Apple Pecan and Bacon Salad with Maple Vinaigrette Dressing

This Apple Pecan and Bacon Salad with Maple Vinaigrette Dressing features crunchy candied pecans, sweet, crisp apples, savory bacon pieces, and tart, dried cranberries. Serve with your favorite lettuce and top it off with a simple and delicious 2-minute vinaigrette for the perfect salad to go with any meal!

Looking for more delicious salad recipes? Head on over to these posts for my yummy veggie creations like: Strawberry Spinach Salad, Broccoli Apple Salad with Poppyseed Dressing, and Chopped Autumn Salad with Apple Cider Dressing.

It’s been a minute since I’ve posted a salad recipe, hasn’t it? I am always on the hunt for a salad that doesn’t really taste (or look) like you’re eating some kind of boring, bland salad because you have to. I want people to make my salads because they want to. This one is one of those types of salads. So chock full of healthy goodies (apples, cranberries, lettuce) and some other tasty ingredients (bacon, nuts, maple vinaigrette) that this salad is perfectly balanced, nutrition- and flavor-wise!

Here’s How You Make It

Prepare the salad

Two steps, that’s all it takes to make this delightful autumn salad.

1. First, make the candied pecans by toasting them in a skillet for 1 minute over medium-high heat. Add the sugar and stir constantly until the sugar dissolves.
2. Sprinkle cinnamon over the pecans and stir until they are sugar-coated. Then, immediately transfer them to a sheet of parchment paper or a heat-resistant plate to cool slightly.
3. Prepare the salad by arranging any lettuce you like on a platter. Top it with sliced apples, cranberries, pecans, and bacon. (photos 1-4)

Why This Recipe Works

Delicious – I’ll call very few salads delicious. I call them mostly utilitarian. As in, someone told me I have to eat vegetables, so fine I’ll have a salad. This one though? So. Good.

Easy – Cook some bacon, slice some apples, add some candied pecans and cranberries, shake some dressing, and combine it all together. It really is super easy!

So customizable – The great thing about salads is they are so very customizable. See more on that below, but you can add and subtract just about any ingredient you want and make it your own!

Pantry ingredients – Nothing fancy here. Toss a little of this, a little of that together and your next yummy salad is easily in reach!

Customizations

• First off, use whatever lettuce you like for this salad. Chop up some iceberg; dump a bag of pre-cut baby romaine or mixed greens; use some de-stemmed and chiffonaded kale; combine every lettuce you have in your veggie drawer – anything goes in this salad.
• Cheese! I like to add cheese to salads. Ones that would go great in this one includes goat, blue, shaved parmesan, or small dices of sharp cheddar.
• If you’re not into the flavor of maple, consider substituting honey or agave syrup.
• Diced and crisped pancetta would be a great substitute for bacon in this apple salad too.
• Add more (or different) fruit. In addition to (or instead of) apples, berries and thinly sliced pears would work well too.

If you aren’t into candied pecans, consider adding slivered almonds, sugared almonds, or another nut you love (sweetened or plain).

Expert Tips

• I love bacon in my salads, but I don’t like to take the time to cook and chop bacon just for a salad. To save time I like to use bacon bits. But, to warm them up, first add your bacon bits to a small microwave-safe dish and microwave them for 15-20 seconds. Take the time to do this and you’ll be thankful you did. The bacon bits will be warm and crisp up, which is perfect for this salad. (When choosing bacon bits at the store, I look for ones that look a bit “raw” (for lack of a better term) and skip any that are too tiny and look dried out.)
• This salad will keep in the fridge (undressed) for about a day or two before the lettuce is too wilty to eat.
• If you want to eat the salad for a few days as a meal prep option, my suggestion is to make the pecans, make the dressing, and cut up the apples and store everything in the fridge. Then, make the salads individually when you’re ready to eat them.
• Another idea is to make the salads in a canning jar, but upside down. So first, in the bottom, you’d add the dressing (not too much, just a couple tablespoons) and then add the apples, bacon, pecans, and cranberries, followed by the lettuce before adding a lid. When you’re ready to eat it, just give it a shake!
• What apples should you use? For flavor and texture, I prefer bright red apples in this salad. Gala, fuji, honey crisp are all good options!
• If you’re using maple syrup, use REAL maple syrup, NOT maple flavored breakfast syrup. 

More Side Dishes You’ve Gotta Try

• Classic Homemade Stuffing
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad

Serving Suggestions

• Spinach and Bacon Stuffed Turkey Breast
• Perfect, Easy Thanksgiving Turkey
• Roasted Garlic Butter Beef Tenderloin
• Slow Cooker Beef Pot Roast

Did you make this apple pecan salad recipe? FANTASTIC! Please rate the recipe below!