lovely so let’s see what comes out 🙂
Hi! Love this recipe. I’m currently in the process of making a personal blog and I wanted to feature this recipe. Of course I will give you recognition =D Just seeking your permission? Thanks in advanced!
Hi! So glad you like this salad recipe – you may feature one of my images without the recipe – with proper credit and a link leading readers back to the recipe on my site.
So beautiful. This dish will new color and new taste to my diet cook book. Thank you for the recipe!