Apple Cranberry Salad with Blue Cheese — All the flavors of fall in one gorgeous, hearty, and healthy salad!! The easy, tart-and-sweet dressing is just bursting with flavor!!
Apple Cranberry Salad Recipe
Say hello to the flavors of fall in this fast, easy, and healthy cranberry pecan salad loaded with textures galore. There are sweet honey crisp apples, chewy orange-flavored dried cranberries, salty blue cheese, and crunchy candied pecans made with Fisher Pecan Halves.
I absolutely love candied nuts and have three recipes for homemade candied nuts. Once I start eating them, I can’t stop. For the salad I used this recipe.
I have a continued partnership with Fisher Nuts for the coming year so you’re in store for some fun recipes. Fisher is the only national brand of recipe nuts entirely without preservatives.
The apple cider vinegar salad dressing comes together in 30 seconds in the blender. It’s a tart-and-sweet blend of dried cranberries, apple cider vinegar, honey, and olive oil. So easy but packs so much flavor. It’s thick and coats the salad beautifully.
The salad is great for lunch, as a healthy and fast dinner, and would make a gorgeous side at holiday celebrations and parties.
What’s in Apple Cranberry Salad?
To make this cranberry apple pecan salad, you’ll need:
- Butter lettuce
- Honey crisp apple
- Orange-flavored dried cranberries
- Blue cheese crumbles
- Candied Fisher pecans (tutorial linked in recipe card below)
- Apple cider vinegar
- Honey
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
How to Make Apple Cranberry Salad
To a large bowl, add the lettuce, and top with apples, cranberries, pecans, and cheese. Set aside.
To the canister of a blender, add all the apple cider vinegar salad dressing ingredients and blend on high power for about 30 seconds, or until combined.
Taste dressing and make any necessary flavor adjustments before drizzling over the apple pecan salad.
Can I Make the Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing in Advance?
Yes! You can blend up the dressing in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Can I Use Different Toppings?
Your’e welcome to mix and match the toppings on this cranberry pecan salad as you see fit. Play around with different kinds of candied nuts, apples, dried fruits, etc.
Tips for Making Cranberry Apple Pecan Salad
When making the apple cider vinegar salad dressing, note that the cranberries won’t break down completely. Having some texture retained is okay.
Also, the exact amount of honey needed will vary based on how sweet or tart the cranberries are and on personal preference. I prefer less oil rather than more, but add to taste.
If you can’t find orange-flavored dried cranberries at your local grocery store, regular may be substituted. I found the orange-flavored ones at Trader Joe’s!
Pin This Recipe
Cranberry, Apple, and Blue Cheese Salad with Cranberry-Apple Cider Dressing
All the flavors of fall in one gorgeous, hearty, and healthy salad!! The easy, tart-and-sweet dressing is just bursting with flavor!!
Ingredients
Salad
- 4 cups butter lettuce (romaine or your favorite blend of greens may be substituted)
- 1 cup honeycrisp apples, diced (from about 1 medium apple; Fuji, Gala, Braeburn, etc. may be substituted)
- 3/4 cup orange-flavored dried cranberries (regular dried cranberries may be substituted)
- 3/4 cup candied Fisher pecans (use this recipe
- 3/4 cup blue cheese crumbles (gorgonzola or feta cheese may be substituted)
Dressing
- 1/2 cup orange-flavored dried cranberries (regular dried cranberries may be substituted)
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 to 4 tablespoons honey
- 2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
Instructions
Salad:
- To a large bowl, add the lettuce, and top with apples, cranberries, pecans, and cheese. Set aside.
Dressing:
- To the canister of a blender, add all ingredients, and blend on high power for about 30 seconds, or until combined. The cranberries won’t break down completely and having some texture retained is okay. The amount of honey needed will vary based on how sweet or tart the cranberries are and on personal preference. I prefer less oil rather than more, but add to taste.
- Taste dressing and make any necessary flavor adjustments (more salt, pepper, etc.).
- Drizzle over salad and serve immediately.
Notes
- All salad topping amounts are flexible, add more or less of each topping based on personal preferences.
- Extra dressing will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 521Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 561mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 5gSugar: 41gProtein: 9g
More Fall Salad Recipes:
Apple, White Cheddar, and Spinach Salad with Honey-Apple Cider Vinaigrette — The flavors just POP in this fast, easy, and healthy salad!
Roasted Squash, Cranberry, and Almond Salad with Lemon Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette (vegan, GF) – A hearty, comforting, and satisfying salad that’s healthy and easy!
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad — Goodbye mayo-loaded, mushy, boring potato salad. Hello to a Mexican-inspired potato salad full of flavor and texture with corn, black beans, peppers, and cilantro!
Crunchy Peanut Chicken Salad – Crispy fried chicken with crunchy cabbage, carrots, peanuts, cilantro and the EASIEST and BEST homemade peanut sauce that coats every bite!! A salad that you’ll CRAVE over and over!!
Spinach and Artichoke Quinoa Salad – All the flavors of classic spinach and artichoke dip are in this HEALTHY salad!! The only thing that’s missing is tons of fat and calories! FAST, EASY, naturally gluten-free, vegetarian, and tastes DELISH!!
