13 Super Delicious Thanksgiving Salad Recipes

Have you ever thought of adding a salad to your Thanksgiving menu? While the turkey often steals the spotlight, incorporating a delicious Thanksgiving salad in your holiday menu can elevate your feast to new heights. That’s why I gathered 13 super delicious Thanksgiving salad recipes.

Salads are not just side dishes; they can offer a balance to heavier items like stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and heavy casseroles.

A thoughtfully crafted salad can introduce seasonal ingredients and textures, making your meal more vibrant and enjoyable.

Creating a Thanksgiving salad that complements a traditional turkey dinner can enhance your holiday feast by adding freshness, color, and a delightful contrast to the rich flavors of the main course.

Why to Include Salads in Your Thanksgiving Menu

You may not have thought of including a salad course in your Thanksgiving menu, but there are good reasons to do so:

  • Salads not only add a refreshing contrast to the rich flavors of typical dishes.
  • Salads provide a vibrant splash of color to your table.
  • Salads can balance out heavier fare and introduce seasonal ingredients that celebrate the harvest of fall.
  • Salads provide a variety of textures and flavors to the meal.
  • Salads can cater to different palates and dietary preferences, especially for those who do not eat turkey, ham, or dishes containing dairy products.

From crisp greens to hearty grains, these dishes can be both satisfying and light, making them perfect accompaniments to the more indulgent items on your table.

Ingredients that Enhance Any Thanksgiving Salad

As you plan your Thanksgiving menu, consider the array of seasonal ingredients that can make your salads truly special. Especially at Thanksgiving, a salad doesn’t have to be just about lettuce and tomatoes.

  • Mixed greens (arugula, spinach, kale)
  • Seasonal fruits (pomegranate seeds, apples, pears)
  • Roasted vegetables (butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, carrots)
  • Nuts and seeds (candied pecans, walnuts, pomegranate ariels)
  • Cheeses (cheddar, blue cheese, feta)
  • Grains (quinoa, farro)
  • Fresh herbs (parsley, thyme)
  • Flavorful dressings (apple cider vinaigrette, honey mustard)
  • Flavorings, such as maple syrup, Dijon mustard

Salad Ideas to Complement Turkey

Traditional Thanksgiving dishes, such as turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy may be delicious, but they are lacking in color, texture and visual interest. Salads can fill in those missing elements.

  • Pomegranate and Acorn Squash Salad: This salad features roasted acorn squash, mixed greens, pomegranate arils, sliced pears, and candied pecans drizzled with an apple cider vinaigrette. The sweetness of the squash and pomegranate balances the savory turkey perfectly.
  • Brussels Sprout Salad: Shredded Brussels sprouts tossed with almonds, dried cranberries, and a lemony dressing create a crunchy texture that contrasts nicely with the softness of turkey. This dish is not only visually appealing but also packed with flavor. Check out the two salads that use Brussels sprouts as the main ingredient.
  • Roasted Beet Salad: A medley of roasted beets combined with goat cheese and walnuts offers earthy flavors that complement turkey while adding a pop of color to your table. One of my favorite salads on the list includes beets.
  • Sweet Potato Salad: This hearty option includes roasted sweet potatoes mixed with feta cheese, red onions, and dried cranberries. It’s great served warm or cold, making it versatile for your Thanksgiving spread. Sweet potatoes aren’t just about a hot dish with marshmallows on top.
  • Apple and Blue Cheese Salad: Mixed greens topped with thinly sliced apples, crumbled blue cheese, pomegranate seeds, and candied pecans create a delightful mix of sweet and savory flavors that pair beautifully with turkey. Apples are the perfect fall fruit to add to a salad. There are quite a few salads that contain apples.

By selecting ingredients that highlight seasonal produce and incorporate textures that contrast with traditional dishes, you can create a Thanksgiving salad that not only complements turkey but also elevates your entire meal experience.

Explore these delicious Thanksgiving salad options. Pick your favorites. Then you can create memorable dishes that will impress your guests and enhance the overall dining experience.

So grab your favorite ingredients and get ready to add some freshness to your Thanksgiving feast!

collage of Thanksgiving salad recipes

It’s Bluesky Browsing #157, and I have discovered some super fabulous Thanksgiving salad recipes for you.

TIP: If a guest offers to bring a dish, give them your chosen salad recipe to make.

Don’t forget the importance of side dishes. Save this collection of wonderful side dishes: 17 Mouthwatering Thanksgiving Side Dishes.

What Was the Criteria for These Thanksgiving Salads?

  • I wanted to find a variety of recipes for different tastes.
  • I looked for different seasonal ingredients to choose from.
  • Easy for all culinary skill levels.
  • At least some of the ingredients can be prepared ahead of time.
  • The salads have different textures, especially soft and crunchy.
  • Salads that are appealing to the senses. They have to look delicious.

I hope that you will love these delicious Thanksgiving salad recipes as much I do.

