5.0 from 21 votes
Butternut Squash Spinach Salad
Such a tasty flavorful salad recipe! Layered with fresh spinach, roasted butternut squash, bright pomegranate arils, creamy goat cheese, crunch pecans, and it's finished with a tangy red wine vinaigrette. The perfect fall side dish.
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
45 mins
Servings: 8
Course:
Salad
Cuisine:
American
Ingredients
Salad
- 5 cups (1 1/2 lbs) cubed butternut squash, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
- 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
- 10 oz baby spinach
- 1 1/4 cups pomegranate arils
- 4 oz goat cheese or feta, crumbled
Dressing
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 Tbsp minced shallot
- 2 1/2 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- For the butternut squash: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash in a mound on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste and toss to evenly coat in oil. Spread into an even layer.
- Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes then remove from oven and toss. Return to oven and bake until tender, about 10 minutes longer. Allow to cool several minutes before adding to salad.
- For the Salad: In a large salad bowl toss together spinach, squash, 1/2 of the pecans and 1/2 of the pomegranate arils.
- Drizzle with desired amount of dressing and gently toss. Sprinkle with remaining pecans, pomegranate arils and goat cheese and serve immediately.
- For the dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and season with salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper). Process until well emulsified.
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