Come fall, I tend to cook from a select roster of recipes that make the season feel extra cozy, and this roasted fall harvest salad is always on the list.
Now objectively, there’s a lot going on in this salad, but each component complements the next so well and makes this bowl extra special. Think fluffy quinoa, spiced crispy chickpeas, and honeynut squash, paired with kale, toasted pumpkin seeds, and raisins, tossed in a maple tahini dressing. Like doesn’t this salad scream fall?!
Beyond flavor, this bowl is packed with nutrients, and high in both fiber and protein! Plus, it’s the perfect hybrid dish that functions as a standalone meal and a show-stopping side dish.
Roasted Fall Harvest Salad Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need for this roasted fall harvest salad recipe.
- Honeynut squash: Feel free to use any variety of squash you like. Kabocha, butternut, or honey patch squash would be the best substitutes here.
- Chickpeas: I just used canned chickpeas for convenience.
- Quinoa
- Dino kale: This variety tastes best, but feel free to use any variety you like best.
- Pumpkin seeds/pepitas
- Golden raisins or Medjool dates: Trader Joe’s and some specialty grocery stores sell golden raisins, but Medjool dates or unsweetened cranberries also work well.
- Lemons
- Olive oil
- Tahini: In a dressing like this where the tahini is the star (duh), I like using a higher quality (and yes, higher price) tahini that will shine through. Soom Tahini is my favorite: it’s super creamy, silky smooth, and has an intense sesame flavor without any underlying bitterness.
- Maple Syrup: I recommend using an Amber-grade maple syrup (previously known as Grade A).
- Apple Cider: In the previous version of this salad, I used an apple, however, I’ve since updated the recipe to use apple cider for two reasons: texture (the apple makes the dressing gritty), and more concentrated apple flavor (the whole apple muted the flavor and diluted the dressing).
- Spices: Including cumin, coriander, onion, garlic, cayenne, and Ceylon cinnamon.
Method Behind This Fall Harvest Salad
As with most of my salads, the method behind this salad is designed to save you time so you can prep ingredients in parallel.
While the quinoa cooks and the veggies roast, you can prepare the kale, and maple tahini dressing. All in all, this salad takes about 45 minutes from start to finish, and most of that time is hands-off cooking time for the squash, chickpeas, and quinoa.
Quick Quinoa 101
My method for fluffy is a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water. So for 1/2 cup of quinoa, use 1 cup of water and a large pinch of salt.
Now, I’m sure you’ve heard that you must rinse your quinoa otherwise it’ll be bitter. The reason is that rinsing the quinoa helps remove quinoa’s natural coating (saponin), which can make it taste bitter. However, most quinoa you buy at the store is already pre-rinsed before its package, but you can rinse your quinoa just to be sure. I feel like it’s unnecessary, but you do you!
But back to my quinoa method.
Add the quinoa, water, and salt into a large pot. Place the pot on the stove, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and partially cover the pot. Let the quinoa cook undisturbed for 10-12 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. This next step is key, turn the heat off, fully cover the pot with the lid, and let the quinoa sit for 10 minutes. The “sitting” helps the quinoa steam and cook off any excess water.
A Few Notes
- If you want to meal-prep any salad of mine, this is probably the most meal-prep friendly. Store the veggies and quinoa together in a glass tupperware, and the dressing in a glass jar in the fridge. I prefer to store the crispy chickpeas like granola; in a glass container with room to breathe in the pantry. They stay pretty crispy like this. If your chickpeas get a little soft, just reheat them on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 450°F for 8-10 minutes, they’ll crisp right up! This salad tastes best warm, so whenever you’re ready to eat this, just heat everything at 300°F on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8-10 minutes. The only component that needs to be prepped fresh is the kale.
- Speaking of prepping this salad, it stores well for up to 4 days in a glass tupperware in the fridge. Just reheat it at 300°F on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 10 minutes.
So excited for you to make this salad! Don’t forget to leave a rating and review, love hearing your feedback. And if you have any questions, leave a comment below or send me a DM on Instagram.
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Roasted Fall Harvest Salad
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 2–3 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner, Salads
- Cuisine: American
Description
Think fluffy quinoa, spiced crispy chickpeas, and honeynut squash, paired with kale, toasted pumpkin seeds, and raisins, tossed in a maple tahini dressing. Like doesn’t this salad scream fall?! Plus, it’s the perfect hybrid dish that functions as a standalone meal and a show-stopping side dish.