Thanksgiving salad apple cranberry walnut salad

Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad

Tiffany of Creme de la Creme shares  features a crisp salad apples, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and hearty walnuts to create the perfect autumn-inspired salad. It is an easy and delicious side dish for any of your favorite meals!

Thanksgiving salad autumn harvest salad with pouring vinaigrette

Autumn Chopped Salad

Polly and Rachel of Thrive Home Blog shares
this delicious autumn chopped salad with apple cider vignette that will quickly become your go-to fall apple salad. It’s great for large groups.  

Thanksgiving salad apple cranberry blue cheese pecan salad

Holiday Honeycrisp Salad

This gorgeous salad from Samantha of Five Heart Home is full of flavor and texture, with fresh apple slices, crunchy toasted pecans, chewy dried cranberries, zippy blue cheese, and a tangy-sweet apple cider vinaigrette. It’s perfect as a Christmas salad, a Thanksgiving salad, for a dinner party, or as part of a regular weeknight dinner.

Thanksgiving salad apple cranberry pecan salad

Thanksgiving Salad with Candied Pecans

Chungah of Damn Delicious shares a bright, refreshing fall salad with apples, bacon and the most amazing candied pecans. Perfect for the holidays!

Thanksgiving salad harvest with raspberry vinaigrette

Easy Thanksgiving Salad

Jillian Food Folk and Fun shares this Thanksgiving salad recipe that is great served as a side dish or as an accompaniment to a charcuterie board before the Thanksgiving meal is served.  Thanksgiving Salad recipe serves 16. Perfect for a large gathering.

Thanksgiving salad Brussels sprouts cranberry spredded salad

Crisp Brussels Sprouts Cranberry Salad

Olya of What’s in the Pan delivers this Brussels sprout salad is all about fresh, crisp, shredded sprouts tossed with slightly sweet honey mustard vinaigrette, dried cranberries and chopped pecans. This delicious flavor combination is a perfect fall salad for your holiday recipe repertoire.

Thanksgiving salad Waldorf salad

Classic Waldorf Salad for Thanksgiving

Lisa of Downshiftology picks a class salad for every holiday dinner table. It’s a combination of crisp apples, celery, grapes, and crunchy walnuts, tossed in a tangy-sweet, creamy dressing that adds the perfect refreshing counterpoint to a heavier meal.

Thanksgiving salad sweet potato salad

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Natasha of Natasha’s Kitchen shares a salad with an iconic Thanksgiving vegetables that has all the best flavors of fall wrapped in one delicious salad. It’s loaded with kale, creamy sweet potatoes, crisp apple, and crunchy pecans with the best maple vinaigrette dressing.

Brussels sprouts kale cranberry Thanksgiving salad

Brussels Sprouts Kale and Apple Salad

Coley of Coley Cooks created this easy, flavorful and healthy fall salad with sharp cheddar and bacon that’s perfect for Thanksgiving. It has just the right balance of healthy and indulgent because it’s packed with nutrient dense vegetables and just enough bacon and cheese to make it taste incredible.

Thanksgiving wild rice salad with apples and pomegranates

Wild Rice Salad with Grapes

A colorful, eat-the-rainbow, hearty salad; loaded with fresh, flavorful and satisfying crunchies! Kathleen of The Fresh Cooky shares this wild rice salad with grapes, pecans, apples, and pomegranate is dressed with maple dijon vinaigrette is perfect for anytime you are looking for a bright, crispy, fresh, in season salad.

Thanksgiving salad harvest butternut and apple salad

Roasted Butternut Squash Apple Salad

Sam and Dan of A Head of Thyme
created this salad with classic roasted butternut squash, fresh crisp apples, bright pomegranate seeds, toasted pumpkin seeds, and tangy feta cheese. This fall salad is tossed with kale and a delicious homemade apple cider vinaigrette.

cranberry pineapple jello Thanksgiving salad in a glass sherbet cup

Cranberry Pineapple Jello Salad

If you want a salad that is light and refreshing, then Mindy of MIndy’s Cooking Obsession has the perfect salad for you. This recipe features cranberries, crushed pineapple and raspberry jello. This dish is tangy and sweet and goes perfectly with the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. 

Thanksgiving salad berry salad with beets and feta cheese

Roasted Wheatberry, Beet and Feta Salad

Sue of The View from Great Island has a earthy whole grain salad that is homey, but festive enough for the holidays. Even if you’re dealing with a mashup of carnivores, weight watchers, picky eaters, and vegetarians around your table, everybody’s going to love this salad!

Here are more Thanksgiving ideas; check out these recipes:

To see even more fall appetizer ideas, please VISIT and FOLLOW these Pinterest Boards: Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas and Salad Recipes.

I’d love to know what subjects you are most curious about. Let me know in the comments and I’ll search browse for them. Be sure to PIN to keep these ideas handy.

pin for later graphic in blue
graphic of super delicious Thanksgiving salads

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