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This Blue Cheese Apple Walnut Salad might just be my favorite salad ever! It's absolutely loaded with flavor from crispy bacon, tart juicy apples, candied walnuts, and tangy blue cheese. For the non-blue cheese fans, just sub feta! This salad is sure to be a hit at any holiday, dinner party or just a weeknight!
- A Big Awesome Salad! - This salad really is the ultimate, sweet and savory, bursting with good stuff, perfect party salad! It has quickly become a favorite for Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, Mother's Day brunch, or really any occasion!
- Blue Cheese, Love it or Hate it! - Blue cheese, kind of like olives or onions, is either loved or hated by most people! I love it and absolutely love the flavor combination with the apples in this salad! But, if you're not a blue cheese fan, just substitute feta, Parmesan or goat cheese, all delicious variations!
- If you Love this Salad, try my Apple Pomegranate Salad, Blueberry Pomegranate Feta Salad, or this Pear Blue Cheese Salad!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
Blue Cheese Apple Walnut Salad really is the perfect combo, with quick brown sugar glazed walnuts, savory bacon, pops of chewy dried fruit and those crisp sweet apples. A quick shake of maple red wine vinaigrette ties it all together!
- Bacon - I like to cook bacon on a sheet pan in the oven for about 20 minutes. It's less messy, cooks evenly, and requires less of your attention! I often cook more than the 4 strips, leftover bacon is great with eggs, in soups, BLT's and can be frozen!
- Candied Walnuts - In just a few minutes, raw walnuts are tossed in a skillet with butter and brown sugar, turning them simply wonderful! They take this salad over the top! Pecans could be substituted. Try making your own Homemade Brown Sugar, easy and better than store-bought!
- Lettuce - I like to use a container of mixed baby lettuce, really anything you like is fine. You can also wash and chop a head or two of different lettuces.
- Blue Cheese - Blue cheese, like gorgonzola, adds serious tangy flavor to balance the sweet walnuts, raisins, apples and maple vinaigrette dressing. But, it is a strong flavor that some people don't like! You can easily substitute the much milder feta cheese, or big shavings of Parmesan.
- Red Onion - A few thin slices of sharp red onion further balance the sweet elements of the salad. They can be left out or subbed with milder shallots, chives, or scallions.
- Raisins - A chewy pop of flavor, you could also substitute different dried fruit such as cherries, cranberries, or golden raisins.
- Apple - The star of this Blue Cheese Walnut Apple Salad, crispy crunchy juicy apple slices bring it all together! Wait to slice your apple until just before serving so it doesn't brown. You can use any variety of apple that you like to eat, such as Honey Crisp, Granny Smith, Fuji, really any type, or substitute a pear. You may also like this Kale Apple Slaw Salad.
- Vinaigrette - This easy vinaigrette can be made up in minutes and simply shaken in a jar. It uses real maple syrup to give it an element of sweetness, but you could also use honey. Red wine vinegar gives it a sharper tanginess, while white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar could be subbed. It can be made up a few days in advance and kept in the fridge, just let it come back to room temperature before shaking and using.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Your bacon, dressing and candied walnuts can all be made up in advance, making this salad easy to assemble!
Step 1 - Bake the bacon on a sheet pan in the oven at 400°F for about 20 minutes or until crispy.
Flip it with tongs half way through.
Step 2 - To candy the nuts, add butter, walnuts and brown sugar to a skillet over medium low heat and toss a few minutes until the nuts are just fragrant.
Don't walk away, nuts can burn quickly!
Step 3 - Shake up the dressing ingredients in a jar. Assemble your salad on a bed of lettuce greens, topped with bacon, candied walnuts, onion, raisins, blue cheese, and thinly sliced apple.
Drizzle with dressing and give it a toss if you like!
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Assemble the Salad in Layers - This salad has a good amount of each ingredient. Start with your lettuce, then add about half of each ingredient, then another layer of each! This keeps the first layer from getting buried so you're able to really see what's all in the salad!
- The Dressing - This is a quick and simple vinaigrette that is a little on the sweeter side to compliment the sweet elements of the salad. It can be made in advance and will keep in the fridge for a month. Let it come to room temperature and shake well before using. The recipe can be doubled or tripled (maybe cut down a bit on the maple syrup) and used for any salad.
- Bacon in the Oven - We gave up bacon in the frying pan long ago! Cooking bacon on a sheet pan in the oven is just so much easier! You can make a larger amount (like the full package) at a time. It's less messy and you don't need to stand at the stove flipping and turning. The extra bacon fat on the pan can be stored in a jar in the fridge and used to fry eggs.
