If you’re in the mood for a salad for dinner tonight, we’ve got you covered. These salad recipes use seasonal ingredients like apples, cranberries, squash and more and combine them with satisfying proteins like chicken and chickpeas for the ultimate fall meal. Recipes like our Rotisserie Chicken & Roasted Sweet Potato Salad and Anti-Inflammatory Sweet Potato Salad are so delicious, you’ll want salad for dinner every night this fall.
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Rotisserie Chicken & Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Abby Armstrong, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey
This rotisserie chicken and roasted sweet potato salad is the perfect anti-inflammatory dinner. Sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidants like beta carotene, while chicken provides lean protein to keep you full and satisfied. Tossed with fresh greens, apples and a tangy-sweet dressing, this salad is a wholesome meal that’s perfect for busy nights.
Anti-Inflammatory Farro & White Bean Salad
Heami Lee, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christine Keeley
This colorful salad layers together farro, bell pepper, beets and arugula, all of which offer fiber and antioxidants that can help lower inflammation in your body. White beans add some plant-based protein to help you stay satisfied.
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood, Food Stylist: Sally McKay
This roasted butternut squash salad, with its caramelized butternut squash, tender kale and a zingy dressing, makes the perfect dish. Whether paired with roasted chicken or seared steak or enjoyed on its own, it brings a balance of sweet and savory to the table, making it a crowd-pleaser at any gathering. Feel free to swap out the lacinato kale for curly kale or try another winter squash like honeynut or delicata in place of the butternut.
Roasted Squash & Lentil Kale Salad
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Christina Brockman
This squash lentil salad packs 11 grams of fiber and features plenty of kale, a powerful prebiotic that helps set the stage for a healthy gut.
Roasted Vegetable Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
Photographer: Hannah Hufham, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser
This roasted vegetable salad is a vibrant and hearty dish that showcases the best cool-weather root veggies and greens: sweet potato, celery root, beets and kale. The simple vinaigrette brings everything together, with goat cheese adding a creamy finish. Feel free to swap out any of the root vegetables for another of your choice. Butternut squash, turnips or carrots would all work well.
Anti-Inflammatory Sweet Potato Salad
Photographer: Stacy k. Allen, Props: Christina Brockman, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling
This sweet potato salad is full of anti-inflammatory foods like cherries, kale, avocado and—of course—sweet potatoes, which are packed with antioxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals to keep inflammation at bay. Don’t skip the step of massaging the dressing into the kale—it helps soften it, and also helps the greens absorb more flavor from the sweet-tart dressing.
Make-Ahead Cabbage Salad
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood, Food Stylist: Sally McKay
This make-ahead cabbage salad is the perfect dish that only gets better with time. As it sits, the flavors meld together, with the crisp cabbage and tender, nutty farro soaking up the tangy dressing.
Massaged Kale Salad with Roasted Squash & Chickpeas
Photography: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Kelsey Moylan, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco
This kale salad is piled high with roasted butternut squash, red onion and toasty chickpeas. The kale starts to break down as you “massage” it, soaking up the lemony dressing. Za’atar, a Middle Eastern seasoning with dried herbs, sesame seeds and sumac, adds a bright, earthy taste. You can swap it out for chili powder for a slightly different flavor profile.
Cabbage Salad with Apple, Walnuts & Gorgonzola
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hauser
This crisp and fresh cabbage-apple salad features carrots, walnuts and creamy Gorgonzola cheese. Allowing the cabbage to sit before serving helps develop the flavor and soften the cabbage. While any type of cabbage will work well, tender cabbage like napa will need less time to soften, while a sturdier cabbage like red or green cabbage will take a bit longer.
Spinach Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, White Beans & Basil
Roasted sweet potatoes, spinach, cabbage and white beans are tossed together with a bright basil dressing in this healthy main dish salad.
Roasted Cranberry, Squash & Cauliflower Salad
Serve this healthy salad as a main course or as a starter for a special meal. To speed up prep, look for precut butternut squash in the refrigerated area of the produce section at your grocery store.
Apple-Cranberry Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese
The tangy-sweet dressing in this spinach salad beautifully amplifies the apples and cranberries—and the creamy goat cheese transforms it into the perfect salad.
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Burrata
This beautiful butternut squash salad with creamy burrata cheese and peppery arugula is perfect for fall entertaining. For the best flavor and texture, remove the burrata from the refrigerator about an hour before use and assemble the salad while the squash is still warm from roasting so the cheese will melt slightly. If you can find pomegranates, the arils add a bright pop of color and flavor to this healthy salad, but it’s just as good—and almost as impressive-looking—without them.
Arugula Salad with Roasted Pork Tenderloin, Pears & Blue Cheese
Toasted walnuts and roasted pork tenderloin make this elegant salad worthy of company, yet it’s easy enough to prepare on a weeknight!
Chopped Salad with Shrimp, Apples & Pecans
Sweet and crunchy apples and celery combine with savory shrimp and nutty pecans in this easy, colorful dinner salad.
