Apple Pecan Arugula Salad

When I told my husband I was going to make a salad from Minimalist Baker, he gave me a ” oh no, vegan again” look. So I did what every good wife does, I didn´t give a damn and made it anyway. It´s now in our book of favorite recipes!! I rest my case ;-)

Amazing that your life was horrible last year (mine too, almost everyone’s) because you made so many vegans happy with these delicious recipes which I repinned obsessively on my Pinterest page. You need to get on the NPR TV station with a cooking show. I have no idea how, but I see that in your future. Contact your local station with an outline and some guest ideas. You are star quality. Happy Spring Equinox !!!!

I love this salad! The dressing is so fresh and flavorful. I used a Granny Smith and a Fuji. The cranberries really add to the flavor and shouldn’t be left out. I will definitely make this many times. Thank you for another beautiful recipe.

Very delicious, very simple. I finely diced the apple without peeling, used 2 Granny Smiths (1 small, 1 medium), very finely chopped the cranberries to distribute them better, and halved the pecans (same reason). I used half rocket and half baby spinach. It tasted a little bland initially only because I didn’t add enough salt. A great go-to recipe! A little parmesan (or vg parmesan in my case) would work well I think 🤔

No picture, because we ate every bite!

If you’re looking for a super simple, but extremely delicious salad – look no further.

This salad is so easy to make but the flavor is incredible. This will def be going into the regular rotation.

I didnt have dried cranberries so I left those out, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. The pecans really made it, so definitely dont forget those! It’s perfectly sweet and savory, but also light but packs a punch with the flavor combination. I’ve found myself thinking about this salad many times since I first made it!

This salad was excellent. I’ll definitely make it again. I used green grapes instead of apples, followed the rest of the recipe. I was initially skeptical about using maple syrup in the dressing, but it worked.

This was absolutely delicious, and I don’t even love arugula and I had to sub in lime juice and walnuts because that’s what I had. I’m back to make it again. 😍

Fresh light and easy to make with ingredients on hand. I will make this again. 8-10 minutes are too long so I burnt the first batch of pecans and cut the time on half for the next round.

This is a great recipe! I’ve made it several times. However, I feel like the dressing is missing something? I have no idea what it is. Any ideas/updates/modifications on the dressing? Still delicious but I just can’t figure out what it needs. Thanks!

Thank you so much! This recipe was delicious!

I enjoyed this recipe and am eating it as I type before I head To the gym. I had To tweak it a little because I’m one person and basically cut the recipe in half. I also Added cut chicken breast cause I had some on hand. I prefer having the dried cranberries in this for balance but didn’t have any in my pantry. The dressing is actually great ( I’m middle eastern so we always make home made dressing) but I didn’t Add enough arugula to mine. Had I done So, I believe my salad would’ve been even better. This will definitely be a salad I will Make again preferably in the summer. Thank you. I love Your recipes and will be digging more up soon.

Delicious!

Delish! Making a second time!

The Dressing was super boring!
Made this for X-Mas Dinner. What a flop!
I was very disappointed!!!

Easy to prepare, fresh, delicious salad!

So good! Made it exactly as recommended :)

Great Fall salad recipe!!!
So easy and really delish flavors. I subbed walnuts for pecans, and skipped the cranberries. Threw in some micro greens with the arugula — we ate it as an entree with a side of roasted veggies and rustic bruschetta. Fantastic! I can tell this dressing is my fall salad go-to!!!
Another great recipe from minimalist baker ❤️👏🏼

Added feta to mine, but this was so good – the salad dressing really makes it sublime.

This was a great recipe for a lunch salad! I cooked some chicken n apple sausage, sliced it and added it to the salad. It was a great combination!! Thanks for the recipe!

Just made with fresh arugula from CSA share. I followed the recipe exactly, with the exception of one substitution – walnuts in place of pecans because that is what I had on hand. First of the season NY apples, real Vermont maple syrup too! It came together quickly and was super fresh and delicious! Thank you!!

It was a huge hit at a recent dinner party I hosted for four. Allthree guests raved about it and had second helpings. The only change I made was I added goat cheese in the mix.

I loved this salad. I am making it two nights in a row. My partner does not like vinegar so this works for both of us.

Made the salad exactly to recipe-sort of. Deeeeeeelicious! So easy to make. Very little chopping. The grocer only had baby arugula so it was not as flavor-forward as the mature leaves so that is the only drawback for me. I find that fresh cracked black pepper in the dressing is a must.

Such a simple, delicious salad. I substituted green onion for the red onion and thought it was fantastic. The two different apples are a must!

Second time I made it in two weeks because I could eat it everyday! The best salad recipe ever! I didn’t have to change anything; followed the ingredients to the Ts and its perfect. So happy I found this recipe. Thank you very much.

