This Fall Harvest Cobb Salad is packed with all the deliciousness of fall – butternut squash, cranberries, and red leaf lettuce – with rich and robust flavors from the blue cheese and walnuts.
This salad comes together pretty easily, but you do have to cook all the components separately first. If you’re planning to make just one or two salads for a lunch, maybe make a bit more and have a smaller version for a side salad during the week. Twice the enjoyment with the same amount of prep.
My inspiration for this recipe came from Skinny Taste’s recipe for Leftover Turkey Cobb Salad. I love the idea of using the butternut squash from the garden in a salad, because I’m always trying to change up my lunch routine. But I never have leftover turkey, so I’ve replaced that with chicken, and I’ve added blue cheese and walnuts.
» You might also like this Pear & Gorgonzola Salad and Roasted Delicata Squash & Burrata.
Ingredients You Need
- Red leaf lettuce – The color of this lettuce really fits into the fall theme. You could also use a wild lettuce mix, romaine, or arugula, based on your preferences.
- Bacon – Use a good cured, thick bacon for the most flavor. For the recipe below, we are assuming you’ve cooked and crumbled or sliced the bacon already.
- Chicken breast – You can use shredded or cubed chicken, so if you want to keep it simple and used leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, or make your own, that’s fine. You’ll want to thoroughly cook and cube or shred the chicken.
- Butternut squash – If you want to use a fresh butternut squash, you just need to peel it and cube it, then roast in the oven for about 30 minutes at 400° F.
- Blue cheese crumbles – If you buy blue cheese already crumbled, it’s very easy. You can also buy a block and crumble it yourself, but look for one that’s more dry and not creamy. You can swap out for feta if you aren’t a blue cheese fan.
- Walnuts – I like to roughly chop the walnuts and toast them slightly in a pan before using them. This makes them less bitter and adds a nice toasty note. You can swap out for pecans or pistachios if you want.
- Craisins – Super easy to buy craisins, or you can dehydrate your own cranberries in the oven or air fryer.
For the dressing – we make a simple vinaigrette with apple cider vinegar that goes really well with all the ingredients in this cobb salad. Be sure to buy high-quality ingredients as that will have a major impact on the flavor of your dressing.
- Olive oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- Honey or agave syrup
- Dijon mustard
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Fall Harvest Cobb Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head red leaf lettuce washed and chopped
- 2 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1 chicken breast cooked and cubed
- 1 cup (140 g) butternut squash cooked and cubed
- 1/4 cup (34 g) blue cheese crumbles
- 1/4 cup (30 g) walnuts toasted and chopped
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) craisins
For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 ml) apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) honey or agave syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) dijon mustard
Instructions
- This recipe assumes you’ve already cooked the bacon, chicken, and butternut squash, which will take about 20 minutes.
- Get two large salad bowls. Fill with chopped lettuce.
- Divide the bacon, chicken, squash, blue cheese, walnuts and craisins among the two salads.
- In a small container, mix together the dressing ingredients and shake to combine.
- Pour the dressing on the salads and serve.
Nutrition
How to Make Fall Harvest Cobb Salad
This recipe assumes you’ve already cooked the bacon, chicken, and butternut squash, which will take about 30 minutes. To make it super simple, you can actually cook all three on a sheet pan together at 350° F. The bacon will get done first, then the chicken, then the butternut squash.
- Get two large salad bowls. Fill them with chopped lettuce.
- Divide the bacon, chicken, butternut squash, blue cheese, walnuts and craisins among the two salads.
- In a small container, mix together the dressing ingredients and shake to combine.
- Pour the dressing on the salads and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Use Leftover Chicken?
The great thing about this salad is that you can use any left over chicken you have – from a roast chicken you’ve cooked the day before and chop up for the salad, or rotisserie chicken that you shred. You can also use any left over turkey you have from Thanksgiving or the holidays.
Can I Store Leftovers?
I love to make this salad a few different times during the week when I make it. It’s super simple to make larger quantities of the ingredients and then store them all in separate containers or bags in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to make the salad, all you have to do is assemble it.
Possible Substitutions
There are limitless possibilities for this salad, so don’t feel like you have to stick to the same ingredients every time. Here are a few possibilities we recommend:
- Use pumpkin or any other squash
- Use pecans, pistachios or slivered almonds
- Use feta cheese, cotija, or gorgonzola cheese
- Add raisins, figs, or pears
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Laura is a home cook, with 25 years experience behind the stove, who spends an extraordinary amount of time in the kitchen cooking. She loves making new recipes and finding wonderful new things to eat, both at home or abroad. She spends a lot of time researching, crafting, and perfecting her recipes.