Ingredients
Chickpeas & Squash
- 1 can (13.4 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 medium (200 g) honeynut squash, cubed
- 1 tsp each ground cumin and coriander
- 1/2 tsp each onion granules, garlic granules, cayenne pepper, and ceylon cinnamon
- Olive oil and kosher salt for drizzling
Other Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (100 g) quinoa, dry
- 5–6 stalks (70 g) dino kale, stemmed and finely chopped
- 1/4 cup (40 g) toasted pepitas/pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup (50 g) golden raisins or chopped dates (optional)
Maple Tahini Dressing
- 1/4 cup (64 g) tahini
- 1/4 cup (40 g) lemon juice
- 3 tbsp unsweetened apple cider
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp each garlic granules, cayenne pepper, and ceylon cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
Instructions
- Roast the chickpeas and squash. Preheat your oven to 450°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Dump the chickpeas and squash onto the pan, sprinkle with the spices, and a generous amount of olive oil and salt. Toss to mix thoroughly and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the chickpeas are crispy.
- While the chickpeas and squash roast, make the quinoa. My method for fluffy is a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water. So for 1/2 cup of quinoa, use 1 cup of water, along with a large pinch of salt. Place the pot on the stove, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and partially cover the pot. Let the quinoa cook undisturbed for 10-12 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. This next step is key, turn the heat off, fully cover the pot with the lid, and let the quinoa sit for 10 minutes. The “sitting” helps the quinoa steam and cook off any excess water.
- Prep the kale. De-stem the kale using your hands (grab the stem with one hand, and use the other hand to take off the leaves going up the stem). Chop the kale into small pieces, add to a bowl, drizzle with a little EVOO, and sprinkle with salt. Then massage the kale leaves with your hands until they soften – the kale will go down in bulk as well.
- Make the maple tahini dressing. Add all of the ingredients into a jar and whisk to combine – the dressing should be silky smooth and creamy. Adjust salt as needed. Add an additional 1-2 tbsp of apple cider as needed to thin out the dressing to a consistency you like.
- Assemble. Dump the roasted chickpeas and squash into the bowl of kale, along with the quinoa, golden raisins/Medjool dates, and toasted pepitas. Drizzle over half the dressing and toss to combine. Keep the reserved dressing for serving the salad in individual bowls.
Notes
I’ve since updated this recipe and tweaked the dressing slightly. In the previous version of this salad dressing, I used an actual apple, however, I’ve since updated the recipe to use apple cider for two reasons: texture (the apple makes the dressing gritty), and more concentrated apple flavor (the whole apple diluted the dressing too much). That said, leaving the measurements for the original dressing here – just blend everything together in a small blender: 1/4 cup tahini, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 3 tbsp water, 1/2 honeycrisp apple, 1 tsp maple syrup, 1/4 tsp each kosher salt, cumin, garlic powder, and 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper.
Great salad! I usually don’t make recipes that don’t have reviews, but this one was worth the risk. I ended up chopping the remainder of the apple and added it to the salad. My husband enjoyed it too!
Awww so happy to hear you both enjoyed it! Thank you so so much for leaving a review, means the world!
Amazing autumnal flavours! I added some creamy gorgonzola and pickled red onion and it was the best thing ever. Bet it would be great with goat cheese and pecans as well! Also, as someone from the Netherlands, thanks for including the grams!
This was sooo good. We are in full on fall weather where I live so I was wanting something cozy, clean and flavorful. This was it!!! It’s definitely the flavor of fall. My husband is not a salad person because “he’s always hungry after”; however, he enjoyed this one because it was hearty and filled him up.
I substituted butternut squash because I already had one that needed to be used but otherwise followed the recipe exactly- will definitely make again.
So happy you both liked the recipe (ultimate compliment that a non-salad lover like it too haha). Thank you so much for sharing Brandy!!
Delicious! Dressing was a breeze to make in the Vitamix. Next time will add some goat cheese as well!
OMG GENIUS IDEA TO ADD GOAT CHEESE!!! So happy you liked the recipe, thank you for sharing Caroline!!
How many cups is the kale in total?
Depends on how big the bunch I buy is, but I’d guess about 5-6 cups (loosely packed)
This is ridiculously good! We put the apple in the salad and added pomegranate seeds. I love it so much and can’t wait to make it again. Even just the dressing is so tasty! Thanks for this!
Awww so happy to hear you liked it Catey! The pomegranate addition sounds amazing!!
I used butternut and curly kale, because that’s what was in my CSA, and chopped-up apple instead of raisins, because I’m drowning in apples from my CSA and prefer those to raisins. Dried figs would be good, too. I also toasted the squash seeds instead of pumpkin seeds–no sense throwing them away. When I run out of those, I’ll probably use my maple/cayenne toasted walnuts because I love those in salads. Do you peel the apple you put in the dressing? I didn’t, and it was fine–not smooth, but tasty. I’ll probably add a bit more maple syrup; I like my salad dressings a little on the sweet side.