This was a fabulous salad. I have fresh lettuces/arugula from my garden right now and I wanted to make it feel extra special. Using two different kinds of apples was noticed and applauded by my family. My red onion was particularly strong so I could have used a little less of that. Dressing was delicious. Very easy to put together.

Lovvv this salad. Super easy 2 make and really yummy.

This is one of my absolute favorites! It’s always a hit when we have guests over & so simple to make! I like to use a mandolin to slice my onion and apples!

Our new favorite salad. I’ve made it twice in four days. I used fuji apples and toasted sliced almonds because that is what I had at hand. I do think that a sweeter apple creates a great balance with the dressing. I’m so happy I found this recipe.

This was a winner. My family ate every last bite and told me to keep the recipe. I used a Golden Delicious and a Gala Apple since that is what I had. Wee prefer lightly dressed salads so I only used 3/4 of the dressing.
This will absolutely become one of our regular dishes.
Thank you for the recipe.

FABULOUS Recipe. I plan to serve this to guest cuz it’s so delicious. I tasted my arugula beforehand and it was very ‘spicy’ and too strong for my taste. So, following some advice, I dressed the arugula about 20-30 minutes before serving. This delicious vinaigrette actually neutralized some of the spicy taste. Then I added the remaining ingredients, tossed and served. Love this recipe. Thank you.

This salad was a nice one. I liked the combination of flavours a lot. I think it might also work with pear or even fresh nectarine in summer. I left out the oil in the dressing, it was a bit thinner but still good. I will defenitely make it again. Thank you.

I loved this simple salad. I topped the salad w marinated grilled chicken breast and feta! Soooo good!

This is a stellar salad and it’s so simple! I looked this up to make for xmas dinner and some of the kids don’t like red onions so I omitted that. Also cut back on the oil for personal preferrence. The mix of tart and sweet apples goes wonderfully with the bitter arugula.

I’ve made this several times since and have added the cranberry covered goat cheese you can find at many grocery stores in place of the cranberries and it really adds another level to this already fabulous salad.

This salad is incredible!!! I never post reviews but had to…made it as written just a bit less oil. This is going on my weekly rotation!

Your days of buying ridiculously-priced salads are over. I made this yesterday before work (during a hectic morning of getting everyone ready) and happily it was super-easy to put together and delicious. The only thing I would modify for next time is the oil in the dressing. I’d probably cut out 1 tbsp of Olive Oil, but that’s just my personal preference and I still happily enjoyed it as-is.
I recently watched Game Changers on Netflix and have been inspired to eat more healthfully. I’m happy I’ve found you (although I have been a fan of your green smoothie for years) and will be looking forward to trying many more recipes from your site. Thanks!

So delicious! I was looking for something to do with my last farmer’s market arugula of the season, and this salad was perfect! I followed the recipe exactly, and topped with some shredded parmesan. Dressing was fabulous exactly as written. Will be making this again – thank you!

Found this recipe after having something similar at a restaurant but this is even better. Especially the dressing! It’s is so delicious! I used a spinach and arugula mix and added wild rice and feta.

My new favorite salad – I’ve eaten it 3 days in a row.

So delicious! I used a combination of arugula and baby spring mix for the greens. I used apple, pear and dried cranberries for the fruit. I toasted pecans and added feta. I made the dressing as directed. It was a lovely salad and received rave reviews! I will definitely make this again.

Very tasty. The mix of flavors and textures impressed my long-time foodie friend. Added to a dinner with shrimp scampi and fettuccini and ended with profiteroles. A wonderful dinner.

Hi Dana.
I just made this and it’s super yum! I enjoy eating salads, veggies and plant based food but am not a vegan. I find your recipes approachable, easy and inspired. You are one of my go-tos on my very short list of faves.
Right up there with Ina.
Thanks!
Sarah

This is my favorite salad ever! Made this two weeks in a row for lunches. It is SO good!

I usually make a savory arugula with ham, cheese, and Cesar dressing, but this recipe was fresh and delicious! I used a large honeycrisp apple and added about 1 teaspoon sesame oil to the dressing. I didn’t have maple syrup, so I used honey. I used green onion that I had in the garden. I love how the strong lemon dressing and sweet fruit takes away the bitterness of the arugula.

I was too hungry to take the time to toast pecans (I’ll use them next time) so I substituted some yummy feta I needed to use up. I have a Sicilian lemon white balsamic vinegar (it’s kinda sweet, so similar to lemon juice and maple syrup) that is my new favorite thing so I used that in the dressing. Delicious! I can see myself eating a version of this several times a week until Apple season is over!

The salad recipe is amazing!! I used butter lettuce blend with radicchio along with the arugula. I also used walnuts instead of pecans because that was what I had on hand. Keep the great recipes coming. Thanks for sharing!