Roasted Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad – An EASY, healthy, lettuce-less salad with roasted curried cauliflower and chickpeas as the STARS!! Topped with raisins, pistachios, cilantro, and a DELISH tangy Greek yogurt dressing!!
Kale Caesar Salad with Fried Chickpeas — This isn’t a traditional Caesar salad and that’s what I love about it. I used kale rather than romaine and fried chickpeas instead of croutons.
Post is brought to you by Fisher. The recipe, image, text, and opinions expressed are my own. #ThinkFisher
I absolutely loved this salad, it has everything I love to eat, I have searched and tried so many recipes on Pinterest and Have been disappointed and left with expensive ingredients that I have to find ways to use up. However, this salad recipe has got to be the best of the best salad recipe’s I have tried.
Thanks for trying my recipe and glad it did not disappoint!
Estoy maravillada con tus recetas. Realmente reúnen todo lo que uno busca:
Color, sabor, nutrición, variedad…felicidades!
I love EVERYTHING about this salad! That dressing though, incredible. Want for lunch!
Thank you, Aggie! :)
Averie, I’m so in love with this gorgeous salad with all the fall ingredients. The candied nuts put this over the top! Pinned :)
Thanks for pinning! And I want to come in your suitcase on the next awesome adventure you take :)
What a beautiful salad! The dressing looks particularly delicious!
Mmmm what a delicious looking salad! Tons of lovely flavors, great job Averie :)
Oh I love the flavors and the textures in this perfect fall salad, I would only use feta cheese in mine since I hate blue cheese, lol as much as I tried to love it, it was never meant to me, but feta will rock my world in this salad.
Some people HATE blue cheese. I actually didn’t love it until maybe 10 years ago. Now, I’m obsessed. lol But yes, feta would totally work!
Love this beautiful salad and that cranberry blue cheese combo! Oh and pecans! Definitely a texture-filled dream :)
So much texture which I just adore in salads!
This is my dream salad. But…I’d add bacon. :) Love that dressing!!
I can totally see how some bacon would work well in here!
I love salads with nuts and fruit, that dressing sounds amazing I can’t wait to try it.
It was so good with the salad. Totally put me in the mood for Thanksgiving with the cranberries.
This salad looks so beautiful and delicious! You did an amazing job!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Candied nuts are a favorite of mine. It’s hard to stop with just a handful! This salad looks so delicious and the colors are great. And that dressing looks like an absolute winner!
When I think of fall-time foods, I don’t typically think of salads, but now I’m seeing the error of my ways – this salad is gorgeous! The cranberry apple cider vinaigrette sounds amazing. This would make a great addition to my family’s Thanksgiving table, since we’re always a little lacking in the veggie department.
It’s a perfect side for Thanksgiving because it has all the fall flavors and gives you some veggies and it’s pretty to look at!
Oh yummy! I can’t wait to try this. Thanks!
That dressing looks and sounds DIVINE.
It was SO good! You’d love it!
All the color you packed into this salad is seriously blowing me away right now! And that dressing! I think I just need a spoon and I’ll be good to go. ;) So gorgeous, Averie! Pinned.
Thanks for pinning and for the compliments! I love really colorful salads and have found that people tend to eat their veggies better when things are colorful and bright!
This looks like a super easy dish that would be perfect for the holidays! The cranberries and nuts make it beautiful and who doesn’t love apple cider?! Delish! Pinning :)
Thanks for pinning and agreed, totally perfect for the holidays!
Gorgeous salad Averie!! Jon and I had a little wine and cheese party for 2 over the weekend so the leftover Stilton went onto a salad nearly identical to this Monday (only difference was my balsamic dressing) and I subbed gouda in your spinach, apple, white cheddar salad yesterday. Today’s combo is your winter squash and cranberry salad.(I found delicata). I love blue cheese (and my neighbor has an apple tree) so I see many repeats of this salad. I am trying your cranberry dressing too–it looks awesome!
Thanks for making so many of my salads lately! That winter squash salad was so good, I need to remake that one :) Glad you found delicata! And gouda as a sub for cheddar sounds great to me in the other salad!
And you had a wine and cheese party with leftover cheese? I wish I could say that. Cheese is my thing and I have to restrain myself from polishing off a block myself…ha!
I splurged on a nice wedge of blue cheese and did this again today using your dressing this time. I love it–really tangy and perfect against the apple, sweet nuts and salty blue. I used to make blender dressings with various dried fruits but forgot about it–thanks for bringing me back!! I pretty much tripled the recipe and have a mason jar full of it for the week.?
I love a good wedge of blue cheese! I know you don’t have a Trader Joe’s super close but my favorite is the Castello Blue blue cheese. Maybe you can get it at other grocery stores besides TJs but their cheese is the cheapest I think! It’s so smooth and creamy, more like a brie in terms of softness at room temp than a harder blue cheese. If you need a new one to try, I go through at least 2 blocks a week of that one :)
And so glad you loved the salad and all the flavor pairings! Nice when you can remember something you used to make, too, like blender dressings! Glad you have a stash for the week! :)
This salad has all my favorite stuff. I’m obsessed with blue cheese, and then the apples and nuts are fantastic. Love the dressing, too! This is the best dinner.
Best dinner because it’s easy and it’s a salad so it’s automatically healthy, right! :)