Autumn Fruit Salad
This hearty green salad is packed full of my favorite fruits that are in season right now like pomegranates, apples, pears, persimmons, dates, figs and crunchy nuts.

This Autumn Fruit Salad recipe is not really a recipe:
When it comes to salads, I always like to “Shop” my fridge and pantry before heading to the store. That is how this recipe came to be. I had an apple. dates, figs, purple onions, a gorgeous early fall tomato and fresh pepitas and walnuts. I was inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest by Olive and Mango of a sliced apple salad and came up with this recipe. The dressing is my Apple Cider Vinaigrette, but I added maple syrup instead of honey to make it more Fall forward. The nuts and seeds are quickly candied in a pan with light brown sugar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Let them cool and toss in at the last minute.
Add whatever you have on hand, but lean into Fall Fruits like pomegranates, persimmons, apples, figs, dates, pears, Consider adding in roasted squash as seen in my photos below.

Ingredients in Autumn Fruit Salad:

Cheese or no cheese?
Apples and cheese just seem to go together. Here’s how I decide on which fromage to fall for.
In the first version of this salad, I popped in chards of Beecher’s Flagship cheese. The nutty and salty taste was a perfect balance to the crisp tart apples.
In the second version, I opted for a dairy free salad without the cheese, but a goat cheese would have been heavenly. Goat cheese loves crisp greens, pears, figs apples walnuts. A blue cheese would also be perfect.
My third version I added a gorgeous fresh burrata. I had a similar salad at Abrazo in San Francisco. Burrata and persimmons are a unique combination. I roasted the persimmons and split open the burrata on the bed of greens. Sprinkle with pomegranates and candied pepitas or roasted pistachios. Heaven.

How to choose a dressing?
- My Apple Cider Vinaigrette with the maple syrup swap is a perfect dressing to keep into fridge all Fall.
- A champagne vinegar and olive oil dressing with smoked flakey sea salt is all the dressing you need for most of these salads. Let the ingredients shine though and do not drown the salads with too much dressing.
- Bon Appetit’s Three minute Red Wine Vinaigrette. A lovely balance of acid and oil. Add fresh herbs to brighten the flavors.
- Alice Waters Garlic Vinaigrette. Simple. Perfect.

Other Salads recipes to try:
- Green apple, salmon and lentil salad
- Shaved Brussels Sprouts Winter Salad
- Roasted Shrimp, feta and orzo salad
- Gen X Ramen noodle and chicken salad
- Spinach & chick pea salad
- Citrus salad with burrata, honey and herbs
- Blueberry-broccoli salad with honey yogurt dressing


Ingredients
- 5-5 unit mixed salad greens
- 1 unit apple sliced thinly
- 1 unit tomato sliced thin
- ¼ unit red onion sliced thinly
- 3 TBSP pomegranate arils
- 6-7 unit fresh figs stemmed and quartered
- ½ cup dates pitted and cut in half
- 1 small delicata squash seeded, cut in half and roasted with olive oil and salt until tender (optional)
- ½ cup roasted chickpeas- see recipe here
- 1 large persimmon quartered
- 1 cup walnuts halves
- ¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- 1 TBSP unsalted butter
- 3 TBSP olive oil divided
- 1 TBSP light brown sugar
- ¼ tsp cumin
- 2 tsp kosher salt divided
- 1 tsp pepper divided
- Optional- Burrata goat cheese (rumbled by hand) or Beecher’s Flagship cheese, cut into shards
- 2 tsp Smoked flakey sea salt
Instructions
For the Dressing
- Make the apple cider vinaigrette. Recipe is HERE. Substitute 2 TBSP maple syrup for the honey. Chill until time to serve the salad.
- For the delicata squash and chickpeas- Optional
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut the delicata squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and fibers. Slice into 1/2” half moon slices.
- Drain one small can of chickpeas. Place chickpeas and squash in a bowl and drizzle with 2 TBSP olive oil, salt and pepper and 1/4 tsp cumin. Toss well to coat.
- Place coated squash and chickpeas in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Flip the squash and toss the chickpeas and roast another 10 minutes until fork tender and the peas are crispy. Set aside to cool.
For the Walnuts and Pepitas
- In a skillet, melt butter, brown sugar and 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and whisk together until foamy. Toss in the walnuts and pepitas. Toss to coat the nuts and seeds with the butter mixture. Saute on medium low heat for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Drain the nuts and seeds onto a piece of parchment paper to cool.
To Assemble
- Place the washed lettuce in a large salad bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tsp of the flakey sea salt to dress.
- Arrange the sliced apples, red onions and tomatoes to fan out over the greens.
- Add in figs, dates, pomegranates, persimmons and if using, the squash, chickpeas, toasted walnuts and pepitas.
- Toss in cheese if desired.
- Add remaining flakey salt.
- Serve with dressing on the side.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3-4 days.