Roasted Pumpkin and Pecan Salad
This delicious kale salad might look complicated, but it’s actually quite simple! Roasted pumpkin and candied pecans make it the perfect fall salad.
Jump to RecipeWhen you want to bring a delicious and healthy green salad to a potluck or gathering, this should be the one! It looks fancy, but it’s so easy to make. This salad is sweet and salty with kale, pumpkin (or butternut squash), pecans, goat cheese, dried cranberries, and honey drizzled pumpkin seeds.
Want to save this post?
Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox.
Ingredients in Roasted Pumpkin and Pecan Salad
- Kale: Kale is a hearty green to use on a salad. It might be quite crunchy and bitter, but massaging it with olive oil and salt makes it the perfect base for this salad.
- Goat cheese! I’m a huge fan of soft cheeses, and goat cheese is a must have any time you want a sweet salad.
- Dried cranberries: You can find unsweetened dried cranberries, or get the traditional kind. Either way, dried cranberries add a nice garnishing to a sweet and salty salad.
- Roasted pumpkin (or butternut squash). This might be the most complicated part of the salad, but it’s really not as hard as you think. Cube up the squash and cook in an oven for 20 minutes! Easy, peasy!
- Pecans and pumpkin seeds, baked with honey and salt.
and that’s it! You’ll want to try this roasted pumpkin and pecan salad for yourself, trust me!
Pumpkin Pecan Green Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 10 ounces kale stems removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 ounces goat cheese crumbled
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
Pumpkin
- 1.5 lbs pumpkin, cubed
- 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper
Pecans
- 1 cup pecans
- 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Dressing
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Place the kale into a large bowl and massage the olive oil and salt into the leaves for 3-4 minutes, then set aside.
- Place the cubed squash (pumpkin or butternut) onto a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Drizzle with oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss until evenly coated. Place the baking sheet into the hot oven and roast for 20-25 minutes.
- Place the pecans and pumpkin seeds in a medium bowl, drizzle with honey, season with salt, then toss until evenly coated and spread out evenly onto a second baking sheet, lined with foil or parchment paper. Roast in the hot oven for 8-10 minutes.
- Make the dressing by adding all of the dressing ingredients together into a bowl or jar. Mix well to combine.
- To make the salad, add the goat’s cheese, cranberries, kale, toasted seeds and nuts, and pumpkin into a large salad bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss to combine and serve immediately
Notes
Nutrition
PIN THIS FOR LATER AND FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST!
Quick question- Could I substitute romaine lettuce for the kale? I want to take this to a church function and kale is very unpopular among the congregation.
Absolutely!! I generally use romaine to be honest. It’s rare I purchase kale!