Autumn Apple Salad

Celebrate the flavors of fall with this delicious Autumn Apple Salad. Apples, cranberries, pecans, bacon and spinach are combined with a delicious and easy dressing.

Add a salad to any main dish makes for a complete meal. Lemon Fruit Spinach Salad, Strawberry Spinach Salad and Lemon Dijon Salad are just a few of our favorites. Find all our salad recipes here.

Apple Salad

I struggle with salad portions.  Since we have become a reduced size family I just can’t seem to figure out how much salad to make for dinner.  I always  make too much and my husband always comments on how I make too much salad.  No matter how hard I try I just can’t seem to get it right!

Well, the night I made this salad no one complained that I had made too much salad.  We ate it all! This salad has great flavor but also great texture thanks to the crunchy apple and the crisp bacon.

You also have some great texture and flavor from the pecans and the craisinets.  There are all kinds of flavors to enjoy.

How to Make Autumn Apple Salad

• Wash and dry spinach and lettuce
• Fry bacon until crisp.  I like to cook my bacon in the oven.
• Chop nuts
• Apples, slice or cube apple. I use a granny smith apple but use your favorite.  I also like a Honeycrisp (see below to prevent apples from turning brown)
• Prepare salad dressing. I like a combination of store bought poppy seed and balsamic but use your favorite dressings!
• Dried fruit – you can used dried cranberries, cherries or blueberries.

How to Keep Apples from Turning Brown

Slice or cube apples and place in a bowl of water, make sure apples are covered.  Mix in 1/2 tsp of salt and let sit for 1-2 minutes.  Drain and pat dry.  Your apples will not turn brown!

Easy Salad Dressing

The dressing is as easy as they come because it is store bought.  I used a half and half combination of poppy seed and balsamic vinaigrette, it’s a great combination!  Use your favorite brands.  I used Trader Joes. 

The perfect salad combination – lots of great texture and great taste!    I am sure there are a lot of other fun flavor combinations you could come up with by trying different fruits (oranges, pears, etc.) and different nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts)  Get creative with your dressing combination too.  Take what’s in your refrigerator and try combining them!  Let me know what good combos you come up with!!

Combine all your ingredients in a bowl and drizzle with salad dressing.  Toss to coat.  Enjoy!

 

This Autumn Apple Salad is the perfect addition to any fall meal, but really any meal!  It has the perfect balance of color, texture and taste.

Other favorite salads include these:

• Winter Spinach Salad
• Winter Chopped Salad
• Spinach Salad
• Harvest Bowl

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Autumn Salad Recipe

Originally published October 11, 2011