I love this recipe so much I’ve made it the last 3 days! I added sliced red pear, and use a bottled dressing.

Not sure why this is called a fall salad because here in Chicago my arugula is taking over and it’s only July. I thought this was delicious, easy and perfectly manageable without shopping for ingredients. I had a sweet onion, so I sliced it super thin, and I didn’t have a lemon that day so I subbed bottled lemon juice, which was just fine. I love recipes that let me use what I have and still taste great. This is a keeper.

So easy and delicious!

My vegan, and everyone else, loved this! I used a 1/2 arugula and 1/2 baby spinach blend, and from-the-bag roasted and salted pecans. Total hit!

This salad was fantastic! So incredibly easy to put together with very little chopping and preparation. I made the recipe as written, except I was too lazy to toast the pecans. :) I ate an enormous serving for lunch and it filled me up well. It would also be a really nice dish to serve to company. This is actually the first recipe I’ve made from this site, so now I’m very excited to try more!

Made this salad for the first time for my family and they loved it. I burned my pecans the first time roasting for 8min, but might be my oven. I also added roasted pine nuts (roasted for 3min at 350), and glazed the pine nuts and pecans in honey. Well balanced!

This is definitely one of my new go-to salads. I skipped the oil and ate it again the next day, throwing on some white beans to make it a meal. Really good!

Best most refreshing salad ever I will be making again and again loved it

I’ve made this several times over the last year. Save a few minutes, used roasted & salted pecan halves (Trader Joes). A bit of the lemon zest brightens it even further. Don’t leave out the cranberries. This salad is delicious! – Thanks!

I made this salad on christmas day and I loved it, I paired it with roasted chicken and a simple rice. It has the perfect balance of sweet, salty and tangy. I also make a bologna sandwich with this salad and it’s like they were destined for each other, it is soo good. My boyfriend, who has never being a salad fan, he loves it too and keep asking me to make it all the time. So, as you can see, it is a BIG hit in my house, thank you for sharing it with us. Happy new year! ?

Due to the recent Romain lettuce alerts I tried something new and bought arugula. My husband said he does not like arugula but as he was eating he said this was one of the best salads he has ever had. Thank you for the awesome recipe!

This is my go to salad for guests! Easy to tweak based on ingredients on hand, but sticking with the base of items listed. Dressing is so yummy!

Very, very good. We get arugula in our CSA and I’ve made this salad twice now this summer and I’ll make it again the next time we get arugula (even if I have to buy it at the store). So good.

This was so tasty. Great combination of sweet, sour, savory and bitter. I don’t normally like arugula so I was skeptical but somehow this simple combination really works well.

Dana…it looks like you posted this recipe a few years ago but I just made it last night for my husband and I and we give it 5 stars! Because the salad dressing was so simple, I was doubtful I’d like it but it was absolutely divine for this salad! Thank you for sharing this. <3

Delicious! The dressing is light and flavorful and easy to make. We served the salad as a side at a dinner party and everyone loved it. Will definitely make it again. Next time I will try it with the dried cranberries, as I meant to this time but forgot I had used them up in another recipe.

I loved this dish, the flavors were outrageously good, and I couldn’t stop eating the goodness.

My sister and her family went vegan a little over a year ago.
I always felt so bad for them at family gatherings because there were never any choices for them other than what they would have to bring themselves and to me that just never seemed quite fair. I decided to make Thanksgiving this past year a much more vegan friendly place.
Let’s just say this salad was gone and it was not by just the three vegan family members. I doubled the recipe to make enough just in case and I am glad I did because it was a hit.
It was so good and I personally love how easy the dressing is, and consisting of pure ingredients that I can actually pronounce and know what they are without googling them.

I made it and I loved it! I think it would be good with some feta or goat cheese too.

I ended up making this salad twice last week – once with your pumpkin mac n cheese and once with homemade pizzas. Both times, it was a hit. For me, there is a bit too much fruit in the salad, so the second time I made it I only added one apple and it worked fine. The cranberries are a great add in for an extra punch of flavor. The dressing is simple and quick to make. I did leave the red onions on the side – this is a personal preference (I hate onions!), but had them available for my boyfriend, who liked the salad with them. This will definitely be a salad that is added into our rotation.

This salad is excellent. Even my husband loved it. Don’t skip toasting the pecans. It really adds to the taste.

We are currently obsessed with this salad! To add a fall vibe we added roasted butternut squash, seriously yum!

I made this! It was lovely! I added goat cheese!!! It was so lovely.

Planned this but didn’t plan that my daughter would use up the lemon, so substituted organic apple cider vinegar instead and it was delicious (this from a family that does not particularly enjoy arugula). Added some shaved Parmesan too, but the recipe was better without it – next time will make exactly as planned – my new go to for arugula!

