Butternut Squash Salad {with Bacon and Maple-Rosemary Vinaigrette} - Cooking Classy (2024)

Published September 10, 2015. Updated October 20, 2020

The perfect Butternut Squash Salad – made with with Bacon and Maple-Rosemary Vinaigrette! It also includes baby kale and spinach , red onions, feta or goat cheese and red onion. Talk about explosion of flavors!

The Perfect Fall Salad Recipe

What? The first butternut squash recipe I’ve ever shared? Not sure what took so long but it’s about time! We all know I’m crazy about salads as of late so I decided to try a butternut squash salad, something I haven’t ever tried before. Really I don’t cook that much butternut squash but I’m starting to like it more. And the best way to turn a somewhat boring something into something amazing? Add bacon.

You just can’t go wrong with bacon and it’s absolutely perfect in this salad. It gives it that salty, crispy, melt-in-your mouth bite and it pairs perfectly with the squash, feta/goat cheese and walnuts. And of course it goes perfectly with that maple-rosemary vinaigrette. Have you ever had maple bacon? It’s amazing!

This is a versatile recipe, you can switch up the greens or add more greens to stretch the salad a little more, you can add some roasted chicken to make it more of a main dish, and you can use feta or goat cheese. I used feta this time around but next time I want to try it with goat cheese because I love goat cheese too. And for some reason it seems like a good cheese for fall. I’d even like to try this salad with sweet potatoes sometime.

Bring those delicious fall flavors to your dinner table this week by making this incredibly tasty salad! It’s full of flavor and it will leave you wanting more! My husband who has always turned away butternut squash loved this salad!

What You’ll Need for Butternut Squash Salad

• Olive oil
• Dried thyme and rosemary
• Salt and pepper
• Bacon
• Walnuts
• Red onion
• Goat cheese or feta
• Baby kale
• Cranberries
• Maple syrup
• Apple cider vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• Garlic

How to Make Butternut Squash Salad

1. Prepare the vinaigrette: In a small saucepan whisk together maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, mustard, garlic and rosemary. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then allow to boil, stirring frequently, 2 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
2. Prepare squash: Spray a rimmed baking sheet lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Place squash in a mound on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme and season lightly with salt and pepper then toss to evenly coat.
3. Roast butternut squash: Spread into an even layer and roast in 400 degree preheated oven 15 – 20 minutes, tossing once after 10 minutes, until tender.
4. Toss salad ingredients: to a salad bowl add lettuce blend, squash, bacon, walnuts, red onion, feta and cranberries. Gently toss salad. Whisk dressing then drizzle over salad and lightly toss. Serve immediately after adding vinaigrette.

Substitutions and Tips

• Buy pre-cut butternut squash if you want to save lots of prep time.
• For freshest flavor try with fresh herbs.
• Swap raisins for cranberries.
• Use pecans instead of walnuts.
• All spinach or baby kale will work fine, vs. buying a blend.

More Delicious Butternut Squash Recipes to Try

• Butternut Squash Gratin
• Butternut Squash Pasta Carbonara
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Roasted Butternut Squash
• Tortellini with Butternut Squash Kale and Bacon