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    Home » Recipes » Fall Recipes

    November 3, 2020

    Butternut Squash Kale Salad With Cinnamon Vinaigrette

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    This delicious butternut squash kale salad has it all! Nutritious greens, roasted butternut squash, tart cranberries, crunchy pecans, creamy crumbled goat cheese and a homemade, sweet cinnamon vinaigrette dressing to die for!

    It's easy to make, healthy and delicious. If you need a great side dish for Thanksgiving dinner, I guarantee this salad will be a hit.

    Butternut squash kale salad in a copper serving bowl.
    Butternut Squash Salad

    *Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Fall is here, that means it's butternut squash season! I absolutely love this sweet and nutty squash and have found it to be really versatile in the kitchen.

    If you're also a squash-lover, be sure to check out my Butternut Squash Ground Beef Casserole, it's been a serious reader favorite for years!

    You also can't go wrong with my creamy Oven Roasted Butternut Squash Soup or sweet and spicy Butternut Squash Turkey Chili.

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients & Substitutions
    • How To Make Butternut Squash Salad
    • Handy Tips
    • What To Serve With Butternut Squash Salad
    • Butternut Squash Kale Salad With Cinnamon Vinaigrette
    • Recipe notes:

    Ingredients & Substitutions

    • Butternut squash: I like to buy a small squash, 1-2 pounds in size. Also, you can totally peel and dice sweet potato for this salad, instead of squash!
    • Kale: I generally use curly kale but you can use another variety if you want.
    • Extra virgin olive oil: For this recipe, I use olive oil to massage kale leaves and also in my vinaigrette dressing.
    • Spinach: Another hearty, leafy, nutritious green!
    • Seasonings: Salt and black pepper.
    • Dried cranberries: I like to look for reduce sugar craisins at the store, but regular will work fine too.
    • Pecans: Roasted and salted! You can also sub walnuts, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
    • Goat cheese: Or sub blue cheese, feta cheese if you'd prefer.
    • Grapeseed oil: This oil is very neutral in flavor and works great for making salad dressing.
    • Apple cider Vinegar: Adds a nice, tangy flavor to our vinaigrette.
    • Brown sugar: Sweeten things up a bit!
    • Cinnamon: You just can't beat a cinnamon flavored dressing. So good!
    Ingredients for butternut squash kale salad with text overlay labels.
    Ingredients

    How To Make Butternut Squash Salad

    Keep scrolling for the full recipe card and measurements! We'll start here with a quick overview:

    Roast squash:

    • Time to heat up the oven! Preheat to 400°F.
    • Next, peel and cube squash. To save some time, look for pre-cubed squash at the store, it's sometimes available in the produce section. You can also cube your squash a few days in advance and store in the fridge for later.
    Left: peeled butternut squash halves. Right: cubed butternut squash.
    • Lightly drizzle squash cubes with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt & freshly ground pepper.
    • Stir until all cubes are coated and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet (line with foil or parchment paper for extra easy cleanup, if desired).
    • Roast squash for approximately 40 minutes.
    Seasoned butternut squash cubes on a roasting pan.

    Prepare kale:

    • While squash bakes, chop kale and place it in a large bowl.
    • Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper.
    • Use your hands to massage oil into the leaves. Kale will reduce in size significantly when massaged with oil, this is normal.
    Kale leaves in a large bowl.

    Assemble salad:

    • Chop spinach and add it to the mixing bowl along with the kale. Add cranberries, goat cheese and chopped pecans.
    • Remove squash from the oven, let it cool and then add to the bowl.
    All salad ingredients measured into a large bowl.

    Make salad dressing:

    • Toss all salad ingredients together and set aside.
    • Grab a mason jar or small bowl and add grapeseed oil, olive oil, brown sugar and cinnamon. Shake well or whisk until thoroughly combined.
    Cinnamon vinaigrette in a glass jar.
    Cinnamon Vinaigrette

    Serve:

    • Plate salad and serve! You can toss the salad with dressing before serving, but I generally leave it on the side so people can add as much as they want.
    Butternut squash salad on plates.
    Kale Butternut Squash Salad

    Handy Tips

    • Vegetable peeler: butternut squash is much easier to work with if you have a good vegetable peeler. For the longest time I used an old, dull peeler and dreaded working with thick skinned squash. Finally, I broke down and bought a new, heavy duty vegetable peeler (it was super affordable so I'm not sure why I waited so long)! It's the best purchase I've made in a long time.
    • Butternut squash: To save time, look for pre-cubed squash at the grocery store in the produce section. You can also prep squash ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for a few days.
    • Feel free to get creative with this recipe, it's very flexible. Try a different type of winter squash or substitute walnuts or roasted pumpkin seeds for pecans. Did you find a fun, fall flavored goat cheese at the grocery store, give it a go! Love the cinnamon flavor in the vinaigrette? Add a little more! It's easy to have fun with this recipe and mix things up.

