Cozy up to this Harvest Salad recipe with it’s delicious Lemon Poppy Seed dressing. You’ll love the flavors of apples, pears, cashews, and Swiss cheese in this hearty salad recipe!
While I love potluck classics like potato salad and macaroni salad, a leafy grean salad can be equally delicious. Try my spinach salad for a delicious side.
The Best Harvest Fall Salad
This Harvest Salad has crunchy, sweet and savory all wrapped into one colorful and healthful salad!
You can serve this salad with fruits and vegetables as a great way to celebrate autumn alongside your main dish at dinner.
- This fall salad recipe has the ultimate salad trifecta of fruit, nuts and cheese all combined!
- You can prepare the salad and make the dressing ahead of time. Just keep them in the fridge separately.
- The quick homemade lemon poppy seed dressing blends easily and is a great addition to the salad!
Ingredient Notes
- Romaine lettuce – This has a great crunch and holds its texture well, but you could also swap it out for baby spinach or mixed greens.
- Apples – Choose a firm, slightly sweet apple that you love, such as Gala or Fuji. Honeycrisp apples would be terrific here as well.
- Cashews – The flavor and slight saltiness of these nuts goes well here, but you could swap them out for another nut if you’d like. Pumpkin seeds would be a delicious addition.
- Swiss cheese – The shredded cheese incorporates well into the salad and complements the other flavors, but you could also try a creamy goat cheese or feta cheese.
- Lemon juice – Fresh juice from real lemons is important for the best flavor in this dressing.
Add roasted sweet potatoes, roasted butternut squash, or pomegranate seeds for tasty flavors and vibrant colors this fall.
How to Make Fall Harvest Salad
Make the poppy seed dressing. Blend the sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard, and salt together. Then, add the extra virgin olive oil and poppy seeds. Blend until the mixture is creamy.
Store in the fridge. When the salad is ready, the dressing will be perfectly chilled.
Assemble the salad. Layer the romaine lettuce with the apples, pears, cashews, cheese and dried cranberries.
Toss with dressing and serve. When ready to serve, drizzle with the lemon poppy seed dressing, mix well and serve.
Tips and Tricks
- Adjust this fall harvest salad recipe to your liking. This salad is super versatile. Love apples? Add more! Not a fan of cashews? Swap them out. You can play with the recipe and make this your own.
- Make it less sweet. Opt for a more tart apple to reduce the sweetness a bit. You can also reduce the amount of sugar in the dressing to suit your taste for a less sweet dressing.
- Go semi-homemade. Making the homemade dressing is incredibly quick and easy. But if you prefer, you can use a store-bought salad dressing instead.
More Savory Side Dishes
- Strawberry Salad Recipe
- Candied Sweet Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Hashbrown Casserole
- Coleslaw Recipe
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Harvest Salad and Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup lemon juice
- ¼ small yellow onion
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
For the salad:
- 1 large head romaine lettuce torn
- 1 large apple diced
- 1 pear diced
- 4 ounce shredded swiss cheese
- 1 cup lightly salted cashews
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- In a small blender (or food processor), combine the sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard, and salt. Process until smooth. Add in oil and poppy seeds. Blend until creamy. Refrigerate dressing until ready to serve.
- In a large salad bowl, add torn pieces of fresh Romaine lettuce. Top with apples, pear, cheese, cashews, and dried cranberries.
- When ready to serve, toss with fresh lemon poppy seed dressing and enjoy!
Notes
- Adjust to your liking. This salad is super versatile. Love apples? Add more! Not a fan of cashews? Swap them out. You can play with the recipe and make this your own.
- Make it less sweet. Opt for a more tart apple to cut down on the sweetness a bit. You can also reduce the amount of sugar in the dressing to suit your taste if you want a less sweet dressing.
- Go semi-homemade. The homemade dressing is super quick and easy to make, but we won’t tell if you want to swap in a store-bought salad dressing instead.
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