I love a good hearty salad and this roasted delicata squash salad with lightly candied walnuts, apples and feta on a bed of baby spinach and dressed with a creamy red wine vinegar dressing hits the spot!
Delicata squash is known for it’s delicate skin that you don’t have to peel off before roasting and eating. It’s flavor is similar to a butternut squash or acorn squash. It’s a little sweet and caramelizes when it gets roasted. It’s a great addition to any salad including this one!
It’s hearty with elements of sweetness that run through out. The little saltiness from the feta cheese keep all of the flavors in check. The dressing brings a little pop of vinegar to keep things vibrant, interesting and delicious.
The dressing is super simple to make and is really a part of this salad to marry everything together. If you don’t want to make the dressing I have listed you can always use your favorite vinaigrette on this salad too and it will taste great.
I personally could just eat a whole pan of roasted delicata squash on it’s own and honestly I usually do whenever I roast it up.
To scoop out the seeds, cut squash in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. The seeds can be saved and roasted if you want to put the effort into doing that or you can just toss them. Once the seeds are removed you can slice the squash into round slices or half rounds, depending if you sliced the squash in half vertically or horizontally. No right or wrong way to do it.
What you need to make delicata squash salad:
Serves 6 as a side dish or 2-3 as a main course
- 2 small delicata squash – seeds removed and squash sliced into roughly 1/2 inch rings.
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- 1 large apple – cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces/halves- lightly candied
- 1/3 cup feta- blocked feta tastes better than pre-crumbled (it’s a fact)
- ~6 handfuls baby spinach
Dressing:
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Pinch salt
- Pinch pepper
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
To lightly candy the walnuts:
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces/halves
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- pinch salt
- dash cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Toss squash in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and fresh ground black pepper.
- Roast on a lined baking sheet for 30 minutes, turning squash over at 20 minutes.
- To make dressing; microwave vinegar and sugar together then whisk in mayo, salt and pepper. The mayo may look chunky at first, keep whisking and it will fully dissolve into the vinegar.
- If you don’t own a microwave you can melt the sugars into the vinegar in a small sauce pan.
- To lightly candy the walnuts; Add all ingredients into a non-stick pan, heat over medium to low heat. Stir continuously until sugar melts and coats the walnuts, remove from heat and pour nuts onto a piece of parchment paper or a plate to cool completely.
- Assemble salad by adding baby spinach, apples, candied walnuts, squash, crumbled fresh feta and drizzle dressing on top. Enjoy!
Here are a few other salad recipes you may love:
Wilted Beet Top Salad
Southwest Chicken Salad
Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad
Chicken Cranberry and Sunflower Salad
Roasted Beet Feta and Orange Salad
Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Caramelized Steak
Grilled Balsamic Chicken Caprese Salad
Tomato, Basil and Feta Salad with a Balsamic Dressing
Delicata Squash Salad
Ingredients
- 2 small delicata squash – seeds removed and squash sliced into roughly 1/2 inch rings.
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- 1 large apple – cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces/halves- lightly candied
- 1/3 cup feta- blocked feta tastes better than pre-crumbled it’s a fact
- ~6 handfuls baby spinach
- Dressing:
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Pinch salt
- Pinch pepper
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- To lightly candy the walnuts:
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces/halves
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- pinch salt
- dash cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Toss squash in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and fresh ground black pepper.
- Roast on a lined baking sheet for 30 minutes, turning squash over at 20 minutes.
- To make dressing; microwave vinegar and sugar together then whisk in mayo, salt and pepper. The mayo may look chunky at first, keep whisking and it will fully dissolve into the vinegar.
- If you don’t own a microwave you can melt the sugars into the vinegar in a small sauce pan.
- To lightly candy the walnuts; Add all ingredients into a non-stick pan, heat over medium to low heat. Stir continuously until sugar melts and coats the walnuts, remove from heat and pour nuts onto a piece of parchment paper or a plate to cool completely.
- Assemble salad by adding baby spinach, apples, candied walnuts, squash, crumbled fresh feta and drizzle dressing on top. Enjoy!