Apple Pecan Fall Salad

This Fall Salad with apples and pecans is perfect for autumn! This salad, made with delicious honey mustard dressing, is a great holiday side dish or just a hearty lunch.

A salad with apples, blue cheese, pecans, and salad greens are being topped with a honey mustard dressing.

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I am so excited to share this amazing Fall Salad Recipe with you. It has the perfect combination of flavors and textures and then is topped with delicious Honey Mustard Dressing. It is a great savory recipe for your apples from apple picking.

Made with some simple ingredients, this is a reader favorite recipe. It is delicious enough to entertain with at a holiday or a party, but it is simple enough that you could take it with for lunch. And, I have lots of variations listed below so you get the exact flavors you are looking for.

Reader Review

Just took this to a Christmas party last night of 14 women and everyone loved it! Never thought they would eat the whole thing! Will probably make for the family Christmas dinner.

How to Make a Fall Salad

If you can dice fruit and whisk dressing, you can make this salad. Please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients with measurements.

Make the salad dressing. Whisk together the ingredients. This dressing will keep well in the refrigerator if you want to make it the night before. Just let it come to room temperature before serving and give it a good shake.
Combine the remaining ingredients. In a large bowl combine the mixed greens, diced fruit, craisins, blue cheese and pecans. You may find that it is better to leave the cheese on the side if you are serving guests.

An overhead photo of the Apple Pecan Fall salad with both red and green apples, pecans, and blue cheese.

Honey Mustard Dressing

As mentioned, I made my own salad dressing for this recipe. It comes together simply with ingredients that I always have on hand. Like most salad dressings it is a balance of oil and an acid. Here we are using lime juice.

Olive Oil
Lime Juice
Honey
Mustard
Salt & Pepper

Substitutions and Variations

Swap out the blue cheese. Not everyone is a fan of blue cheese. You can easily take that out and add in feta cheese instead.
Change the pecans. If you can’t find walnuts or they don’t appeal to you, use walnuts instead.
Kick the pecans up a notch. This recipe is great with salted pecans, but even more festive with candied pecans.
Mix up the apples. I love Gala Fuji and Jonathan apples in this, but you can use what you have.
Add in bacon. Looking for another great flavor to add to this salad? Pop in some bacon like we do in my Apple Salad with Bacon.

Storing Leftovers

Leftovers of this salad can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days. My suggestion would be to serve the dressing on the side. Then lightly toss any leftovers with a little dressing. This will keep the fruit from browning in the refrigerator.

FAQ

Can this fall salad be made ahead?

This isn’t a great salad to prepare ahead of time because the apple and pear will brown. The dressing can be made ahead, which will save you a little time. Just be sure to bring it to room temperature and give it a good shake before serving.

What can I use besides blue cheese?

Feta, goat cheese, or slices of Parmesan (like in my Brussel Sprout Salad) are all good substitutes. I also have other swaps listed above.

The Apple Pecan Fall Salad with red and green apple slices (sliced into little triangles), pecans, and blue cheese.

What to Serve with Fall Salad

This salad makes a great Thanksgiving salad. At other times of the year, you can round this recipe out with a few other dishes, and it can be a meal to entertain with! Try serving it with:

If you make this great salad recipe or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

5 from 38 votes