This healthy & versatile spinach salad is one of my favorite salad recipes for winter or fall! Top with fresh apples, homemade dressing, dried cranberries, & more!
I’m a huge salad fan, and they’re on my meal plan every week once Spring comes. They’re fast, easy, and can be made with almost anything you have on hand!
Cooler temperatures are a little trickier though… we’re limited on produce and bright greens aren’t as easy to come by.
That’s when this cranberry apple spinach salad makes an appearance. It’s just as easy as the spring salads, but tailored to fit what’s in season right now!
Cranberry Apple Spinach Salad
This cranberry apple salad is one of my absolute favorite salads to make, and I actually look forward to cooler temperatures just so I can make it! Besides from being DELICIOUS, this salad is:
- Fast
- Super Easy
- Pantry-friendly
- Uses seasonal produce
- Super versatile and substitution-friendly
Plus it’s naturally vegetarian, includes a vegan option, and tastes great with some grilled chicken too!
Ingredients for Spinach Salad with Apples and Cranberries
This healthy spinach salad comes together pretty quickly with a few ingredients:
- Spinach
- Apples. Any variety can work.
- Dried cranberries.
- Walnuts
- Red Onion.
- Goat Cheese.
It’s worth noting again, that this salad is VERY flexible.
- Don’t have apples? Try pears.
- Don’t have cranberries? Try raisins.
- No walnuts? Try pecans.
- Don’t have red onion? Use white or yellow onions instead.
- Don’t usually buy goat cheese? Try feta, or skip it altogether.
Heck, you don’t even HAVE to use spinach! I’ve made this using arugula, romaine and green leaf lettuce before and it’s STILL really good!
How to Make Healthy Spinach Salad Dressing
Making the salad is merely assembling all the ingredients together and tossing with a pair of tongs or salad hands (I used my Swagbucks for this set and use them ALL THE TIME.)
The dressing is just as easy to make!
- Combine all the ingredients in a glass jar.
- Shake well.
- Pour over the salad.
I like to make a little bit of extra dressing, simply because it’s a great all-purpose marinade for meats too!
What goes with spinach salad?
If you want this salad to be a main meal, add some grilled chicken or thin-sliced steak and call this one done!
If it’s a side dish, we’ve served this with whole roasted chicken, at the Thanksgiving dinner table, and we’ve brought it to pot-lucks as well.
For a meatless meal – that doesn’t feel meatless – we serve this with grilled sandwiches, baked potatoes, or a hearty soup like minestrone.
Cranberry Apple Spinach Salad
This healthy & versatile spinach salad is one of my favorite salad recipes for winter or fall! Top with fresh apples, homemade dressing, dried cranberries, & more!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Bowl
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 10 oz fresh spinach
- 2 large apples, cored and sliced thinly
- 1/2 small red onion, peeled and sliced thinly
- 3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 2/3 cup dried cranberries
- 5 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1 Batch Apple Cider Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (here’s how to make it homemade)
- 2 tsp spicy brown mustard
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
Make the vinaigrette
- Add all of the ingredients together in a glass jar, cover, and shake well.
Make the salad
- Combine the spinach, apples, onion, walnuts, cranberries and half of the goat cheese in a large bowl. Toss with a pair of tongs or salad hands.
- Drizzle half of the dressing over the salad and toss again. Add additional dressing as desired and serve immediately, topping with the remaining goat cheese.
My husband and I loved this salad! Made a few small changes by adding some arugula to the spinach, using pecans instead of walnuts, and blue cheese instead of goat cheese (which is what we had available).
★★★★★
I make those same substitutions often too, Edith! I’m glad you and your husband enjoy this recipe!