This roasted butternut squash salad with maple orange dressing is my go to fall salad recipe. It’s delicious as a main dish or you can serve it as a side.
Benefits of butternut squash:
Besides the fact that butternut squash is extremely tasty, it comes with a host of benefits. For example, it’s full of Vitamin A and Vitamin C, and it’s low in calories!
How do you roast something?
You’ll find instructions specific to this fall meal in the directions below. However, if you’re curious about how it works, roasting is simply a matter of cooking something in the oven at a high temperature.
You’ll often toss the roasted item of choice with oil, salt and pepper and cook it at a temperature between 400 and 450 degrees F. For roasted butternut squash, you just cut up the butternut squash (or buy a package of pre-cut squash) and toss it like we explain below!
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Maple Orange Dressing:
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Maple Orange Dressing
The perfect Fall salad!
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Butternut Squash, Diced Small
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
- 4 Slices Bacon, Cooked and Roughly Chopped
- 1 (7 Ounce) Bag Arugula
- 1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
- 1/2 Cup Candied Pecans (I like the ones from Trader Joe’s)
- 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese (or a good Tuscan cheese; I like the rosemary coated one from Trader Joe’s)
Dressing:
- 2 Teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper Pepper
- Juice and Zest of 1 Orange
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the butternut squash on a cookie sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until squash is soft and cooked through.
- Cook the bacon in the same oven until crispy about 15 minutes and chop roughly.
- Place the lettuce on your serving platter and top with bacon, cranberries, pecans and cheese.
- Remove squash from the oven and let cool while you make the dressing.
- To make the dressing, combine the dressing ingredients and whisk to combine completely.
- Place the butternut squash on top of the salad and toss with desired amount of dressing.