The Ultimate Honey Dijon Apple Bacon Cranberry Salad: A Flavorful Fall Delight
Get ready to fall in love with the ultimate autumn-inspired side dish: the Honey Dijon Apple Bacon Cranberry Salad! This vibrant salad is a true celebration of fall flavors, combining the crispness of apples, the savory crunch of bacon, the tart sweetness of cranberries, and the earthy notes of walnuts, all tossed with fresh spinach and drizzled with an exquisitely balanced Honey Dijon Dressing. While it absolutely “screams FALL,” its irresistible combination of textures and tastes makes it a fantastic addition to your table any time of the year. Trust us, you won’t be able to stop eating this one!
Having a house full of eager tasters – like our incredible Entice Films crew – is a huge bonus. It means every recipe gets a thorough review before we unleash it to our over 5 million monthly visitors. This particular salad was an instant hit, disappearing faster than we could make it! It’s not just a Thanksgiving showstopper; it’s a versatile side that can elevate any meal, from a casual weeknight dinner to a festive holiday spread.
If you’ve been dreaming of the perfect side salad, look no further. We have many salad recipes here, often designed as hearty main meals to satisfy real hunger. But this one is different. This Honey Dijon Apple Bacon Cranberry Salad is CRAZY good and perfectly complements heavier main courses. We especially loved it alongside this Crispy Slow Cooker Turkey, where its fresh, tangy profile cut through the richness beautifully, creating a truly memorable dining experience.
The Star of the Show: Our Perfect Honey Dijon Dressing
Every great salad starts with an exceptional dressing, and this recipe is no exception. The foundation of this incredible salad is one of our all-time favorite salad dressings: a homemade Honey Mustard, or more specifically, a Honey Dijon dressing. You might recognize its essence from the dressing we used in our popular Honey Mustard Chicken Avocado & Bacon Salad. For this cranberry-apple salad, we’ve fine-tuned that classic, carefully adjusting a few elements to perfectly complement the new ingredients. And let us tell you, the result was beyond expectations. Not just once, but three times over, we were absolutely thrilled with the flavor!
This dressing achieves a heavenly balance with the ideal ratio of high-quality honey for natural sweetness, robust Dijon mustard for its tangy kick and emulsifying properties, a splash of crisp apple cider vinegar for brightness, and a smooth, fruity olive oil to bring it all together. Each ingredient plays a crucial role, creating a harmonious blend that coats every leaf and piece of this vibrant salad with irresistible flavor. It’s light yet flavorful, sweet yet savory, and truly ties all the diverse components of the salad into a cohesive, delicious experience.
Crafting Your Perfect Salad: Tips and Tricks
How to Make This Effortlessly Delicious Salad
This salad is so straightforward to assemble that it barely needs instructions, but we’re happy to share our pro tips to ensure your Honey Dijon Apple Bacon Cranberry Salad is nothing short of spectacular. The beauty of this recipe lies in its simplicity and the quality of its fresh ingredients, making it accessible for any home cook, regardless of their culinary experience.
- Start with Fresh Greens: The foundation of any great salad is fresh, crisp greens. There’s truly nothing worse than wilted or soggy spinach. We highly recommend using vibrant baby spinach or a high-quality mixed salad blend that includes spinach. If you’re looking to explore other options, romaine lettuce offers a satisfying crunch, while raw kale (massaged lightly with a tiny bit of olive oil to soften it) can add a wonderfully earthy and nutritious twist if you’re a fan. To save time and make your life easier, opt for already washed and ready-to-use leaves from your grocery store.
- Crispy Bacon First: Begin by cooking your bacon. Achieving perfectly crispy bacon is key to this salad’s texture profile. While the bacon sizzles to golden perfection, you can simultaneously prep the rest of your ingredients. This efficient multitasking ensures everything is ready at the same time, making assembly a breeze. Cook it until it’s wonderfully crisp, then drain excess fat and chop into bite-sized pieces.