    What To Serve With Butternut Squash Salad

    Chili: This salad goes great with my Gameday Crockpot Chili or Creamy White Chicken Chili and a big piece of buttered bread and cornbread or rolls.

    Meatballs: The sweet elements in this autumn salad pair perfectly with my savory Ground Turkey Swedish Meatballs.

    Chicken: Healthy Almond Crusted Chicken or Creamy Spinach Chicken Thighs are both really nice mains to pair with this fresh, leafy salad!

    Pin it for later!

    Butternut squash kale salad in a copper serving bowl with text overlay for Pinterest.
    Butternut squash kale salad in a copper serving bowl.
    Print Recipe
    5 from 2 votes

    Butternut Squash Kale Salad With Cinnamon Vinaigrette

    This delicious butternut squash kale salad has it all! Nutritious greens, roasted butternut squash, tart cranberries, crunchy pecans, creamy crumbled goat cheese and a homemade, sweet cinnamon vinaigrette dressing to die for!
    Prep Time10 minutes mins
    Cook Time40 minutes mins
    Total Time50 minutes mins
    Course: Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Autumn Salad, Butternut Squash Kale Salad
    Servings: 6
    Author: Stacey Adams

    Equipment

    • Large baking sheet *Mine is 11x17 inches

    Ingredients

    Autumn Harvest Salad

    • 1 small butternut squash *peeled & cubed *see notes below
    • 1 large bunch of kale *chopped *around 4 cups
    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 cups spinach *chopped
    • Salt *to taste
    • Fresh ground black pepper *to taste
    • ½ cup dried cranberries
    • ½ cup chopped pecans *roasted & salted *see note below
    • 1 4 oz goat cheese log *crumbled

    Sweet Cinnamon Vinaigrette *see note below

    • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
    • ¼ cup grapeseed oil *see note below
    • ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
    • 2 tablespoons brown sugar *dark or light *packed
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    Recipe notes:

    Butternut squash: I like to buy a squash around 1.5 pounds in size. This will yield about 4 cups once cubed. You can use the little scales provided in the produce section at the grocery store!
    Pre-cubed squash is usually available at the grocery store (especially when it's in season)! If you don't feel like dicing up a whole squash, or you're trying to save a little time, look for a package in the produce section.
    Pecans: at the store, look for pecans that are already roasted/salted. Packaging should specify! Buy whole nuts and chop them up or look for pecan "pieces." These work nicely and save a little time since you won't need to cut them up by hand.
    Grapeseed oil: this is a neutral oil that doesn't have a peppery flavor, like olive oil. Additional olive oil can be used as a substitute, but it will change the flavor a bit. Grapeseed oil is excellent for making homemade dressings, I definitely recommend adding a bottle to your pantry! It should be in the same area as the olive oil at your local grocery store.
    Vinaigrette: you might also consider trying some Zesty Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing on this salad!

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 400°F.
    • Peel and cube your squash. Drizzle with approximately 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss the cubes in the salt, pepper and oil. Spread them out on a large baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes. *Don't overcrowd your pan or the squash can become mushy.
    • While squash bakes, chop up your kale. Place it in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Massage the olive oil into the kale leaves for 2-3 minutes. By the time you finish massaging the kale, it will have decreased significantly in size, this is normal.
    • Chop spinach leaves up and add them to the mixing bowl along with the kale. Add cranberries, chopped pecans and crumbled goat cheese.
    • Once squash is done, take it out and allow it to cool.
    • While squash cools, prepare your dressing. Simply combine all ingredients for the dressing in a small mixing bowl and whisk them together. *Tip: for a sweeter dressing you can add more brown sugar or some maple syrup to taste.
      ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, ¼ cup grapeseed oil, ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar
    • Add roasted butternut squash cubes to the bowl and toss all ingredients together with two forks. This salad is delicious without any dressing at all, so I normally leave dressing to the side so that diners can add however much they prefer. Enjoy!

    Did you make this recipe?!

    Thank you so much for trying it out – would you leave a rating?! Simply click on the stars in the recipe card above.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Britt says

      November 10, 2020 at 8:11 pm

      Yummy I can’t wait to try this healthy treat!!!

      Reply
    2. Lindsay says

      November 22, 2020 at 10:44 am

      I am making this for Thanksgiving!

      Reply
      • stacey_olson says

        November 22, 2020 at 2:17 pm

        Oooo yay! I hope you love it!!

        Reply
    3. Leslie Watkins says

      October 15, 2021 at 11:47 pm

      I can’t wait to try this!!! Butternut squash and cinnamon with a salad?!! Yummy!

      Reply
      • stacey_olson says

        October 18, 2021 at 7:58 am

        It's so good!! Hope you enjoy! <3

        Reply
    5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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    Hi, I'm Stacey! I love developing quick, healthy, real food recipes to share with you and your family. Eating nutritious food doesn't have to mean heaps of time in the kitchen, let me show you!

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