Apple Pecan Salad
on Sep 12, 2025
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Crisp with lots of good crunch, this apple pecan salad is loaded with fantastic fall flavors and ingredients. It starts with a base of chopped romaine and cabbage. Diced apples and dried cranberries give it subtle sweet bites to go with crumbled goat cheese, red onions and fresh herbs. I toast the nuts with a little maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Serve this healthy salad for lunch or dinner or a fall-winter holiday meal.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This fall salad delivers on texture and flavor with something different in each bite. You can put fruit in salads no matter the season. For fall, I like apples or pears. They are crisp and just sweet enough to work with savory salad ingredients.
The pecans are sweet with a kick, but they aren’t fully candied. Who doesn’t love candied pecans with that crunchy cinnamon sugar on the outside? The nuts for this recipe are much lighter. I toss them with maple syrup and a pinch of cayenne pepper before quickly toasting them.
This easy salad is special enough for your holiday table. Keep it in mind for Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Because it takes so much work to put together one of these meals, a salad might be the last thing on your list, but you will miss out on the freshness it brings.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Apples: For salads I prefer crisp varieties like Pink Lady apples or Honeycrisp. They also brown slower than other types. You can toss the diced apples in lemon juice if you want to prevent them from turning brown. Save Granny Smith for baking this caramel apple pie.
- Pecans are one of my favorite fall nuts. Their distinct taste and softer bite than other nuts goes so well with any dish with apples.
- Romaine & cabbage are the crunchy lettuce mix for the salad. I finely chop and shred romaine hearts. You can use either red cabbage or green cabbage, I like red to bring more color to the ingredients.
- Red onions: Finely diced, they give each bite a sharp accent to balance out the bites of apples and dried fruit.
- Dried cranberries: Another signature autumn ingredient, dried cranberries are tart and sweet. You can substitute with raisins or dried cherries.
- Goat cheese is creamy and tangy. It’s easiest to buy a container that’s already crumbled. If you prefer a saltier, more briny option then use feta cheese. Also, crumbled blue cheese is very pungent and is the perfect combination with apples.
- Parsley: To layer in more flavor, I include chopped parsley. I’m a big fan of fresh herbs in salads.
- Maple syrup: You will need it for both the pecans and in the dressing.
- Seasonings: Kosher salt and black pepper are both required for the pecans and the dressing. To give the nuts a slight kick, I also season them with a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- Olive oil is for toasting the nuts and for in the vinaigrette. Use a high quality extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor.
- Apple cider vinaigrette: For the salad dressing, I whisk minced garlic, whole grain mustard, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
How To Make This Apple Pecan Salad Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
1. Prep the pecans. Whisk oil, maple syrup, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Stir in the pecans and spread them across the prepared sheet pan.
2. Toast the pecans. Give them just 5-7 minutes. They should be fragrant. Let the nuts cool while you make the vinaigrette and assemble the salad.
3. Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, stir the garlic, mustard, maple syrup, salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar and oil.
4. Assemble the salad. Combine the romaine lettuce, cabbage, fresh apples, red onions, goat cheese, cranberries, parsley and the pecans in a big bowl.
5. Drizzle the dressing into the salad, tossing to combine.
Serving
With both romaine and cabbage for lettuce, this apple pecan salad is filling. You can serve it for lunch or dinner. You can add a protein such as roasted chicken, or stir in quinoa or farro to make it more hearty for a main dish. This is a good way to repurpose leftover cooked grains.You can also pair the salad with soup such as roasted carrot soup or broccoli spinach soup.
This salad is also worthy of a side dish at your holiday table. At Thanksgiving I love adding an exciting salad to go with the big meal. (Check out this list of my go-to Thanksgiving salads.)
Storage & Leftovers
You can keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. The cabbage and romaine will soften and the apples will brown, but the salad will still taste good. If you know you’re going to save part of it, only toss the amount you are planning to eat in the vinaigrette. Then store extra dressing in a mason jar. This is the best way to avoid soggy salad.
Recipe Tips
- A quarter sheet pan is helpful for toasting the nuts. The typical baking sheet in home kitchens is a half sheet pan. I can’t tell you how much use I get out of my quarter sheet pan, and the best part is that it fits in my toaster oven. Then I don’t have to fire up the oven for smaller quantities.
- You can buy shredded cabbage or a coleslaw mix. It’s easy to cut a head of cabbage, but it is absolutely fine to get a bag of it already shredded for a shortcut. Usually a coleslaw mix also has shredded carrots, which will also work in this salad.
- I don’t recommend swapping out the cabbage and romaine for other leafy greens. You will miss out on crunch if you use baby spinach, arugula or mixed greens.
More Apple Recipes
Cabbage Apple Salad
Apple Quinoa Salad
Kale Apple Salad
Savoy Cabbage Salad
Brussels Sprout Apple Salad
Autumn Harvest Salad
Fall Chopped Salad
Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Looking for more salad inspiration? Check out my seasonal salad guide with recipes and tips on ingredients, meal prep and more. Also, explore roasted fall veggies and more seasonal veggie recipes for all year.
Apple Pecan Salad
Ingredients
For pecans
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 cup pecan halves
For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For salad
- 3 cups shredded romaine hearts
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- 3 Pink Lady or Honeycrisp apples, cored and diced
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
- 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk 2 teaspoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon maple syrup, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Then stir in the pecans, so they are well-coated in the mixture.
- Spread the pecans on the prepared sheet pan in a single layer. Bake for 5-7 minutes until they are toasted. Then let the pecans cool while you prep the rest of the salad.
- To make the vinaigrette, whisk the garlic, mustard, maple syrup, salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil in a small bowl.
- Combine the romaine, cabbage, apples, red onions, goat cheese, cranberries, parsley and the pecans in a large bowl.
- Drizzle the dressing into the salad. Toss to combine.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
