This filling kale salad with warm wild rice, roasted butternut squash, toasted pecans, goat cheese, and sweet-tart dried cranberries is dressed with an apple cider and maple dressing full of fall flavors.
This Is My Favorite Leafy Green Salad to Make in the Fall
Fall is the opportune time for transitioning from the lighter-flavored salads of summer to hearty salads with mega staying power that keep you satiated all day.
Like my spinach salad with hot bacon dressing and my curried butternut squash salad with roasted grapes, this kale salad with wild rice, roasted butternut squash, and goat cheese is a lofty salad with lots of textures and big flavors.
Lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale) is sliced into ribbons and then massaged with a sweet and tangy apple cider and maple dressing. It all gets tossed with nutty wild rice, sweet caramelized roasted butternut squash cubes, tart-dried cranberries, earthy thyme, crunchy toasted pecans, and creamy goat cheese.
It’s so satisfying and perfect as a filling side dish or mouthful main meal, healthy and bursting with vibrant color and texture. This is the perfect salad to enjoy all fall long, and it’s a great choice if you’ve been searching for a green salad for Thanksgiving, too.
Enjoy!
Ingredient Notes
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Butternut squash — Gets simply seasoned with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper so the naturally sweet flavor of the squash can shine.
- Lacinato kale — Is my kale of choice for salads because it’s a little more tender and far less bitter than curly kale.
- Shallot — Mince it finely to add a pop of flavor without the danger of chomping down on a big bite.
- Wild rice — I used a wild rice blend from Lundberg, but you can use your favorite.
- Pecans — Toasting the pecans enhances their flavor and gives them a buttery texture.
- Dried cranberries — Add a chewy, sweet-tart flavor.
- Goat cheese — I prefer using creamy goat cheese crumbles in my salads.
- Apple cider dressing — Apple cider vinegar, pure maple syrup, grainy mustard, a pinch of thyme, and some good olive oil are all you need to make the dressing for this butternut squash salad.
How to Make This Kale Salad with Butternut Squash
- Roast the butternut squash. The trick to perfectly caramelized butternut squash cubes is to cut them all fairly small (about a 1-inch dice), coat well in olive oil, and to roast at a high heat on an unlined sheet pan. If there’s enough oil on the squash, they won’t stick to the pan and that direct contact with the hot metal will create the golden edges we all crave in 15 minutes flat.
- Meanwhile, cook the wild rice and toast the pecans. Cook the wild rice while toasting the pecans in a skillet, keeping an eye out so they don’t burn. You can add both ingredients warm to the salad, or set them aside to cool before tossing.
- Whisk or shake the dressing. Whisk the vinegar, mustard, and maple syrup in a small bowl (or just add to a jar). Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking (or shaking) to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper.
- Massage the kale and assemble the salad. Soften the kale by massaging it with some cider dressing while adding the sliced shallots to mellow their heat. Add the remaining salad ingredients to the bowl and toss to coat with 2-3 tablespoons more dressing, adding more if needed.
Substitutions and Additions
- Substitute toasted walnuts, pepitas, or candied pecans for the toasted pecans
- Because it has a deeper flavor, I prefer lacinato kale, but curly kale or even spinach works as well
- Try cooked quinoa or orzo in place of the wild rice
- You could use aged white cheddar, crumbled feta, blue cheese, or creamy gorgonzola instead of goat cheese
- Try dried cherries in lieu of cranberries
- For added protein, baked chicken or roasted chicken would be a delicious addition
- Swap the butternut squash cubes for roasted acorn squash slices
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Butternut Squash Kale Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 2 cups butternut squash , peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (from a 2 pound butternut squash)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 8 cups lacinato kale , washed, stemmed, and cut into ribbons (from 2 bunches)
- 2 tablespoons minced shallot , from 1 shallot
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice
- ⅓ cup toasted pecan halves
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup goat cheese , crumbled
Apple Cider and Maple Dressing
- 4 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons whole grain or stone ground mustard
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme , minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Add squash to a large sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Use your hands to toss the squash so it is evenly coated, arranging in an even layer.
- Roast the butternut squash cubes. Place the squash in the oven to roast for about 15-20 minutes, or until squash is golden brown and bottoms are caramelized.
- Cook the wild rice. While the squash roasts, cook the wild rice according to the package directions.
- Toast the pecans. Add them to a skillet over medium heat and toast until fragrant and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Make the dressing. Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and maple syrup in a small bowl (or add to a jar with a fitte lid). Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking (or shaking) to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper. If you like it on the sweeter side, add more maple syrup to taste.
- Assemble the salad. Add the kale and shallot to a large bowl and massage it with a tablespoon of the cider dressing until the leaves begin to tenderize and soften. Add the remaining salad ingredients to the bowl and toss to coat with 2-3 more tablespoons or so of the dressing, adding more if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
What to Serve with This Salad
I love eating this salad as a main course because even though it’s vegetarian, it’s very hearty. However, if you wanted to enjoy it as a side, that’s a great option as well. Here’s what I would serve with it:
More Kale-Based Salads to Try
We send good emails. Subscribe to FoodieCrush and have each post plus exclusive content only for our subscribers delivered straight to your e-mail box.
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest for more FoodieCrush inspiration.
As always, thank you for reading and supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. There may be affiliate links in this post of which I receive a small commission. All opinions are always my own.
TraciB
May I ask what brand wild rice you are using? This looks wonderful, but the photos show a lot of white rice along with some of the dark brown wild rice. I’m just a little confused. Thanks so much.
Hi Traci, I used Lundberg brand of wild rice.
A different Heidi
I had the same thought, Traci. I went to lundberg.com and while they do sell 100% wild rice packets, Heidi probably used one of their Wild Rice Blends, which has “the whole grain goodness of black, brown, red, and wild rice.” I think I detect all those grains in the photo.
I think the blend is actually a better choice for this salad. I made a wild rice salad for a potluck and, while tasty, it was pretty dense and chewy. It was also very expensive. I still have some of the wild rice and also some brown rice in my pantry, so I will use both of them. I’m sure the black rice and and red rice in the Lundberg mix also add beautiful texture and color.
jk
Can I substitute spinach for the kale? I don’t care for kale, thank you
Hayley
Yes, you most definitely can sub spinach!