- Don't Walk Away while Making the Walnuts - Candied walnuts take 3 or 4 minutes and can burn really quickly. So just toss and stir them in the butter and brown sugar until you can start to smell the toasted nuts. Let them cool before adding to the salad.
- Storage - Once your salad has dressing, it won't keep very well. Try to make just the amount you need without leftovers. If you do have leftovers, store them in the fridge and eat the next day.
What to Serve with this Salad
A simple fruit-nut-cheese salad combination is great for so many occasions! Elegant enough for holidays and parties, but a delicious addition to a weeknight meal!
- Holidays and Special Occasions - With bacon, apples, and those delicious candied walnuts, this salad is great for the holidays! It's perfect served alongside the turkey at Thanksgiving, or Salmon with Garlic Honey Butter, Simply Perfect Beef Roast, Easter ham, or New Year's Eve steaks!
- Brunch - A salad with fruit makes a great addition to baby showers, Mother's Day or any brunch party with my Sausage and Spinach Quiche and a Platter of Fruit. Add Apple Cinnamon Raisin Scones or Almond Cherry Scones for the perfect brunch menu!
- Make it the Meal - Top this Apple Blue Cheese Salad with grilled chicken, Simple Roasted Salmon, or a scoop of Tuna Salad and serve it as the main course!
Recipe FAQs
Blue cheese is a sharp strong flavor that people either love or hate! If you don't like blue cheese, or you want to play it safe if maybe all your guests aren't big fans, substitute feta cheese. It's milder in flavor, but has the same texture. You could also use Parmesan or goat cheese.
I used a 4 ounce box of lettuce which serves about 4 to 6 people. A quick way to portion lettuce is to just grab a small handful, the amount you think each person will eat, and toss it in your bowl. Keep grabbing handfuls for the number of people you're serving. The rest of the ingredients can be eyeballed up or down and don't need to be exact.
This salad is great for the holidays because each component can be made ahead. Shake up the dressing a few days in advance. Make the candied walnuts a day in advance and keep them in an airtight container on the counter (just try not to eat them all!). You can cook up the bacon the day of or the day before and refrigerate. You may want to microwave it for a few seconds before adding. With all this done, you can assemble the whole salad before heading to a party or just before serving. Try to add the apples and dressing just before serving.
More Favorite Salad Recipes!
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Blue Cheese Apple Walnut Salad
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Print Pin RateIngredients
For the Salad
- 4 strips bacon
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 4 ounces mixed lettuce greens
- ⅓ cup blue cheese (or substitute Feta)
- ⅛ cup red onion sliced
- ¼ cup dried cherries, raisins, or cranberries
- ½ to 1 apple sliced
For the Dressing
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 grinds fresh black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400℉ and cook the bacon on a sheet pan for about 20 minutes. Flip halfway through and cook until crispy. Drain on a plate.
- In a skillet over medium low heat, add the butter, walnuts and brown sugar and stir and toss to coat, about 3 to 4 minutes. Don't walk away, when you can smell the toasted nuts, they're done! Transfer to a bowl to cool.
- Add all ingredients for the dressing to a jar and shake well.
- Assemble the salad on a bed of lettuce greens with the bacon, candied walnuts, onion, raisins, blue cheese, and thinly sliced apple. Add about half of each ingredient, then layer with the other half so ingredients don't get buried and you can see what's in the salad!Drizzle with dressing and give it a toss if you like!
Notes
- Make Ahead - The dressing, bacon and walnuts can all be made a day in advance. The salad can be assembled ahead of time and taken to a party, wait to slice the apple and add the dressing until just before serving.
- Apple could be subbed with pear, walnuts could be swapped with pecans, onions can be omitted or shallots, chives, or scallions can be used instead. Make it your own!
- You can decide to add the lettuce and half the amount of the toppings to a bowl and toss it with the dressing. Then add the other half of the ingredients over the top. You can also decide to arrange the whole salad with the dressing drizzled over the top and lightly tossed.
- If you know you are going to have leftovers, only add the dressing to what you plan to eat. Undressed salad can be refrigerated and eaten the next day or two.
Liz says
Love the dressing! Thanks for sharing!
Sabrina says
AMAZING! All the flavors paired so well together. This would be a perfect salad to bring to Thanksgiving. I will definitely be making it again.
Meryl Downing says
Thank you Sabrina, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Yes I agree it's perfect for Thanksgiving!! It's one of my favorites, thanks for leaving a review.