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The ultimate fall salad is this maple roasted acorn squash salad tossed with a deliciously decadent pomegranate vinaigrette. The perfect way to get in your seasonal veggies!

When I have a good salad, I quickly become obsessed. I don’t know if it’s because all salads are not created equal or if I’m just picky when it comes to salads! Well this squash salad definitely falls in the “obsessed” category. I love the mix of warm and cool ingredients, the fall flavors and the refreshing vinaigrette!

This salad comes together really quickly – the part that takes the longest is roasting the squash but after you have that done, it’s just a matter of mixing up the rest of the ingredients.

Fall Squash Salad Ingredients:

  • Acorn squash
  • Baby arugula or green of your choice
  • Pomegranate seeds
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Maple syrup
  • Olive oil
  • Red wine vinegar
  • Pomegranate juice
  • Sea salt and pepper

Acorn Squash 101 – Yes! You can eat the skin.

Acorn squash is a winter squash that is shaped similarly to an acorn! They’re typically dark green in color with an orange patch near the stem. The inner flesh is yellow-ish orange, similar to butternut squash. It has a slightly sweet and nutty flavor but it’s pretty mild. After cooking, the skin is fairly soft making it okay to eat! If you don’t love the texture you can always remove the peel before cooking. Acorn squash is rich in vitamins and minerals, most notably vitamin C, potassium and magnesium. 

Here’s how to chop your acorn squash for this fall squash salad:

1. Chop off top and base of acorn squash.

2. Slice acorn squash length-wise from top to bottom. Scoop out seeds.

3. Place squash flesh side down and chop into 1/4-1/2 inch sized slices.

How to Make Roasted Acorn Squash

Like I mentioned above, the most time consuming part of this recipe is roasting the squash. 

STEP 1: See above for how to cut your acorn squash.

STEP 2: In a large bowl, combine maple syrup and olive oil. Dip each piece of squash into the mixture to coat both sides and then lay on a sheet of parchment paper or silicone-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle slices with salt and pepper.

STEP 3: Roast them for 15 minutes at 425ºF, flip and roast for another 10 minutes on the other side. 

Assembling Your Squash Salad

After cooking your squash, the salad is super simple to assemble. Mix the arugula, pomegranate seeds and pumpkin seeds in a large bowl and top with the roasted squash. In a small bowl or mason jar, mix the red wine vinegar, olive oil, pomegranate juice and maple syrup. Drizzle the vinaigrette dressing over the salad just before serving.

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Maple Roasted Acorn Squash Salad

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The ultimate fall salad is this maple roasted acorn squash salad tossed with a deliciously decadent pomegranate vinaigrette. The perfect way to get in your seasonal veggies!

  • Author: Davida Lederle
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: Salad
  • Method: Roast
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale

For the Maple Roasted Acorn Squash:

  • 1 acorn squash (approx 2 lbs)
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper

For the salad:

  • 6 large handfuls of baby arugula (or green of choice)
  • 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

For the dressing:

  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup pomegranate juice
  • 1 tsp maple syrup

Instructions

For the Maple Roasted Acorn Squash:

  1. Preheat oven to 425.
  2. Cut off top and bottom of squash, then cut in half (lengthwise) and scoop out seeds. *
  3. Lay each side down and cut width-wise into strips.
  4. In a large bowl combine maple syrup and olive oil.
  5. Dip each piece into the mixture to coat both sides and then lay on a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet.
  6. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  7. Roast them for 15 mins on side one, flip and roast for another 10 mins on the other side.

For the salad:

  1. Combine all salad ingredients and then top with squash.

For the dressing:

  1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.
  2. Top onto salad just before serving.

*If squash is hard to cut, place in microwave for 3-4 minutes before cutting with a sharp knife. If you do not like to eat the skin, peel skin before slicing

Like this post? Here are more fall salads to try:

Meet the Maven

Hi! I'm Davida and welcome to my corner of the internet. I'm a wellness blogger, yoga teacher, certified herbalist, and green beauty lover.

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34 Comments

  1. I think it maybe can get in the way, but it depends on the person. I’ve seen blogs that have gotten bogged down by sponsored posts and lost a lot of their personality. But your blog has never been anything but authentic and fun. You’ve done such a great job of monetizing your blog while still letting it reflect YOU. 🙂

  2. So excited to try this! Quick question though – why does your dressing look creamy? What’s gives it its opacity?

    1. Thanks Leigh! I actually made the pomegranate juice myself and didn’t do the best job pushing the seeds through the sieve to get out all of the pits so that’s probably why it looks a little thicker. Though I made it again and did a better job straining it and the colour wasn’t much different (just slightly darker). Both delicious though! Enjoy 🙂

      1. Thanks so much!

        I made this for my boyfriend on the weekend (and added brie – yum!) and it was a HUGE hit. He gobbled it all up. I will definitely be making this and variations of it all winter long. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

  3. This recipe looks amazing first of all! Second of all, I think that data and technology enhance storytelling. I don’t think you can have one without the other. I think you have to do what you have to do to make a living and knowing what your readers want is important. There is no one right way to run a blog and you can never please everyone, the most important thing is that you are happy with what you are doing.

  4. Oh my word! I LOVE acorn squash! Seriously, it’s so filling and delicious! Totes perf! …plus this is such a seasonally delicious recipe! Great job girl! 🙂

  5. I agree! You work hard, this is your job. Ads and sponsors are the only way you will get paid for it so you are completely entitled to them! Good on ya girl 🙂

    This recipe looks delicious!!

  6. This sounds agreeable enough to me. Though sponsored posts may interfere with a story or a true voice, it’s not such a bad thing if used in the ways that you do. Readers should respect that, just like you respect readers by only working with brands you trust or like. Even in non-sponsored posts, I feel that technology and data distract from the raw emotion of a good ol’ fashioned story. (eg: publishing “pinteresting” posts instead of interesting ones, just one example)
    Keep on writing pretty lady! (and cooking!!)

  7. HAVE YOU found a WHITE ACORN SQUASH YET?!?!?! Prepare for your mind to be BLOWN! I compared it to BREAD when I was eating it, and my friend was like UHHHH WTF – this is because, well, I don’t remember what bread tastes like, ha ha ha!

  8. Really great post! Though I have yet to even scratch the surface of the blog world and all that it entails to run a successful one, ie adult see how much though, time and effort goes into each post-not to mention recipe development and photography. It truly is a full time job and you deserve to be compensated as such. I would never stop reading a blog for that. I feel like your voice is true to you and you are so witty and make me laugh and smile each time I read!

  9. Preach woman! I never understand people that say you’re “selling out” by doing ads or sponsored posts… Even for a blogger who does it as a side gig, it still takes a lot of time and effort, and I don’t see anything wrong with getting paid as long as you keep it genuine and authentic. Like you, I have certain standards when I work with brands for sponsored posts, product reviews, etc. and I think that as long as you keep it real and only do things genuinely from your heart, it’s all good. Just recently I backed out of a campaign because I didn’t like the vibes I was getting from it. I lost out on a bit of cash, but it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day, I have to do what feels right to me… so you go on with your lovely self telling your story through beautiful food photography! I’ll be here reading. 🙂

  10. Such timing! My post a couple of days ago is the first where I went out on a limb, got personal, and was emotionally storytelling. It is something that I had been struggling with, if I wanted to go there. After I published it, I felt great and have had great support and feedback. If not for technology, it would not have been possible. I’m just starting the journey of finding my voice, but authenticity feels awesome! Keep up your great work!!!