Autumn is abundant with hearty and savory foods, but that doesn’t mean salad season has to be over.
The best thing about autumn salads? You can get a bowlful of plentiful veggies in hearty mixes that often work better as the main dish, rather than a skimpy side!
These 23 Paleo recipes for fall salads are filled with seasonal flavors like pumpkin, apples, pecans, and warm herbs and spices like ginger and nutmeg. Then, you’ll drizzle everything in warm dressings with autumn ingredients like sweet maple syrup and tangy apple cider vinegar!
These naturally one-pot salads come together quickly and easily, so you can enjoy them for quick weeknight dinners or prep them for lunches the night before work or school.
Warning: You’re going to want to try every single one of these bountiful salads!
1. Autumn Spinach Salad
This simple, savory salad pairs classics like chicken, bacon, and apples and drizzles it in a sweet and salty maple dressing.
3. Spicy Roasted Cauliflower, Kale, and Carrot Salad
If you’re not craving a lot of leafy greens these days, listen up: This warm and spicy salad made with roasted cauliflower, sweet carrots, and pumpkin seeds is about to become your new favorite.
Warm toasted almonds and a homemade sun-dried tomato dressing transform the simple flavors of spinach, parsnips, and squash into a dish bursting with autumnal zest.
5. Fall Harvest Chopped Salad with Apple Maple Vinaigrette
Want to sneak in your veggies? Squash, bacon, cranberries, and pecans are drizzled in a sweet apple vinaigrette for a salad that’ll make you forget you’re eating healthy.
6. Kale Salad with Caramelized Butternut Squash and Honey-Balsamic Dressing
Watch out—this beautifully vibrant salad just might take center stage at your Thanksgiving table this year. Bright kale mixes with caramelized squash and is studded with sweet pomegranate seeds for a striking color contrast.
Sweet Bosc pears simmer in an aromatic vanilla cranberry broth, then are sliced and served with figs, cranberries, and smoked meat for the ultimate sweet-savory seasonal salad.
8. Fall Harvest Salad with Creamy Pumpkin Dressing
If you wait all year to be able to eat pumpkin-everything, this salad will be your new BFF. This salad of squash and mixed greens is drizzled with the perfect creamy pumpkin dressing, then topped with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Red cabbage, pomegranates, and Brussels sprouts set the stage for this gorgeous pecan-topped fall salad. Just be sure to leave out the optional Parmesan for a truly Paleo-friendly dish!
Apples, pecans, and cranberries come together in a salad blend full of fall abundance. The honey-mustard dressing alone is worth its weight in, well, creamy gold perfection.
12. Beetroot and Pumpkin Salad with Oregano Garlic Chicken
The earthy flavor of beets are tamed by sweet and savory pumpkin, then brought to the next level with juicy garlic chicken thighs. It’s the genius fall combination you’ll wish you thought of first!
14. Roasted Delicata Squash, Pear, and Pomegranate Salad
No boring salad to be found here. Sweet squash and peppery arugula add a gourmet flair to this seasonal dish, while a maple balsamic dressing keeps things tangy and exciting.
15. Radicchio Salad with Caramelized Carrots and Onions
The sweetness of oranges plays nicely with the slight bitterness of radicchio. It’s a delightful blend of colors and textures with true simplicity at its core.
This harvest salad is packed with a smorgasbord of seasonal delights, like pumpkin, endive, apple, pear, pecans, and cranberries. Plus, it’s fully customizable for dietary preferences like keto and Whole30®—or for whatever ingredients you have on hand.
Hearty, bitter greens like escarole, radicchio, and chives are dressed up with a vinegar-mustard dressing and toasted pecans. Swap in whatever greens you have on hand as needed!
18. Fall Bliss Salad with Cinnamon-Cider Vinaigrette
You can have this gorgeous side salad on your table in under 30 minutes. It’s fancy enough for the holidays, but satisfying enough for any day of the week.
19. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette
Prep this hearty chicken salad ahead of time, then bring it to work and drizzle on the sweet and zingy orange cranberry dressing just before digging in. Your coworkers will be green with envy!
20. Marinated Mushroom and Charred Broccolini Salad
Your favorite seasonal mushrooms, fennel, and broccolini are jazzed up in a zesty lemon dressing for Paleo salad that also happens to be vegan- and Whole30-friendly.
22. Autumn Arugula Salad with Caramelized Squash and Pomegranate Ginger Vinaigrette
Take this abundant autumn salad to the next level when you season the squash with a dash of—what else?—pumpkin spice. Just be sure to swap the brown sugar for coconut sugar to keep it fully Paleo!
Thanks again to Aimee McNew from Paleohacks.com. Interested in seeing a certain recipe or roundup of a certain category—Primal, Primal-keto or other? Let us know below!
Mark Sisson is the founder of Mark’s Daily Apple, godfather to the Primal food and lifestyle movement, and the New York Times bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet. His latest book is Keto for Life, where he discusses how he combines the keto diet with a Primal lifestyle for optimal health and longevity. Mark is the author of numerous other books as well, including The Primal Blueprint, which was credited with turbocharging the growth of the primal/paleo movement back in 2009. After spending three decades researching and educating folks on why food is the key component to achieving and maintaining optimal wellness, Mark launched Primal Kitchen, a real-food company that creates Primal/paleo, keto, and Whole30-friendly kitchen staples.