Complete with turkey, butternut squash, and cranberry vinaigrette, fall thanksgiving salad tastes just like the big meal!
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Fall thanksgiving salad has it all: great fall flavors. That perfect balance of sweet/tangy/savory. It’s also a dream to prep once and have lunches done for the week!
Full disclosure: I share this mostly because it’s been my go-to lunch for over a month now. This salad fits two categories: a meal that full-on embraces those fall flavors we love so much, and a dang good way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers.
If it’s the weekend after Thanksgiving and you’re trying to eat your leftovers but add some freshness/balance/make your pants fit again, this salad has you covered.
But in the meantime, I’m eating this salad for lunch most days. Why should we save Thanksgiving’s delicious spread for only one day? It’s one day to embrace my favorite meal of the year a little early!
Using leftover parmesan roasted butternut squash on this is the way to go! They tip this fall thanksgiving salad over the edge from “just something I threw together” into a Really Good Salad .
We make butternut squash this way at least weekly once it shows up at the market, so it’s an easy add. If you’re making it specifically for fall thanksgiving salad, cut the butternut squash a bit smaller.
Cranberry vinaigrette adds that zing you get from cranberry sauce on your Thanksgiving table, so don’t skip it. I made my own – it’s so easy! If you use unsweetened cranberry juice, you’ll have to add a few teaspoons of sugar. Either way, just add more sugar or cranberry juice until the balance is what you want.
The other option is to top it with cranberry sauce instead of craisins. I always have craisins in my pantry and only have cranberry sauce for about a week each year, so I went with craisins for simplicity’s sake. But adding a scoop of cranberry sauce is 100% recommended if you have it!
If you’re making this ahead of thanksgiving and don’t want to fool with a turkey, making a roast chicken is a quick and easy substitute.
Fall thanksgiving salad is also a DREAM for meal prepping. Roast a butternut squash and a chicken and have lunches for the entire week done, presto.
Tools you’ll need: cutting board and knife.
Fall Thanksgiving Salad
Ingredients
Fall Thanksgiving Salad
- 2 handfuls spinach
- 1 oz pumpkin seeds roasted
- 1 oz pecans
- 1 oz gorgonzola cheese
- 1 oz craisins
- ½ cup turkey shredded
- ½ cup butternut squash roasted
Cranberry Vinaigrette
- ⅔ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup cranberry juice
- ½ tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 shallot
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp mustard optional
Instructions
Cranberry Vinaigrette
- Dice the garlic and shallot. Put in a small bowl along with the cranberry juice and red wine vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes while you prep everything else.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the cranberry juice. Shake well and refrigerate until using.
Fall thanksgiving salad
- Chop the pecans, shred the turkey and crumble the cheese.
- Combine all salad ingredients and top with cranberry vinaigrette.
Fall Thanksgiving salad has been my go to all season long! Easy seasonal lunches, done. Do you like finding ways to incorporate Thanksgiving dinner foods into meals before the big day?
If you’re like me and already dreaming of Thanksgiving dinner, follow me on Pinterest for tons of food inspiration!
