Fall Harvest Salmon Salad
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This Harvest Salmon Salad is a healthy, quick-fix meal for lunch or dinner. It’s a delicious assortment of flavors and textures, featuring grilled salmon, sweet potatoes, avocado, greens, and more. It’s fall-season healthy food in the most delicious, easy-to-make way.
If you love seafood salads, try this easy salmon with salad recipe or this smoked salmon salad!
What to Love About This Salmon Salad
- It’s a complete meal in salad form, featuring protein, healthy fats, and a generous serving of vegetables.
- Fall-inspired, it combines roasted vegetables, grilled salmon, and lots of flavor and texture.
- An easy salad to prep ahead and assemble in minutes.
Harvest Salmon Salad Ingredients
While this recipe is written for two servings, it’s easy to increase the servings by adding more salmon and greens. The exact ingredient measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Salmon fillets: I prefer 4-ounce filets.
- Olive oil: I prefer olive oil, but feel free to use your favorite oil, such as avocado oil, for searing the salmon.
- Sweet Potatoes: Choose sweet potatoes with the deepest color for maximum nutrients. In a pinch, frozen, cubed sweet potatoes ready for roasting save time.
- Greens: I’m using a mix of spinach and arugula, but any healthy greens you like are just as good!
- Avocado: A great source of healthy fat and, as always, a delicious salad addition.
- Blueberries: Adds sweet and unexpected flavor to the dish.
- Walnuts: Be sure to toast the nuts to bring out optimum flavor.
Tip: Harvard Health says walnuts contain “polyunsaturated fatty acids, alpha-linolenic and linoleic acids, which may have anti-inflammatory effects that keep blood vessels healthy.”
How to Make the Salad
Begin by grilling the salmon and roasting the sweet potatoes. While they are cooking, prep the salad ingredients.
Grilling the Salmon
Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper, then heat oil in a large skillet or grill over medium-high heat. Place salmon on the grill, skin side up, and cook for 4 minutes, or until the flesh begins to brown. Flip the salmon and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes.
Prepping Salmon Salad Ahead
This salad is easy to make ahead by prepping its components for quick and easy assembly at mealtime.
- Lemon Vinaigrette: If you’re making your own dressing, I recommend making it over the weekend to have on hand for salads all week.
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes: I like to roast the sweet potatoes ahead, as they take 30 minutes in the oven to brown and cook. Reheat them just before serving.
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- Salmon Options: Substitute salmon with grilled chicken, turkey, or even roasted chickpeas for a vegetarian version.
- Sweet Potatoes: Try roasted butternut squash for a delicious alternative.
- Leafy Greens: Use a blend of arugula, baby kale, or spinach instead of mixed greens for a peppery or hearty twist.
- Fruits: Swap blueberries with apples, pears, figs, or even pomegranate seeds for seasonal variety.
- Nuts & Seeds: Try pecans, almonds, or pumpkin seeds instead of walnuts.
- Cheese Add-In: Crumbled goat cheese, feta, or sharp white cheddar adds creaminess and tang.
- Dressing: A maple Dijon vinaigrette is perfect, but a balsamic glaze or apple cider vinaigrette would also complement the fall flavors beautifully.
Recipe FAQs
A Fall Harvest Salmon Salad is a seasonal dish featuring roasted or pan-seared salmon, paired with autumnal ingredients like apples, pecans, cranberries, and leafy greens. It's a perfect way to enjoy the flavors of fall in a light yet hearty meal.
Yes! Leftover salmon works beautifully in this recipe. Whether it's grilled, baked, or pan-seared, using leftover salmon makes this salad even quicker to prepare, much like in our 5-minute salmon bowl, quick and easy salmon chowder, or salmon burgers recipe.
Yes, you can prep the components ahead of time-roast the squash, toast the nuts, and cook the salmon. Store everything separately in the fridge and assemble just before serving for the freshest taste and texture.
Absolutely. Salmon is an excellent source of lean protein and rich in heart- and brain-healthy omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA). Paired with leafy greens, squash, berries, and nuts, this salad is a nutrient-dense option full of flavor and fall freshness.
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Healthy Harvest Salmon Salad Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 4-ounce salmon filets
- 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups sweet potatoes roasted
- 4 cups salad greens (spinach, kale, arugula, etc)
- 1 avocado chopped
- 2 ounces walnuts (roasted, salted or candied)
- 1/2 cup blueberries
Lemon Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1/3 cup olive oil extra virgin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the Lemon Vinaigrette by whisking the ingredients together and store in a lidded jar in the refrigerator. This step can be done in advance.
- To roast the sweet potatoes: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Chop the sweet potato into cubes and toss in 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes. This step can be done in advance and refrigerated until ready to make the salad.
- To grill the salmon: Season with salt and pepper and heat oil in a large skillet or grill over medium-high heat. Place salmon on the grill, skin side up, for 4 minutes, or until the flesh begins to brown. Carefully turn and cook until it's done, about 4 to 5 minutes more.
- In a salad bowl, toss the greens with the sweet potatoes. Top the salad with salmon, avocado, blueberries, and walnuts. Drizzle with lemon vinaigrette just before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- Lemon Vinaigrette: This recipe yields 1/2 cup and can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week. Delicious on salads all week!
- Sweet Potatoes: For a flavor or vegetable variation, you can also add roasted butternut squash.
- Nuts: While I’m using toasted walnuts in this salad recipe, feel free to use your favorite, like toasted pecans.
- Berries: I love blueberries in this salad, but during the harvest season, thinly sliced apples are also delicious (like in our Kale Salad recipe or thinly sliced stone fruit.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Made this salad today, loved it!