Apple Salad isn’t your grandma’s Waldorf salad. It is filled with creamy blue cheese, walnuts, crunchy apples, red onion, green onion and butter lettuce, tossed with a slightly sweet sherry vinaigrette.
Apple Salad is one of my favorite to serve for lunch or an easy side! It requires very little prep and is always a crowd pleaser! When we lived in Kansas City, I lived off of Apple Salad at one of our (now defunct) local favorites, Blanc Burgers. It was light, refreshing and seasonless.
Winter, spring, summer, fall, I crave this salad… crisp butter lettuce with red onion, green onion, apple and creamy blue cheese tossed in an amazing Sherry Vinaigrette.
It pairs well with dishes of any depth or can be served alone. I love serving it with rich dishes like Ragu Bolognese.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Butter Lettuce – Tender leaves of butter lettuce add the perfect texture and flavor. You can substitute any greens including romaine, iceberg or arugula.
- Sliced Apples – Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Gala and Fuji all pair well with this simple salad.
- Blue Cheese – Fresh crumble blue cheese from a wedge for the creamiest texture. If you’re not a blue cheese fan, white cheddar, Swiss or gruyere also pair well.
- Red Onion – Sliced red onion adds color and balances the sweet apple and vinaigrette.
- Green Onion – Adds mild flavor. They’re interchangeable with scallions for this easy recipe.
- Sherry Vinaigrette – This simple salad dressing adds incredible flavor, however, you can substitute with store-bought.
How to Make Apple Salad
- Make the Vinaigrette – In a shaker or jar, combine dressing ingredients. (Skip this step if you’re using a bottled dressing.)
- Prep – Chop lettuce, apples, onions and crumble the cheese.
- Toss – In a large bowl, combine butter lettuce, onion, apples, green onions, blue cheese and toss with vinaigrette just before serving.
Tips
- Slice apples thin to make it easy to eat and get apple flavor in every bite.
- Fresh is always best, especially in salad where ingredients are raw. Use fresh ingredients for the best flavor and texture. (For example, use fresh cheese rather than pre-shredded or crumbled).
Frequently Asked Questions
For salads, sweet, crunchy apples including Fuji, Gala, or Pink Lady apples pair well. Tart apples (like a Granny Smith or Golden Delicious) are also great options. The sweeter the apple, the more balanced the salad will taste.
Maytag blue cheese is a blue cheese variety that is produced on a midwestern farm. It’s called Maytag because it was started by the very same family that produced the Maytag appliances!
Maytag blue has a light, lemony flavor that pairs well with salads.
How to Store
- Room Temperature – Serve within 2 hours.
- Refrigerate – Store homemade vinaigrette in the refrigerator up to 1 week in an airtight container. Store salad separately in an airtight container and toss immediately before serving.
More Salad Inspiration
Apple Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head butter lettuce washed and cut
- 1 cup red onion sliced thin
- 2 tablespoons green onions chopped
- 1 Fuji apple sliced thin or chopped
- ½ cup Maytag blue cheese crumbled
Optional
- ¼ cup walnuts chopped
Sherry Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup sherry vinegar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine butter lettuce, red onion, green onion, apples, blue cheese and optional walnuts.
Vinaigrette
- In a shaker or sealable jar, add olive oil and sherry vinegar. Shake to combine.
- Just before serving, shake vinaigrette and toss with salad.
Julie’s Tips
Tips
- Slice the apples thin to enjoy in each bite. If you do not plan to serve immediately, toss the apples in citrus (lemon, lime or orange juice) to prevent browning.
- Use fresh cheese (versus pre-crumbled).
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
I started looking at a salad recipe and then went to the 20? Salad recipes that led to more recipes. All of them are fantastic. Thanks for ALL the great recipes.
Thanks, Kathy! I love mixing up salads with fresh, flavorful dressings. I can’t wait to hear your favorites!
OMG!! What a great salad and the sherry vinaigrette is out of this world. Thanks for sharing!!
This is one of my fall staples…I can’t get enough of it.