As much as we find ourselves craving rich, creamy and indulgent dishes on these long cold December nights, sometimes what we actually need to power us through is a little bit of greenery! This Winter Butternut Squash Salad celebrates the ingredients of the season to create a hearty side or main dish perfect for any weeknight dinner or even celebration! Loaded with blue cheese, pecans and honey roasted butternut squash, this salad will satisfy any cravings and turn even lettuce haters into full-on supporters!
Whilst we love the mix of flavours created through combining a mature blue cheese with the creamy butternut squash and crunchy pecans, we realise they may not be for everyone. So, feel free to switch out ingredients to ensure this salad is right for your family. Honey roasted sweet potato would be a great option in place of butternut squash. And, if blue cheese is a little too intense for your liking, then a mild goat’s cheese or feta would make a great alternative. Don’t like pecans? Walnuts or even sliced almonds would be delicious too!
Plus when it comes to effort, very little is needed here as most of the time is hands off while the butternut squash and onion roast away happily meaning you have time to tick off any other items that might be on your to-do list. So get-to-roasting and enjoy this delicious winter butternut squash salad!
Ingredients
- 450g butternut squash, cut into 1” cubes
- 1 red onion, roughly chopped
- 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 75g blue cheese, crumbled
- 50g pecans, roughly chopped
- 120g rocket
- 150g baby spinach
- 2tbsp honey
- 1 ½ tbsp. olive oil
- 1tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
Dressing
- 2tbsp champagne vinegar
- 2tbsp honey
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- ½ tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 75g extra virgin olive oil
Recipe
- Preheat the oven to 200C. In a large bowl, coat the butternut squash and red onion in the honey and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Spread over a baking sheet and place in the oven for 50-60 minutes until golden brown and caramelised; allow to cool.
- To make the dressing, place all of the ingredients into the base of the bowl you plan to use for the salad and whisk together until the oil is fully combined with the other ingredients.
- Add the remaining salad ingredients (rocket, baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, blue cheese and pecans) to the salad bowl along with the roasted butternut squash and onion.
- Toss to ensure everything is fully coated in the dressing and serve immediately.
We do hope you enjoy our Winter Butternut Squash Salad. Let us know in the comments below if you find any other great flavour combinations to include. For other festive meal ideas, check out our recipes here.