Love that you were able to use your CSA produce!!!
I typically don’t peel the apple, but I do have a high-speed blender (my Vitamix) which does make the dressing pretty smooth.
LOVE this! The spice blend on the squash is incredible.
Yaaay, thrilled you like it! Thank you so much for sharing a review Cameron!!
Looks amazing! I’m allergic to apples – any substitute suggestion for the dressing?
Pear would taste amazing (I’d use about 1/2 a medium-sized pear).
I loved this salad! This is the first time I made tahini dressing and I’ve wanted to for a while. I really loved the whole combo, as did my boyfriend.
Awwww so happy you both liked it; thank you so much for leaving a review!! 🙂
I loved this recipe! I was happy to find organic honeynut squash at my local Meijer. I used dates instead of the raisins and it was fantastic. Made great leftovers as well. I will be making again.
Yaaay! Thrilled you liked it Alexa, the dates sound amazing, will have to try that!!
My new favourite recipe! I swapped the squash for sweet potato and the kale for spinach – soo delicious! Super filling too and doesn’t feel like you’re eating salad 🙂
Thrilled you liked it Christina!! Legit my sole goal with salad bowls like these is to make them feel like you’re not eating a salad 🙂
This looks delicious, I will be making it tonight.
Should this be served when the quinoa is warm?
I love adding in the quinoa when it’s still warm; it wilts the kale slightly so it’s easier on your digestion. Plus, it makes the salad super cozy!!
Loved this recipe and will definitely make again! Like others have commented I chopped up the other half of the apple for the salad which was a great addition. I also used farro instead of quinoa because my husband’s teeth can’t handle quinoa. This recipe made more than enough for 4 servings for us. Very delicious!
Thrilled you both liked it, thank you so much for sharing a review Allyson!!
This was fantastic. I made 1 cup of quinoa so we’d have more leftovers. I can’t wait to make it again.
So happy you liked it Amanda (can confirm that this salad tastes even better as leftovers). Thank you so much for sharing a review!! 🙂
Just made this recipe and I am so pleased with the result! I made a few changes (added some chicken to the squash and chickpeas, used hummus instead of tahini and apple sauce instead of the apple as it was all I had available) and it turned out great. I like heating the quinoa and chickpeas mix and add the dressing and kale salad when serving. Delicious!!
Thrilled you liked this Maya – thank you so much for sharing a review! 🙂
Can the dressing be made a few days earlier?
Yep, it should last up to 4-5 days in the fridge. It’ll naturally separate but just give it a good whisk!
My wife shared this recipe with me and I made it last night. I have to say, this was great! I followed the spirit of this and made a few small adjustments based on what I had on hand.
– Made about double the dressing, which was enough for a total of 3 servings
– Used hummus instead of tahini
– Used a lime instead of lemon (just what I had and I do love lime)
– Added some fresh goat cheese
– Didn’t have raisins
– Had baby kale on hand, skipped the oil massage 😆
– Had butternut squash on hand
Again, this was great. I also was just about to skip the apple but I can say, don’t do it! Just wanted to share my thanks!
So happy you were able to adjust and make this with what you had on hand – definitely one of my favorite things about this salad is how versatile it is!
Thank you so much for leaving such a wonderful review, appreciate it! 🙂
This delicious salad is so hearty and filling! I had a fresh bunch of kale on hand but I substituted Macintosh apple, sweet potato, cannellini beans, and bulgur wheat for the honeycrisp, squash, chickpeas, and quinoa. So yummy!! Will definitely be making this again!
Yaaay, so happy you liked it Juliet. Love that you were able to use what you had on hand!! Thank you so much for leaving a review, means the world!
So yummy! Put pomegranate seeds and feta cheese on top just for fun 😋 I will 100% make this again
Oooh the pomegranate and feta sounds so good with this! So so happy you liked the recipe Sierra, appreciate you leaving a review! 🙂
Have been making this salad a few times already (and in bulk). Also brought it to a few gatherings and it’s always gone in minutes. I make it with pearl couscous and add some vegan feta, very nice! Thanks for the great recipe.
This salad looks SO tasty! I love those chickpeas!
I made this salad and it came out well, but decided to mix pumpkin seeds with pistachios. 🙂
I just read the book Fast Like a Girl, and I feel like this salad is perfect for some of the books hormone feasting recommendations. It turned out delicious and full of flavor! Thank you!