Cranberry apple salad is an easy salad recipe with fruit ready in 10 minutes! Perfect for recipes for fall, healthy salad recipe for summer, holiday salads or Thanksgiving side dishes, or ideas on what to do with apples after fall apple orchard picking!
Best Cranberry Apple Salad (Simple Salad Recipe For All Year!)
We love this green apple salad and it’s one of our go-to easy salad recipe for summer, fall, and winter!
If you’re looking for a fall fruit salad with apples and cranberries, add this to your autumn recipes, delicious side dish for pork loin or chicken, or even for your easy holiday side dishes or for Thanksgiving dinner.
In the fall, this is our go-to recipe for that time of year (especially if we’re wondering what to do with apples after orchard picking).
Easy Fall Fruit Salad With Apples Pears and Cranberries
To make simple cranberry and apple salad, you’ll need:
- Romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, or spinach (or mix of your favorite leafy greens)
- Green apple (like Granny Smith Apples or other crunchy apples like Honeycrisp apples)
- Pear
- Dried cranberries (not fresh cranberries)
- Sunflower seeds (or you can use roasted pumpkin seeds like this, aka: pepitas, or walnuts in the salad)
- Creamy Salad Dressing (be sure to use the best dressing listed in the recipe card!)
PRINT THIS RECIPE! See full favorite apple pear cranberry salad recipe for family dinners below and get the free printable recipe card.
Before you wrinkle your nose with “Blech! Apple in salad!” or “I don’t like apple salad with lettuce!” or “A recipe for cranberry apple salad? That’s dumb!” attitudes, let me tell you that every time I make this at fall gatherings or for holiday recipes, the whole family loves it (from younger kids to adults).
I mean, they loooooove using apple for salad in this way!
(And yes, many are surprised they like this apple recipe, especially my husband who is not usually a let’s mix vegetables with fruit kinda guy!)
With this apple pear salad, you get a nice mix of crispness between the fruit and lettuce, some tartness with dried cranberries and fresh apples, crunchiness with sunflower seeds, and then an amazing poppy seed dressing to top it all off.
It’s a great last-minute addition to a meal, quick and easy side dish for a pitch-in, and simple kids’ recipe for them to make on their own!
This recipe is perfect for fall apple and pumpkin picking, too!
ALSO CHECK OUT THESE APPLE RECIPES & PUMPKIN RECIPES:
Easy Apple Fries Recipe (Baked and Air Fryer!)
Snickers Salad with Apples
Easy Apple Butter
How To Dry Apple Slices For Healthy Snacks and Nature Crafts
Most Perfect Pumpkin Cookies You’ll Ever Eat!
4 Yummy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe Ideas
Is Pumpkin A Fruit? Learning About Pumpkins and Pumpkin Recipes
Recipe Tips & Recipe FAQs
Before we get to the recipe for apple salad, here are some tips for this recipe:
What is the best apple for salad?
You can use any apples for salad, but often the crisp, tart, green apples work best. Granny Smith apples work well with lettuce or spinach salads and can balance between sweet and tart of other salad ingredients.
How do you slice apples for salad?
Slice apples for salad in thicker cuts by cutting the apple in half and then into quarters. Then, slice off the core with the seeds and slice each quarter into smaller cuts. When slicing apples for salads, there is no need to peel the apple. Just wash the apple and cut the apple with the peel on.
RECIPE TIP: Use this to easily get rid of the apple cores!
MORE BEST SALAD RECIPES TO TRY:
Simple Pasta Salad With Pepperoni
Should you peel apples for fruit salad?
Whether or not you should peel apples for fruit salad depends on the kind of fruit salad you are making. In general, it’s better to leave the peel on the apple so that they don’t turn brown quickly. If you’re peeling apples, toss them in lemon juice to prevent them from browning quickly.
This is also really good as a chopped salad!
What is a good dressing for apple salad?
You can, of course, use any apple salad dressing you want, but we really recommend that you give the Poppy Seed dressing a chance! Some people also like
(We happen to love this specific dressing.)
Additional Ingredients For Cranberry Apple Salad
This is a fun green salad and great recipe to play around with! You can also add the following to the easy cranberry apple salad to create the perfect sweet and savory flavors:
- Spring greens
- Green onions
- Crispy bacon
- Olive oil
- Red onion
- Feta cheese
- Blue cheese
- Goat cheese
- Homemade vinaigrette
- Chicken thighs
- Grilled chicken breasts
- Shredded chicken
- Pork loin
- Walnuts
- Pepitas
- Gorgonzola cheese
- Lime juice
- Balsamic vinaigrette
- Apple cider vinegar
- Dandelion greens
- Crunchy pecans
OK! Let’s get to the easy apple salad recipe you can print!
How To Make Cranberry Apple Salad with Pear
Apple-Cranberry Salad Recipe
This simple cranberry apple salad with poppy seed dressing is a great fall salad or winter salad. It makes a festive Christmas dish, healthy holiday meal, or a great addition to your Thanksgiving feast!
The tart cranberries with the sweetness of apples is a great combination with the salad greens.
You can also add apple salad with chicken if you want a meat option or even make this a spinach apple salad (instead of lettuce).
Also, some people make this apple cranberry fruit salad with walnuts or pepitas, but we like it with sunflower seeds.
If you’re taking this salad on-the-go for a pitch-in or holiday party, add the dressing and nuts when you arrive at the party so that the lettuce doesn’t get soggy for this apple cranberry salad.
RECIPE TIP: This cranberry apple salad is also great with pork, grilled chicken added, wheat berries or quinoa! Feta cheese, blue cheese, or goat cheese are also really good toppings for salad and the perfect addition.
Apple Salad with Pear and Cranberry
Ingredients
- 1 bunch Roman butter lettuce or spinach (or mix), washed and torn
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 green apple cored and chopped
- 1 pear peeled, cored and chopped
- 2 Tablespoons sunflower seed kernels
- Poppy Seed Dressing to taste*
Instructions
- Toss together lettuce, apple, pear and cranberries.
- Right before serving, add dressing.
- Top with sunflower seeds. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Note
Nutrition calculations are approximate. If you're following a special diet, please calculate your own nutrition values.
Easy Apple in Salad Recipe Paired with Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship
For this recipe and read, we decided to pair up our cranberry apple salad recipe with the children’s book Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship by Edward Hemingway.
Just like apples and lettuce seem an unlikely pairing, so do apples and worms.
However, when little Mac apple meets Will the worm, they become fast friends.
But . . . apples and worms aren’t supposed to be friends, right?
Soon, Mac is being called things like “Bad Apple” and “Rotten!” for his friendship with Will.
Mac decides to stand up to the bullies and fight for his friendship, no matter how different he and Will are from each other.
This engaging story will open doors for dialogue with your kids about diversity, bullying, differences, friendship and more!
Listed Book Age Range: 3-5 years
CHECK OUT MORE APPLE RECIPES AND APPLE ACTIVITIES TO TRY!
I hope you enjoy this cranberry apple salad!
