Roasted Delicata Squash Salad is a colorful delicious salad celebrating the best fruits and vegetables of the season.

Have you ever had Delicata squash? It is my new favorite squash! I guess I’m in that stage of life where I have a favorite squash (oh no!). Anyway…when you roast Delicata squash, the insides and the outside shell become tender and delicious. You can eat it as a roasted vegetable side dish, OR you can add it to this delicious salad and it will be the star of the salad!

I love a big colorful delicious salad, and this one does not disappoint. We had a pizza night and we served this salad with the pizza, and it was so good with the pizza…and even ON the pizza. Do you ever do that, I love salad on pizza, it’s so good!

Ingredients:

Here’s what you need for this salad:

2 medium Delicata squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of fine salt
5 cups arugula and or mixed greens
1 pomegranate, seeded (about 1 cup)
⅓ cup pecans, chopped
3 to 4 ounces goat cheese (about ¾ cup)
For the Salad Dressing:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon fine salt
black pepper, to taste

How to make Roasted Delicata Squash Salad:

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Line a sheet pan with parchment or foil.
Wash off the exterior of the squash. Slice the squash into 1/2 inch rounds. Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and the insides from each slice. Drizzle olive oil over all the squash rounds, use your hands to toss them all together to make sure they are all coated in the olive oil. Sprinkle all with a big pinch of sea salt. Arrange on the sheet pan in a single layer. Roast in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Flip each round over in the middle of the cook time, for more even roasting.
Toast the pecans: In a dry skillet add the chopped pecans. Turn on the heat and toast until fragrant. Remove from the skillet and store at room temp until ready to add to the salad.
De-seed your pomegranate: in a bowl of water, remove the seeds from the pomegranate.
Make the Salad Dressing: In a glass jar, mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, sea salt and black pepper. Use a a small whisk or a fork to combine.
Plate your salad: when the squash is cooled, you are ready to bring it all together. On a large serving platter: Add the mixed greens, roasted Delicata squash, pomegranate arils, toasted pecans and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle all with the vinaigrette dressing and toss to coat. Serve right away and enjoy!

Variations:

There’s a bunch of different ways to make this salad your own. That’s the beauty of a salad, you can completely customize it to your liking.

Pomegranate hard to find? Try a swapping for dried cranberries (crazins), or a handful of dried cherries.
Not a fan of pecans, swap with your favorite roasted nuts or seeds: like almonds or raw pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
Candy the Pecans: Try adding sugar to the hot pecans while you are toasting them. The sugar will melt and solidify onto the pecans. Remove from the skillet to cool.
Goat Cheese can get expensive: Try swapping goat cheese for crumbled feta cheese
Not wanting to serve the big rounds of sliced Delicata Squash? Serve them in half circle shaped slices. To do this: Slice the squash the long way first and then scrape out the seeds and insides, then slice into 1/2 inch slices.
Dressing Swap: If you happen to have a pre-made bottle of balsamic glaze, you can use that in the place of maple syrup and balsamic vinegar.

Tips and Tricks:

Flip the squash over during the roasting time to make for even roasting.
Not a fan of removing the seeds from a pomegranate? The best way to do it is in a bowl of water. The seeds float to the bottom and the rest of it floats to the top, making it easy to remove the arils (aka seeds)
Shortcut: buy the container of pomegranate arils from the store and skip the step above completely.

Make ahead:

There are a bunch of things that can be done ahead for this salad to make serving it a breeze.

Remove the pomegranate seeds (aka pomegranate arils) a day or two ahead.
Roast the Delicata Squash a day or two ahead. When cooled store in the fridge until ready.
Toast the pecans until fragrant a day ahead. Store at room temp in an air tight container.
Mix up the salad dressing, and store in a jar in the fridge.
Hours before: plate the salad with all ingredients and store in the fridge covered with plastic wrap. Do not add the dressing until right before serving.

How to roast Delicata Squash?

Delicata squash is so good roasted, the skins become tender and edible. It’s so simple to roast this type of squash:

Preheat your oven to 400 F.
Wash, slice and remove the seeds and insides of the squash.
Coat with olive oil and sprinkle on a big pinch of sea salt.
Roast for 35-40 minutes, until tender.
Flip the squash over in the middle of the roast time for even cooking.

Where to buy Delicata Squash:

Unless you are growing your own Delicata squash (next Summer!), I found Delicata Squash to be a little hard to find. After looking for it at a couple stores, I finally found it at Sprouts grocery store. You might want to call your store to see if they have it, before driving around.

Roasted Delicata Squash Salad

Celebrate the beautiful colors of the season with this delicious roasted Delicata squash salad.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Keyword Delicata Squash,, Pomegranate

Author Kami | NoBiggie.net

Ingredients

For the Salad:

2 medium Delicata squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 big pinch fine sea salt
5 cups arugula lettuce or mixed greens
1 pomegranate seeded (about 1 cup)
1/3 cup pecans chopped
3-4 oz. goat cheese (about ¾ cup)

For the Salad Dressing:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
black pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Line a sheet pan with parchment or foil.
Wash off the exterior of the squash. Slice the squash into 1/2 inch rounds. Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and the insides from each slice.
Drizzle olive oil over all the squash rounds, use your hands to toss them all together to make sure they are all coated in the olive oil. Sprinkle all with a big pinch of sea salt. Arrange on the sheet pan in a single layer. Roast in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Flip each round over in the middle of the cook time, for more even roasting.
Toast the pecans: In a dry skillet add the chopped pecans. Turn on the heat and toast until fragrant. Remove from the skillet and store at room temp until ready to add to the salad.
Make the Salad Dressing: In a glass jar, mix together the extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, sea salt and black pepper. Use a a small whisk or a fork to combine.
Plate your salad: when the squash is cooled, you are ready to bring it all together. On a large serving platter: Add the mixed greens, roasted Delicata squash, pomegranate arils, toasted pecans and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle all with the vinaigrette dressing and toss to coat. Serve right away and enjoy!

Making This Recipe? Tag us on Instagram: @NoBiggie using the hashtag #NoBiggieRecipes, so we can see what you are making in the kitchen!

More Salad Recipes we LOVE:

What is your go to salad recipe? I’d love to hear! If you make this, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section!

*Recipe adapted from Cookie and Kate.