I made this today and it is absolutely delicious!!!

I made this salad for a co-workers retirement pot luck lunch and it was fabulous. I doubled the recipe and there was not a leaf to be left over and many asked for the recipe. This is definitely a keeper in my recipe file. Thanks Dana!

So simple and so delicious! Definitely something I will make again and again for lunch

Thank you for the recipe. I made this tonight, it was so clean and refreshing. I used roasted almonds and sunflower seeds it was perfect (my husband is allergic to most nuts). Also I was hesitant because I couldn’t picture maple syrup in a dressing but it was amazing with the mix of fruit and veggies!

Made this with a few changes. Sweet instead of red onion; half apple cider vinegar half lemon juice with a dash of garlic powder for the dressing; vegan shredded parmesan cheese lightly sprinkled on top. The man loved it. Light and delicious!

Hello Dana,

I came across your Apple Pecan Arugula Salad today (May 22, 2017) while searching on-line for an arugula salad. It definitely caught my eye for two reasons; the picture looked absolutely delicious and I had all the ingredients on hand. That doesn’t happen very often. So I gave it a try.

It was delicious and it certainly is a keeper! I can see making this salad for dinner parties and family and showing off just how good this salad is! Thank you for sharing. I hope to find more wonderful recipes on your site.

Have made this salad, oh, probably 15 times in the last months and it’s always a hit. Not a huge cranberries-in-salads fan, so swapped them out for dried cherries. So good. Nearly every time, someone asks me for the recipe. Also, that dressing is good on just about any salad. Thanks for helping us switch up our salad rotation!

Hi Dana,
Thanks for sharing.
Didn’t have all the ingredients on hand, made it only with arugula, red onion, and the dressing (sweet almond oil instead of olive). Delicious and refreshing!!!
Will make it again :-)

Trust 2017 is starting out well for you.
Be blessed!

Loved this salad, added grilled chicken for a light but filling dinner meal. So easy and so flavorful.
We all have tough days, months and sometimes years. But thankfully I don’t fight the fight alone and try to rest in Gods peace as he works it out for my best.

i made this salad it’s out of this world the cambinatin of apples i use tow different kind and the arugula is amazing and i had to it pomegranate thanks 1 of my best salad i made . and was so easy to make i used low calories may pale strop

Very light, full of flavor!

I love how simple the recipe was, but also how fancy it was/looks. :) I felt like a grown up making/eating it. Haha! Love your website and recipes. Hope to continue making more delicious recipes.

An absolutely wonderful salad! I would better to differ, however, about using organic arugula. Greens such as these tend to hold onto bacteria like a sponge and organics make me fear e-coli. Many warnings on FDA/CFIA recall websites. Absolutely nothing wrong with well-washed normal arugula. Thank you for the recipe.

This salad was fantastic! The apples and maple syrup balanced the peppery arugula and the pecans added a great richness. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.

I was looking for a salad to make with a quiche and wanted to use up the arugula in the fridge. This came up when I googled arugula salad and I have to say it is one of the best salads I’ve made (and I make a lot of salads). Used a fresh lemon from our tree out back and the dressing was amazing. I will use it for other salads too. The combination of all the flavors just worked. Don’t leave out the dried cranberries!

It was great! Served with seared marinated Salmon. I used raisins in place of cranberries though because thats what I had on hand

My husband last night: “This might be the best salad I’ve ever had in this house. Possibly ever.”
(My 5-year old: “Apples in salad… that’s fancy.”)
My husband tonight: “Can we have that salad from last night again?”

He’s pretty right. It is a great, simple, clean salad. From two folks who eat a LOT of salad, thank you for helping us mix it up.

My husband last night: “This might be the best salad I’ve ever had in this house. Possibly ever.”
My husband tonight: “Can we have that salad from last night again?”

He’s pretty right. It is a great, simple, clean salad. From two folks who eat a LOT of salad, thank you for helping us mix it up.

Loved this salad made for a dinner party. People went bananas for the dressing!

I made this a few weeks ago for a very tough crowd. OK, so it was really my folks and their best friend, and my brother and his family, but they are total foodies :) My husband couldn’t stop eating it, which is saying a lot as well (food lover too, but more on the plain jane picky side). And everyone else couldn’t stop talking about how wonderful the flavors worked together. All in all, a fantastic side for my “Bring on the Fall” dinner party. So glad I found your blog, and just bought your cookbook. Excited to try more. Thanks you ~Di

I made this to go with a butternut squash lasagna for a vegetarian Canadian Thanksgiving – lovely fall salad and perfect after a heavy, rich dinner. I added about 1/2 teaspoon of dijon to the dressing and soaked the red onions in the dressing before adding to the salad.

Delicious!