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Who says salad season ends when the temperature drops? These winter salad recipes prove a big bowl of produce can be just as cozy as any stew. Think kale, roasted squash, and cabbage—hearty, cold-weather vegetables that shine when tossed with sharp vinaigrettes, creamy dressings, or a little salty cheese. Mix bitter lettuce varieties like radicchio and endive with tender greens, add something substantial like lentils or roasted sweet potatoes, and finish with bright pops of pomegranate or dried cranberries. Whether you’re after a quick lunch, a side for roast chicken, or a satisfying weeknight dinner, these winter salad recipes bring warmth, crunch, and color to the colder months.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Kaitlin Wayne, prop styling by Stephanie De Luca
Hot-Smoked Salmon Noodle Salad
This Niçoise riff uses store-bought smoked fish as the focus of a winter salad with hearty soba noodles. The dressing ingredients include Japanese hot mustard and toasted sesame oil for an eye-opening, deeply savory flavor.
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Photo by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht, Prop Styling by Christina Allen
Happy Fridge Salad
This hearty, make-ahead salad with kale, broccoli slaw, chickpeas, and a tangy citrus-sherry dressing only gets better with time.
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Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Prop Styling by Christina Allen, Food Styling by Thu Buser
Radicchio Salad With Blue Cheese Dressing
This bold and brightly colored salad boasts a blended blue cheese dressing, roasted squash, and crunchy hazelnuts.
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Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boystova, prop styling by Allie Wist
Winter White Salad
Embrace the season’s monotony with a monochrome mix of cold-weather fruits and vegetables topped with a tangy dressing that matches the color scheme.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Thu Buser, Prop Styling by Beth Pakradooni
Warm Chicken Piccata Salad
Classic chicken piccata goes green—or, um, red—with radicchio dressed in the lemon-and-caper-spiked pan sauce, which becomes the base for a warm vinaigrette.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie De Luca
Classic Caesar Salad
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Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, Prop Styling by Linden Elstran
Crispy Rice Salad With Spicy Tahini Dressing
Crisped seasoned sushi rice, creamy avocado, sweet mango, and purple cabbage combine for a textural sensation in this feel-good, tastes-great salad.
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Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Thu Buser, Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon
Beet-Salmon Salad With Horseradish Yogurt
This is a great way to use up an extra fillet of cooked salmon; add in store-bought cooked beets, endive, and a yogurt dressing, and dinner is done.
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Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Food Styling by Sean Dooley, Prop Styling by Erica Lutz
Stacked Muffuletta Salad
This towering salad—built with the components of a muffuletta sandwich like mortadella and an olive dressing—is ready for a party.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Taneka Morris, Prop Styling by Tim Ferro
Just-Keeps-Getting-Better Lentil Salad
This salad is a perfect way to use up a pile of herbs: Any combination of chopped fresh mint, parsley, cilantro, or dill would be delicious here.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Emilie Fosnocht, prop styling by Sean Dooley
Bob’s Chicken and Cabbage Salad
Bright sesame-ginger dressing. Fresh, crunchy vegetables. Tender chicken. Toasted nuts. This mountain-high salad is poised to be a hit every time you bring a forkful to your mouth.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Gözde Eker
Kale Salad With Roasted Tempeh and Mushrooms
The secret to a dinner-worthy salad? Incorporating a savory cooked element like the miso-roasted tempeh and mushrooms in this dish. If you’re looking for a kale salad with more brightness, try this green and pink number with grapefruit.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Emilie Fosnocht, prop styling by Gerri Williams
Halal Cart Chicken Salad
The winter salad’s best friend is a warm store-bought rotisserie chicken. (Though you can, of course, roast a chicken yourself if the spirit moves you.) Here, we’ve deployed it in a dinner salad inspired by the street cart lunchtime favorite.
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Photograph by Joe Lingeman, Food Styling by Liberty Fennell, Prop Styling by Maggie DiMarco
Festive Red Cabbage and Radicchio Salad
This vibrant pink blend of radicchio, cabbage, red onion, citrus, and pomegranate arils is eye-catching, crunchy, and fresh—just what your holiday table needs.
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Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton, Prop Styling by Gerri Williams
Quinoa-Bean Salad With Lots of Dill
With an exceedingly bright dressing thanks to Greek yogurt, cider vinegar, lemon juice, and sumac, plus a handful of pantry ingredients, this salad will rouse you from any winter slumber.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Pearl Jones and Thu Buser, prop styling by Sean Dooley
Frizzled-Onion Cabbage Salad
Crunchy fried onions transform a simple cabbage salad into a sensorial delight: hot and cold, crisp and soft, sweet and spicy. We love this winter salad as an accompaniment for a pan-fried pork chop.
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Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Susie Theodorou
Tuna Salad With Crispy Chickpeas
Make your lunchtime tuna salad much more enticing with crispy chickpeas and ruby red endive. One trepidatious reader remarked, “I didn’t like endive before trying this; now I’m obsessed.”
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Pearl Jones and Thu Buser, prop styling by Sean Dooley
Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad
This dish transforms old-favorite lemon pepper chicken into a 20-minute salad featuring broiled chicken thighs, crunchy celery, and a creamy dressing.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Thu Buser, prop styling by Christina Allen
Pumpernickel Panzanella
No need to get out your knife and cube the bread for this wintery twist on the classic Italian panzanella. Toss roughly torn chunks of pumpernickel on a baking sheet with olive oil, bake for about 15 minutes, and you’ll have rustic croutons.
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Photograph by Adam Milliron, Food Styling by Ana Kelly
Fet-Fisk’s Grilled Cabbage Caesar
The contrast of serving a grilled vegetable ice-cold is thrilling, and the Caesar dressing is rich and thick enough to cling longingly to each leaf of cabbage.
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Raw and Roasted Dinner Salad
This squash, chickpea, cabbage, feta cheese, and apple salad is crunchy, creamy, sweet, salty, and highly satisfying. The lightning-fast tahini and honey dressing doesn’t hurt, either.
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Photograph by Paola + Murray, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Sophia Pappas
Napa Cabbage Wedge With Sesame Ranch
Iceberg’s reign over the wedge salad stops here. Slice crunchy Napa cabbage into thick rounds and dress them with a savory miso-tahini dressing. (Some things should never change, though: The bacon stays.)
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Alex Lau
Classic Spinach Salad
Mature spinach has a stronger flavor than baby spinach and holds up better to this creamy dressing. And when we say creamy, we mean it: It’s a triple-threat mixture of buttermilk, sour cream, and mayonnaise.
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Warm Sorghum Salad With Pickled Beets
This salad—which takes quite a bit of prep time, so plan accordingly—uses ancient grains to create a dish that reflects both Mexico and the American South at once.
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Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio
Roasted Squash Salad With Crispy Chickpeas
Crispy, creamy, chewy, bright, and about a dozen other wonderful adjectives apply to this easy and hearty (see? two more right there) vegetable salad dinner.
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Photograph by Emma Fishman, Food styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop styling by Sophie Leng
Kale Salad With Pecan Vinaigrette
Nuts don’t just go on a salad; they can go in the salad dressing itself. Just pulverize the nuts in a food processor with garlic, honey, capers, and cider vinegar, then toss with kale and radishes.
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Photo by Heidi’s Bridge, styling by Molly Baz
Winter Crunch Salad
Shredded brussels sprouts and kale, salty Parmesan, thinly sliced tart apple, and a lemony garlic and shallot dressing create a winter salad recipe that lives up to its crunchy moniker.