Eat all of your veggies with these easy winter salad recipes. These bright and colorful salads are a delicious mix of vegetables, fruits, nuts and more. You can pair these salads with a pot of soup or a casserole or enjoy them on their own. Recipes like our Cabbage Salad with Bacon or our Loaded Bean Salad are comforting, flavorful and ready in 20 minutes or less.
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Cabbage Salad with Bacon
Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Amanda Hostein, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle.
This warm Cabbage Salad with Bacon turns simple ingredients into something delicious. Crisp, smoky bacon adds richness, while its rendered drippings are whisked into an apple-cider vinaigrette for a tangy, savory-sweet dressing that coats the cabbage perfectly. A touch of Dijon and honey make each bite bright and satisfying.
Brussels Sprouts, Kale & Pear Salad
Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Lindsey Lower
This crisp and colorful salad celebrates the best of cool-weather produce while delivering plenty of texture and flavor in every bite. Kale and Brussels sprouts are massaged in a tangy apple-cider vinaigrette, while sweet red pear slices and jewel-toned pomegranate arils add juicy pops of freshness. Shaved Parmesan ties it all together with its rich, salty bite.
Loaded Bean Salad
Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist Hannah Grennwood.
This loaded bean salad is a simple yet satisfying dish that’s full of creamy texture and all the classic fixings. The navy beans serve as a neutral base, allowing ingredients like bacon, scallions and Cheddar cheese to shine. A creamy dressing made with mayonnaise and sour cream ties everything together. This salad is rich in fiber and plant-based protein, making it the perfect easy side dish.
Green Bean Caesar Salad
Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Amanda Hostein, Prop Stylist: Keoshia McGhee
This green bean Caesar salad is a crisp and flavorful twist on the classic Caesar. Blanched green beans replace the traditional romaine, bringing a fresh snap and vibrant color to the dish. Crispy panko and shaved Parmesan add flavor and texture, making this salad the perfect pairing for grilled or roasted meat, seafood or grain bowls.
5-Ingredient Avocado & Chickpea Salad
Photographer: Jake Sternquist, Food Stylist: Sammy Mila, Prop Stylist: Gabriel Greco.
This avocado-and-chickpea salad is a fresh, flavorful dish that comes together in minutes. Made with just five ingredients, it’s as simple as it is satisfying. Creamy avocado pairs perfectly with hearty chickpeas for a filling, plant-based meal. With no cooking required and minimal prep, it’s a perfect quick lunch or dinner.
Cacio e Pepe Kale Salad
Heami Lee, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christine Keeley
This easy kale salad draws flavor inspiration from the classic Italian pasta dish cacio e pepe, which translates to “cheese and pepper.” The signature flavors of sharp Pecorino Romano cheese and freshly ground black pepper transform kale into a delicious, anti-inflammatory side salad.
Cabbage Crunch Salad with Cider Vinaigrette
Photographer: Jacob Fox, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Breanna Ghazali
This crisp and fresh cabbage-apple salad features carrots, walnuts and creamy Gorgonzola cheese. Allowing the cabbage to sit before serving helps soften it and develop the flavor. While any type of cabbage will work well, tender cabbage like napa will need less time to soften, while a sturdier variety like red or green cabbage will take a bit longer.
Honey-Mustard Bean Salad
Photographer: Stacy Allen, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley
This honey-mustard bean salad is the perfect combination of sweet, tangy and downright delicious flavors. Creamy cannellini beans and hearty chickpeas create the ideal base to soak up the zesty honey-mustard dressing. If you don’t have cannellini beans or chickpeas on hand, black beans, kidney beans or even pinto beans work well, offering flexibility to suit your pantry. Serve this salad as a light main course with crusty bread or alongside grilled chicken, salmon or tofu for a heartier meal.
Cabbage Salad with Apple, Walnuts & Gorgonzola
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hauser
This crisp and fresh cabbage-apple salad features carrots, walnuts and creamy Gorgonzola cheese. Allowing the cabbage to sit before serving helps develop the flavor and soften the cabbage. While any type of cabbage will work well, tender cabbage like napa will need less time to soften, while a sturdier cabbage like red or green cabbage will take a bit longer.
Kale & Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Avocado Caesar Dressing
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Margret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Christine Keely
This salad combines the flavors of a Caesar salad with tender green lacinato kale and the crunch of raw, shaved Brussels sprouts. The brown-butter breadcrumbs add additional crunch and a nutty, toasted flavor. Serve with roasted chicken for an extra boost of protein.
Kale, Quinoa & Apple Salad
Photographer: Jen Causey, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall
This kale, quinoa and apple salad is perfect for cool weather. Fresh apples bring crisp flavor, and the kale breaks down when it’s massaged with the dressing. Nuts, fennel and quinoa add more layers of texture, while blue cheese lends a savory note.
Winter Salad with Toasted Walnuts
This salad was one of the favorites chosen from over 1,000 salad recipes for our 30th anniversary issue. In 2004, Deborah Madison waxed poetic about winter ingredients, particularly nuts. “In the chill air of winter, nuts move up to center stage as do their warming, substantial, golden oils—so good with winter salad greens and vegetables, such as shaved fennel, all of which are likely to end up in a salad together,” she says. Madison suggested using a mix of lettuces that balance each other here—a mild, tender variety, such as Boston, with a more intense and sturdy green, such as escarole, for instance.
Kale Salad with Balsamic & Parmesan
Jason Donnelly
In this healthy kale salad recipe, you massage the dressing into the kale, tenderizing the leaves and infusing the salad with sweet balsamic flavor. Creamy pine nuts and salty Parmesan cheese added at the end balance the flavors. Enjoy this salad on its own as a side dish or add cooked chicken, shrimp or steak to make it a full meal.
Caesar Salad with Crispy Artichokes
Photographer / Jacob Fox, Food styling / Sue Mitchell, Food Styling / Kelsey Bulat
This Caesar salad skips croutons in favor of cheesy pan-fried artichokes for an extra boost of vegetables and the same satisfying crunch.
Apple, Fig & Brussels Sprouts Salad
Salad dressing made from sweet and mellow white balsamic vinegar balances out the assertive greens and Brussels sprouts in this healthy winter salad. If you have one handy, a small mandoline makes it easy to slice the Brussels and apple. To make it a dinner salad, top with shrimp or chicken.
Arugula, Beet & Feta Salad
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling
Peppery arugula and tender, sweet beets are balanced by a simple vinaigrette and briny bits of feta cheese in this salad. Using cooked, peeled beets helps make prep a breeze.
Warm Pear & Spinach Salad with Maple-Bacon Vinaigrette
Mature, larger-leaved spinach holds up better to the warm bacon vinaigrette than baby spinach in this healthy spinach salad recipe. If you don’t want the spinach to wilt, let the dressing cool before tossing it with the salad.
Loaded Cabbage Salad
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Sue Mitchell
This loaded cabbage salad features crisp chopped green cabbage tossed in a creamy dressing flavored with smoky bacon. We use bacon fat from the skillet to pump up the savory flavor in the dressing, but you can swap it out for oil if you prefer. While green cabbage holds up well in chopped salads, red cabbage or even napa cabbage can be used in its place.
