A roasted butternut squash salad with spicy arugula, cranberries, radicchio, and soft cheese. This is the perfect autumn or winter salad, especially topped with a creamy balsamic dressing. It's a great balance of textures and has a nice mix of sweet, bitter, and spicy.
For some more seasonal salads, try my marinated vegan chickpea salad, easy quinoa beet salad, and German-style warm potato salad with herbs.
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Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Squash: if you prefer to use a different winter or squash or pumpkin, go for it. Delicata is very good here.
- Seeds: sunflower seeds are a good sub for pumpkin, and you could also use a nut like walnuts.
- Cheese: use a soft cashew cheese or something like goat cheese if you eat dairy.
- Apple: ripe pear can be used in place of apple.
- Cranberries: substitute raisins or pomegranate seeds.
- Radicchio: if you can't get radicchio, endive is a good substitute.
- Arugula: if you prefer a less sharp green, sub baby spinach or baby kale.
Step by Step
Step 1: toast the pumpkin seeds with the spices.
Step 2: roast the pumpkin until browned, about half an hour.
Step 3: chop the radicchio and prepare the other salad ingredients.
Step 4: assemble the salad and serve.
Top Tips
- Don't use parchment paper: the key to good caramelization when roasting vegetables is not to use parchment. Use a good well-seasoned baking sheet.
- Stir constantly: to prevent the pumpkin seeds from burning, stir almost constantly.
- Dress before serving: you'll have dressing left over from the balsamic recipe. If serving to a group, let everyone dress their own salad at the table.
How to Store
Storage: this is best served immediately, while the squash is still warm, but can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for a day or two.
FAQ
Does butternut squash need to be peeled?
While the skin is edible, it tends to get a bit tough in the oven. Unlike red kuri which stays soft, I do recommend peeling butternut.
What's the best way to peel a squash?
Butternut squash is safest peeled with a dedicated vegetable peeler rather than a knife. It's easy to get a paring knife stuck in the hard skin, causing an accident.
If you make this Winter Squash Salad or any other vegan salads on Wholehearted Eats, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more WHE, follow along on Instagram or subscribe for new posts via email.
Recipe
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Baking sheet
- Vegetable peeler
Ingredients
Roasted Squash
- 1 lb butternut squash peeled (4 cups total)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Pumpkin Seeds
- ½ teaspoon olive oil
- ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or ancho pepper
Salad Assembly
- 2 cups arugula
- ½ head radicchio cored and sliced
- ½ cup soft cashew cheese or goat cheese
- ½ large apple sliced
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 1 batch Balsamic dressing you will have extra
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Peel the squash and cut it into quarter moons. Place onto an unlined baking sheet and mix with the olive oil and salt.1 lb butternut squash, 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Roast on the bottom rack for 20 minutes, then carefully flip and roast for another 10 minutes.
- While the pumpkin is in the oven, toast the pumpkin seeds. Heat the oil over medium, and when hot, add the pumpkin seeds. Toast until fragrant, stirring constantly. Once fragrant, stir in the garlic powder, paprika, salt, and cayenne pepper.½ teaspoon olive oil, ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- Once the pumpkin is ready, assemble the salad. Start with arugula, then layer in the radicchio, cheese, apple, cranberries, and pumpkin. Sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and serve with balsamic dressing.2 cups arugula, ½ head radicchio, ½ cup soft cashew cheese, ½ large apple, ¼ cup dried cranberries, 1 batch Balsamic dressing
Yes, so happy to hear that! I hope you have a great squash-filled autumn <3
This was so good! I loooooove all the flavors. I toasted the walnuts and added goat cheese on top too. Both were awesome additions. This is amazing and makes me so excited for fall! Thank you!
For certain squash, like acorn, butternut, kabocha, and delicata, I do leave the skin on for eating. It adds good flavour, texture, and nutrition (like keeping the skin on a potato for example). And yes, it does save a lot of time. But some squash have a thicker skin that isn't pleasant, such as pumpkin, spaghetti, and hubbard squash, for example.
For certain squash, like acorn, butternut, kabocha, and delicata, I do leave the skin on for eating. It adds good flavour, texture, and nutrition (like keeping the skin on a potato for example). And yes, it does save a lot of time. But some squash have a thicker skin that isn't pleasant, such as pumpkin, spaghetti, and hubbard squash, for example.
Do you eat the green skin of the squash? I always remove it but takes time ^^
Do you eat the green skin of the squash? I always remove it but takes time ^^
Thanks!
Thanks!
Oh, this makes me so happy, Sarah. I am delighted you liked it and especially happy you liked the kale. There are so many tasty things you can do with it. I highly recommend checking out recipes for kale chips - they are seriously addictive.
Oh, this makes me so happy, Sarah. I am delighted you liked it and especially happy you liked the kale. There are so many tasty things you can do with it. I highly recommend checking out recipes for kale chips - they are seriously addictive.
I just made this for the first time and it was delicious!! It's also the first time I've ever tried Kale, so thank you for that too. xx
This looks so delicious!