This colorful Apple Cranberry Spinach Salad with Broccoli and Feta is crisp, refreshing, and the perfect blend of savory sweet to enjoy all Fall and Winter long!
If you walk by my kitchen, one lone fact is blazingly apparent:
I need to start hiding my apples.
Nestled in a wooden bowl, rests a week’s wroth of apples. Colorful and piled high in a mountain of healthy goodness, each with a teeny tiny bite taken out of the center….
Um, yeah.
My toddler has managed to, without me knowing, take a bite out of every single apple in the bunch. I don’t know whether I should be angry or impressed, because her OCD tendencies really shine with this one.
Granted if you placed a bowl of cookies on the counter I might be tempted to do the very same thing.
Well played, chickpea. Well played.
Apple Cranberry Spinach Salad with Broccoli and Feta
Empty your crisper and jazz up your cold weather eats with this sensational salad recipe! As always salad measurements are just a guideline, dive into that crisper and use up what you have, adding extra of your favorites as desired. Have fun with it and eat. yo. veggies.
Apple Cranberry Spinach Salad with Broccoli and Feta
Ingredients
- 4-5 oz fresh baby spinach
- ½ cup chopped broccoli
- ½ cup chopped grapes green or red
- 1 apple half or whole, chopped (I used honey crisp)
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2-4 TBSP dried cranberries
- 2-4 TBSP roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- black pepper to taste (optional)
POPPYSEED RANCH DRESSING:
- ½ cup plain greek yogurt or sour cream
- ¼ cup buttermilk extra if desired
- ¼ cup quality mayonnaise (homemade or store bought)
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ tsp lemon juice or white vinegar
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
- ½ tsp dried parsley
- ½ tsp dried dill
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp paprika
- 1/8-1/4 tsp garlic powder to taste
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Start with the dressing (skip if using premade)
- Ranch dressing always tastes it’s absolute best made ahead of time. Whisk and chill for a few hours before serving or make things simple by tossing it together the night before.
- Peel 1 clove of garlic, then smash and mince it into a paste.
- Season with salt.
- Combine salted garlic paste with remaining dressing ingredients and whisk well.
- Pop in the fridge to chill for a few hours for flavors to set.
- Wash + dry spinach.
- Combine with broccoli, apples, grapes, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and pepitas.
- Toss with dressing and serve.
- Season with black pepper, to taste. Feel free to sprinkle with extra poppy seeds to garnish. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
substitutions and swaps
I tossed my salad with a homemade poppy seed ranch dressing, but feel free to use a premade salad dressing or your favorite homemade dressing recipe! Anything goes when it comes to dressing your veggies. Follow your taste buds and have fun with it!
My super healthy Maple Citrus Dressing is also STELLAR with this seasonal salad!
As for toppings, sunflower seeds make another great addition. Goat cheese may be subbed for feta if desired or the cheese can be skipped entirely and an extra protein may be added in the form of these tasty 5 minute candied walnuts or pecans.
more scrumptious salads:
- Greek Green Bean Salad – skip the casserole and try this healthy side
- Cranberry Cilantro Quinoa Salad
- Cranberry Quinoa Salad with Candied Walnuts — reader favorite!
- Green Bean and Quinoa Salad with Maple Citrus Dressing
Questions & Reviews
FYI you’re missing poppy seeds in your instructions
Ohmygosh Michelle thank you! I recently had the entire site renovated and it seems a glitch took off over half the dressing recipe out of the recipe card – all fixed now! xoxo
Just made this last night and ate it today…it is a keeper!! The dressing was amazing.
So stoked you enjoyed it Michelle, thanks! 🙂 xoxo
Gorgeous Salad Jen! Your toddler is a little turkey, thank goodness they are so dang adorable at this age, Taking one bite out of each of your apples…LOL Great clean out the refrigerator recipe! Sharing and pinning!
Thank you so much Bobbi! Haha and yes the cuteness is totally a defense mechanism in their favor when they’re little and crazypants like this!