This Apple Walnut Salad is a delicious winter salad recipe that’s packed with healthy greens, fruit, nuts, sweet onions, sharp blue cheese and buttery goat cheese, all topped with a sweet balsamic salad dressing!
This Apple and Walnut Salad is one of our favourite lunches lately and we can’t wait to share it with you! We don’t know about you, but our love for salads definitely doesn’t die with the end of summer. Really who says salads are just for summer anyway, right?? We love putting a seasonal spin on our favourite salads, allowing us to enjoy local ingredients in season and still get all our greens in! This Spinach Apple Salad with Walnuts is actually a wintery version of our favourite Berry Walnut Spinach Salad that we make at least weekly in the summer. We’ve swapped the berries for delicious apples, added two of our favourite cheeses – blue cheese and goat cheese, because we couldn’t decide on one! – and settled on a deliciously easy Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing to top it all off!
Of course, if you’re not a fan of blue cheese or goat cheese, feel free to skip the cheese altogether or choose the one you like the most. We are partial to both and the sharp blue cheese paired with the buttery goat cheese on this Apple Walnut Salad, but the beauty of salads is you can make them however you please! Just don’t forget those healthy greens!!
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These are the ingredients needed for this Spinach Apple Salad recipe:
- spinach
- golden delicious apple
- honey crisp apple
- red onion
- walnuts
- goat cheese
- blue cheese
- balsamic vinegar
- maple syrup
- olive oil
- dijon mustard
Time needed: 20 minutes
Follow these simple steps to make this delicious Spinach Apple Walnut Salad:
- A Large Bowl.
Put the spinach, apple slices and chopped walnuts into a large bowl.
- Whisk.
Combine the dressing ingredients together.
- Assemble.
Pour the dressing over the salad. Toss well.
- Add the Cheese
Top the salad with goat cheese and blue cheese.
Can I make this Apple Walnut Salad ahead of time?
Yes, the salad and dressing can be assembled ahead of time and stored in the fridge. The apples slices should only be added right before serving because apples start to brown when exposed to the air.
Is there a dairy free option for this salad?
Yes, you can make this salad dairy free by leaving out both cheeses or you can pick a plant based or vegan cheese alternative, whatever suits you.
We hope you love this Apple Walnut Salad as much as we do! Let us know in the comments below, what’s your favourite way to get your greens in? A smoothie? A salad? We’d love to know!!
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Watch the video below to see exactly how we make this great recipe. You can find more delicious recipe videos on our YouTube channel.
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Apple Walnut Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Recipe: Ingredients
For the salad:
- 6 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1 golden delicious apple thinly sliced
- 1 honeycrisp apple thinly sliced
- 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup walnuts roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbled
- 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbled
For the dressing:
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
Recipe: Instructions
- Add the spinach, apple slices, onion slices, and walnuts to a large bowl.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the salad, toss well, and top with the goat cheese and blue cheese.
Recipe: Notes
Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
This is a good idea and amazing recipe too. Something very unique and colorful. Need to try it out.
You’ll love it!
This salad looks crazy delicious! I need to try it soon!
Thanks! We agree 🙂
Hope you’re all better soon. It got our house too a few weeks ago and it seemed to never end. What a fabulous salad!!!
We feel the same way! Thanks so much!!
This is the perfect winter salad! So perfect as a light side dish!
Thanks! We agree! 🙂
I’m always looking for new salad ideas. I love everything in this. Yum!
Thanks! Hope you enjoy!
Love this healthy option! Gonna try this for sure!
Thanks!
Loved it. Simple and fast recipe. I wash fresh spinach with a homemade vinegar solution ( https://lazyplant.com/misc/wash-vegetables/ ). Any veggie or fruit actually… You have to use fresh baby spinach. Quality ingredients make all the difference.
Yes, quality always makes the difference!🙂Thanks Hellen!!
Healthy and delicious!
Thanks Karen!🙂
Delicious! I didn’t have spinach so I used beet leaves from my garden.
Thanks for your feedback Catherine!!
Great salad! We substitute feta and pecans.
I’m happy you enjoyed it! Those sound like great substitutions! Thank you for taking your time to leave your feedback!
My fave go to salad. Always impresses guests. Love the dressing!