- Customize Your Crunch: This salad is incredibly forgiving and adaptable to your personal preferences. For a truly unique flavor, we used walnuts that our talented Entice Films baker quickly tossed in a frying pan with a dash of ground cumin. Yes, you heard that right – cumin! It added an AMAZEBALLS, unexpected warmth and depth that perfectly complemented the other ingredients. You don’t have to follow this exact step, of course; it’s entirely up to you. Plain toasted walnuts are fantastic, or you could experiment with other nuts like pecans, almonds, or cashews, each offering a distinct flavor and texture.
- Cranberry Love: Can I just express how much I absolutely ADORE cranberries in this salad? They are not merely an ingredient; they are tiny bursts of pure joy! Their distinct tartness provides the perfect counterpoint to the sweetness of the honey and apples, and their chewy texture adds another layer of interest to each bite. If cranberries aren’t your favorite, don’t fret! You can easily substitute them with chopped dried dates, apricots, or figs for a different, but equally delicious, kind of sweetness and chewiness.
- The Feta Factor: Let’s have a serious chat about feta cheese. PLEASE, for the love of all that is delicious, make every effort to find fresh feta from the deli counter instead of the pre-packaged, hardened blocks. Fresh feta boasts a super creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture and a more nuanced, briny flavor that simply cannot be beaten by its less-creamy, pre-crumbed counterparts. We often use Danish Feta for its exceptional creaminess, but any fresh, soft feta you can find will be the BEST choice for this salad. Its salty creaminess is essential!
- Taming the Red Onion: Onion rings? YES, PLEASE! Red onion adds a fantastic zing and a beautiful pop of color. However, if you find the raw punch of red onion flavor a bit too intense for your palate, there’s a simple trick: soak the sliced red onions in a bowl of cold water for about 10-15 minutes. This magical step significantly mellows their pungent bite, leaving you with a milder, more pleasant flavor. Alternatively, you can substitute with a couple of tablespoons of thinly sliced green scallions for a lighter onion essence.
- Apple Variety Matters: Which kind of apples should you use? For my husband, who adores bitter-tasting apples, we went with crisp green Granny Smith. For myself, I prefer the natural sweetness and vibrant color of red delicious apples. The best approach is to use a mix to get the best of both worlds – the tartness of Granny Smith provides a wonderful contrast, while sweeter varieties like Gala, Fuji, or Pink Lady add a lovely crispness and mellow sweetness. We’ve found that using half of each variety provides a perfect balance.
- Seasoning Smart: You’ll notice we don’t add any extra salt to the dressing, and there’s a good reason for it! Both the savory bacon and the briny feta cheese contribute ample saltiness to the salad, ensuring a perfectly balanced flavor profile without needing additional seasoning in the dressing itself. However, taste is personal, so always feel free to add a pinch of salt and fresh cracked black pepper to your assembled salad if you prefer a bit more seasoning after tasting.
This salad truly embodies the spirit of indulgent yet fresh eating. Each bite offers a delightful symphony of flavors and textures – from the creamy feta and crisp apples to the chewy cranberries and crunchy walnuts, all harmonized by the incredible honey dijon dressing. It’s an experience, not just a meal.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences! Let us know what you think in the comments below after you’ve tried this fantastic recipe!
Explore More Delicious Salad Recipes:
Looking for more amazing salad creations? Check out these other popular recipes:
- Honey Mustard Chicken, Avocado + Bacon Salad
- Avocado Greek Salad & Greek Salad Dressing
- Balsamic Chickpea Avocado Feta Salad
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Honey Dijon Apple Bacon Cranberry Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
- 4-6 cups baby spinach or mixed salad leaves including spinach
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup crushed walnuts
- 1/3 cup Danish feta cheese
- 1/2 red apple sweet, sliced
- 1/2 granny smith apple sliced
- 1/4 cup red onion sliced
- 4 slices bacon cooked and sliced or chopped
Dressing:
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3-4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Instructions
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Add all of the SALAD ingredients into a large salad bowl.
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Combine all of the DRESSING ingredients in a smaller bowl and mix well. Pour the dressing over the salad.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.