Apple Walnut Salad with Quinoa, Baby Spinach and Dried Cranberries
on Sep 22, 2024
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This apple walnut salad is crisp, fresh and full of fall crunch. With dried cranberries, cheddar and baby spinach, there is so much goodness in each bite. Quinoa makes the salad filling, so you can think of it as a side dish or a main. It’s also great for meal prep.
For another fall bowl of greens, try this kale salad with apples and grapes.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This is a hearty salad recipe that’s perfect for lunch or dinner. Quinoa does what quinoa does what quinoa does best. It adds protein and fiber, and that’s what makes a salad more substantial and entree-worthy.
If you are looking for a salad that works for meal prep, this one is it. Because it has a mix of ingredients and not just leafy greens, it keeps well in the fridge. This salad recipe works well for workday lunches.
You can go all in on apple season. While I can’t say no to homemade apple pie, for me apples are a fall fruit that I am more likely to eat in salads. Their mild sweetness plays well with savory ingredients, creating a nice balance.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Apples: For salads, I always use apple varieties that are crisp. Besides taste and texture, they are easier to cleanly slice. Choose a type that is slow to brown once it’s cut. Try Pink Lady, Fuji or Honeycrisp apples.
- Walnuts: It is very important that you toast the nuts. This is what brings out their flavor. Put them on a sheet pan in a 350-degree F oven for 5-7 minutes. Watch the nuts to make sure they don’t burn.
- Cheddar cheese and apples pair are meant to be together. I like an English aged cheddar. It’s a little bit crumbly.
- Celery adds more crunch along with the diced apples. I finely dice the stalks, so the celery ends up well mixed in with the rest of the ingredients.
- Red onions give the salad something nice and sharp. Again, this is about layering in sweet and savory flavors.
- Dried cranberries tend to stick to each other, so pull them apart when you are measuring them.
- Baby spinach: Even though this is more of a quinoa salad, I still like to stir in greens. You can substitute with baby arugula.
- Parsley: With everything else, I also include chopped fresh herbs.
- Quinoa: You can use white, red, black or a blend of all three. This comes down to appearance and what you have in your pantry. I simmer the quinoa in water.
- Red wine vinaigrette: I whisk together minced garlic, whole grain mustard, kosher salt, black pepper, fresh lemon juice, red wine vinegar and olive oil. You can substitute with white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
How To Make This Apple Walnut Salad Recipe
1. Simmer the quinoa. Combine the quinoa and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. The water should absorb and the grains should be tender in about 12 minutes. Let the quinoa sit covered for 5 minutes. Then fluff it with a fork.
2. Make the dressing. Stir the garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl.
3. Combine the salad ingredients including the quinoa, apples, celery, walnuts, onions, cheddar, cranberries, spinach and parsley in a large bowl.
4. Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad. Toss to combine.
Serving
As mentioned, you can treat this salad as a side dish or a main dish. If you want to serve it with something, I like eating the salad with a fall soup such as chickpea soup, chunky vegetable soup, roasted carrot soup or spicy butternut squash soup. Also, this can be a holiday salad for Thanksgiving.
Leftovers & Storage
Even though there are far more quinoa and apples than lettuce, if you are doing meal prep or you think you may have leftovers, only toss the portion of the salad in the dressing that you are planning to eat at that time.
You can store the salad in an airtight container up to 4 days in the refrigerator. The apples may brown. Store the vinaigrette in a mason jar separate from the salad. If the dressing solidifies in the chill of the fridge, run the jar under warm water and shake it or put it out at room temperature about 15 minutes before you’re going to use it.
Recipe Tips
You can make the vinaigrette up to 2 days ahead of time. Let it sit out for 15 minutes at room temperature before tossing it into the salad.
It’s best to wait to slice the apples until you are going to assemble the salad. Even though the recipe calls for apple varieties that don’t brown as much as others, you want them in peak form. If you are making the salad for meal prep, I recommend tossing the apples with a little lemon juice to prevent browning.
More Apple Salad Recipes
Cabbage Apple Salad with Blue Cheese
Fall Harvest Salad
Brussels Sprout Apple Salad
Apple Walnut Salad with Quinoa, Baby Spinach and Dried Cranberries
Ingredients
For quinoa
- 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup water
For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For salad
- 3 crisp apples, diced
- 2 celery stalks, finely diced
- 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onions
- 4 ounces aged English cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
- Combine the quinoa and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, simmering on low for 11-12 minutes until the water has been absorbed. Remove the quinoa from the heat. Let stand covered for 5 minutes. Then fluff it with a fork.
- For the vinaigrette, whisk the garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, apples, celery, walnuts, onions, cheddar, cranberries, spinach and parsley.
- Drizzle the salad with the vinaigrette. Toss to combine
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Paige – Love your recipes! I’m getting ready to head out to the grocery store to get the ingredients for this yummy salad, but — how many apples? I’m sure I’m stating the obvious, but I am guessing two apples for this recipe and sliced thinly like in the picture?
Thanks,
Sophie
Hi Sophie. Yes, 2 apples, sliced thinly. Thank you for catching my major typo–an apple recipe that doesn’t have apples in the recipe! Oops! Apologies for not replying sooner. I hope you enjoyed the salad. – Paige