Fall Salad with Pumpkin Maple Vinaigrette
This Fall Salad with Pumpkin Maple Vinaigrette is bursting with seasonal flavor, mixing hearty greens, a touch of spice, and natural sweetness. Made with wholesome, gluten-free and dairy-free ingredients, it comes together easily and is topped with a simple mason jar pumpkin maple dressing you’ll crave all season long.
Servings: 5 servings
Calories: 527kcal
Equipment
- 1 mason jar with a lid
- 1 cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
- 1 large salad bowl
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 whole butternut squash, deseeded, peeled, and chopped into cubes You can use one bag of precut and peeled chunks, as well,
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 ounces mixed salad greens or baby spinach
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 large green apple, peeled and cut into small chunks
- ½ cup golden raisins
- ½ cup candied pecans, roughly chopped *Use raw pecans if you are cutting sugar
For the Pumpkin Maple Vinaigrette
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons pumpkin puree *from a can
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Prepare the butternut squash into cubes and add them to the cookie sheet. Mix the maple syrup, avocado oil, cinnamon, garlic powder, and salt in a small bowl and then pour over the cubes. Toss everything up. Roast the butternut squash cubes for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown. Set them aside.
- While the squash is cooking, make the vinaigrette. Add all of the ingredients to a mason jar. This includes olive oil, apple cider vinegar, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, Dijon, garlic, and salt. Secure the lid and shake it until everything is mixed well. Set it aside.
- Layer the ingredients in a salad bowl, starting with a bed of greens.
- Pour and toss the dressing into the salad and serve!
Notes
Storage:
If you are going to prepare this salad one single serving at a time, like for meal prepping, keep all of the ingredients in separate air-tight containers and store them in the fridge. A little note about the apple chunks. They are the only ingredient that will turn brown if you cut them ahead of time. You could chop these when you are ready to make a salad.
Tips + Modifications:
Serve this salad immediately or chill in the fridge for an hour before serving. If you are chilling it, do not pour the dressing on until you are ready to eat.
If your dressing has hardened in the fridge, thanks to the oil, simply remove it from the fridge and keep it on the counter for an hour before serving. Give it a good shake before pouring.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 527kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Sodium: 374mg | Potassium: 952mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 21711IU | Vitamin C: 43mg | Calcium: 144mg | Iron: 2mg