Cranberry Walnut Salad is a seasonal salad perfect for your holiday menus. A homemade balsamic vinaigrette lightly coats assorted lettuces, cranberries, goat cheese and glazed walnuts.
Cranberry Walnut Salad
There’s something about a cranberry walnut salad that evokes thoughts of the holidays.
A beautiful salad with deep red and bright white pops of color is all dressed up for the season.
But trust me, this easy salad recipe will be a welcome addition to your menus all year long.
Bursts of dried cranberries and candied walnuts bring sweetness and crunch to every bite.
Goat cheese lends a creaminess and red onion adds savory notes to this festive salad.
The simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette is the crowning glory of our seasonal salad as it lightly coats the tender lettuce leaves.
For the lettuces in our salad with walnuts, I used a combination of arugula, red leaf lettuce and some baby greens.
You can use this same combination of greens, a combination of your own favorite salad greens or just one green lettuce type.
This salad would taste delicious made with arugula leaves.
In the mood for a main dish salad? You can easily make a cranberry walnut chicken salad by simply topping this recipe with sliced cooked chicken. Rotisserie chicken will taste delicious and is a great short cut or fire up the grill and cook up some chicken breasts.
Add sliced apples for an apple cranberry walnut salad. I could go on and on!
Any way you make it, be sure to add this salad with cranberries and walnuts to your holiday menus this season and year-round too! You’ll be happy you did!
Craving more salads? Here at Swirls we have lots of side dish salad recipes for you!
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Cranberry Walnut Salad FAQ’s
What dressing goes with cranberry walnut salad?
Balsamic salad dressing goes well with a cranberry walnut salad.
Honey Mustard Salad Dressing also makes a delicious addition to this salad.
Our Cranberry Maple Vinaigrette will also taste delicious with this salad.
How to make cranberry walnut salad
Scroll down for the full recipe instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below
- Combine lettuces, dried cranberries, walnuts, goat cheese and red onion
- Toss with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette or your favorite salad dressing
Swirls of Flavor Recipe Tips
- Add sliced apples for added crunch and flavor
- Short on time? Use a store bought balsamic salad dressing
- Make it a main dish and top with sliced cooked chicken
Substitutions
- Substitute your favorite nut for the walnuts
- Substitute feta cheese in place of goat cheese
- Make with chopped fresh garlic in place of the garlic powder
Ingredients for a salad with walnuts
- olive oil – gives delicious flavor to the homemade vinaigrette
- balsamic vinegar - adds sweet tangy flavor
- Dijon mustard – has a tangy, strong and sharp flavor with a hint of spice
- sugar – balances the acidity
- garlic powder – adds a depth of flavor
- kosher salt – makes the flavors pop
- pepper – adds underlying kick of heat
- assorted lettuces – you can use your favorite greens
- dried cranberries – the perfect blend of tart and sweet flavors
- goat cheese – a soft and creamy cheese with a tart flavor
- candied walnuts – adds texture and sweetness
- red onion - adds color and mild onion flavor
Easy Salad Recipes
Cranberry Walnut Salad With Balsamic Vinaigrette
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- 8 cups assorted lettuces , such as arugula, baby greens and red leaf lettuce
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese , 2 ounces
- ½ cup candied walnuts
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
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Instructions
- Combine olive oil, vinegar, Dijon, sugar, garlic powder, kosher salt and pepper until blended;.
- Place lettuces in serving bowl. Top with cranberries, cheese, walnuts and red onion.
- Toss with 6 Tablespoons vinaigrette and serve remaining vinaigrette on the side.
Notes
• Make with your favorite nuts
• Add sliced apples
• Substitute chopped fresh garlic for the garlic powder
• Make with a bottled balsamic salad dressing
• Turn into a main dish and top with sliced cooked chicken
I get excited about everything walnuts these days. Fantastic salad that looks absolutely amazing, too!
This looks so delicious and yummy! I can't wait to make this!
What a great fall salad! We have a bumper crop of pecans this year, so I'll probably make it with those.
This is such a delicious yet simple salad. It's perfect for Thanksgiving. I can't wait to make it again in a few weeks for the big day!
I love love LOVE the cranberries, walnuts, and feta together. So good!
And they're especially delicious when they're glazed walnuts!
Thank you Beth! Enjoy!
It will be delicious with pecans too!
Delicious salad for Thanksgiving!
I made this as a meal, added both apples and chicken. It was delicious!! My adult daughter made a comment about the ingredients I was using and wasn’t sure she would like. I told her to just try one bite( just like when she was little) and she loved it so much she went back for seconds. That was a few weeks ago and she has already asked me to make it again.
Thank you for sharing that! I'm always happy to hear that my followers are enjoying my recipes! I truly appreciate you being here. Thank you, GG