This holiday spinach salad is loaded with apples, pomegranate arils, feta cheese, candied pecans and a light apple vinaigrette. Fresh, colorful, and perfect for any holiday meal!
Why you’ll love this colorful, fruity salad
This holiday spinach salad has the perfect freshness to balance all of the season’s rich and cozy dishes. Bright green spinach, crunchy apples, salty feta cheese, and beautiful ruby pomegranate arils all in one bowl taste as festive as they do. It’s beautiful on the table, easy to throw together, and goes well with almost any holiday dish, from ham and turkey to roast chicken and even pasta dishes.
Candied pecans add a sweet, crunchy contrast (making even picky eaters happy!), and a fruity vinaigrette ties everything together. Apple cider-based dressings work especially well, but a light, fruity vinaigrette is also lovely. First of all? This salad takes just a few minutes to prepare, making it a dependable, crowd-favorite side dish for busy holiday meals.
Substitutions and Variations:
fruit options
- exchange apples ship
- add dried cranberries or golden raisins
- use mandarin For the citrus version:
greens
- baby kale
- spring mix
- Half spinach + half arugula (for pepper flavor)
cheese
- goat cheese
- Blue cheese crumbles
- shaved parmesan cheese
nuts
- Walnuts (candied or roasted)
- almond
- Pistachios for a green-and-green holiday vibe.
dressing options
It works beautifully with:
- Apple Cider Vinaigrette
- Pomegranate Vinaigrette
- Cranberry Vinaigrette
- Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
More of our favorite salad recipes:
Holiday Spinach Salad
A fresh, colorful and festive salad of crunchy apples, ruby pomegranate arils, salty feta cheese and sweet candied pecans all dressed in a fruity vinaigrette.
Serving Size: 4
- 4 cup fresh spinach leaves washed
- 3/4 cup pomegranate arils
- 1/2 cup apologize chopped
- 1/4 cup feta cheese
- 1/4 cup candied pecans
- Apple Cider Honey Dressing or vinaigrette of your choice
Combine spinach, pomegranate arils, chopped apples, feta cheese, and candied pecans in a large bowl.
Stir gently to mix the ingredients evenly.
To keep the spinach crunchy, dress it with your favorite fruit vinaigrette just before serving.
