Maple Balsamic Fall Harvest Salad

This Maple Balsamic Fall Harvest Salad is everything I love about autumn in one beautiful bowl. Tender roasted sweet potatoes, crunchy candied pecans, chewy dried cranberries, and nutty pumpkin seeds are layered over a bed of fresh mixed greens and finished with my favorite homemade Maple Balsamic Dressing.

The combination of sweet, savory, tangy, crunchy, and creamy makes this salad anything but boring. It’s colorful enough for a holiday table but simple enough to make for an ordinary weeknight meal.

This salad actually has a special story in our family. A version of it was served in the hospital cafeteria while our son was hospitalized in critical condition. During those long days, I found myself eating this salad every day. When we finally came home, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I set out to recreate it in my own kitchen.

And honestly? I think I like my version even better. 😊

It’s become one of those recipes that carries a little bit of memory with it: beautiful food, nourishment in a difficult season, and the comfort of bringing something home and making it your own.

Regina

Maple Balsamic Fall Harvest Salad

This colorful Fall Harvest Salad combines crisp mixed greens with roasted sweet potatoes, crunchy candied pecans, tart dried cranberries, and pumpkin seeds, all tossed with a delicious homemade Maple Balsamic Dressing. A hearty, flavorful autumn salad that's as beautiful as it is satisfying. If you make large enough quantities, all these steps give you salad for days!

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Course: Salad

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• Salad Greens I like a mix of various types of lettuce and kale and sliced Brussels sprouts, but it could really just be salad from a box.
• Candied Pecans I toss pecans very lightly with maple syrup, and toast them in a cast iron skillet on the stovetop. You could also toast them in the oven.
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes I like a mix of orange and purple sweet potatoes, but just orange is fine, too. Use fresh sweet potatoes, not frozen, because they tend to get mushy when thawed. Peel, cut into bite-sized pieces, toss lightly with olive oil, and roast at 350 degrees until tender but not mushy.
• Pumpkin Seeds I like the sprouted ones.
• Dried Cranberries I prefer low sugar ones
• Maple Balsamic Dressing https://dwellinganddish.com/2026/10/02/maple-balsamic-dressing/

Method

 

1. Once you get all the elements of this salad prepared, put your desired amount of greens into a bowl. Add the toppings and dress with my maple balsamic dressing. https://dwellinganddish.com/2026/10/02/maple-balsamic-dressing/