This vibrant roasted butternut squash arugula salad recipe is garnished with walnuts and fresh pomegranate kernels and tossed in an apple cider based dressing.

Roasted butternut squash on top of arugula on a white plate. Garnished with chopped walnuts and red pomegranate kernels. Top view.

Substitutions for Roasted Butternut Arugula Salad

Use dried cranberries if you can't find pomegranate (or don't want to spend the time getting to those amazing kernels).

The warm cider dressing can be served warm or room temperature over the butternut squash arugula salad, so feel free to make it in advance. Or substitute your favorite store bought salad dressing if short on time.

Save your butternut squash seeds for later! Rinse, dry, toss with olive oil & salt and roast at 275F ~ 12-15 minutes or until toasted.

Feel free to substitute honey for maple syrup but reduce the heat of the oven to 375F and cook ~ 5 more minutes or until squash is tender. Or skip the maple syrup all together if you like.

Raw Butternut Squash on a cutting board with a knife cut in half and some of it peeled. — Peeling squash is not easy. You have to have good knives and probably some decent knife skills. Create a flat edge by cutting off the bottom and top and then cutting where you think the seeds start. Then slice off the edges very carefully! Carefully drop the entire squash in boiling water for a couple minutes to make the skin easier to peel if you need to.

Butternut Squash Salad FAQS

Peeling butternut squash is not easy. You have to have good knives and probably some decent knife skills.

Create a flat edge by cutting off the bottom and top and then cutting where you think the seeds start. Then slice off the edges very carefully!

To make it easier to slice, you can always blanch the whole squash in a huge pot of boiling water for a couple minutes to slice off the skin.

There is a very strong sap in butternut squash. It can irritate some people's skin (mine included) and cause a small inflammation or blistering if handling a big squash.

I make sure to wash and scrub my hands immediately after handling squash and that generally takes care of it. If the squash is older and larger then I wear gloves

Roasted butternut squash on top of arugula on a white plate. Garnished with chopped walnuts and red pomegranate kernels. side view.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Arugula, and Pomegranate Salad

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EatSimpleFood.com

This recipe has diced butternut squash roasted with maple syrup for a touch of sweetness, served over arugula salad, and garnished with walnuts and fresh pomegranate kernels.

Author: beckie
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 6
Category: Salad
Method: Oven
Cuisine: International
Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Ingredient List Salad:

8 ounces arugula
1 small (~ 1 ½ lb) butternut squash, peeled & 1" diced
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup pomegranate kernels (seeds)
½ cup walnuts, chopped
¼ teaspoon salt
pinch black pepper

Ingredient List Dressing:

¾ cup apple juice
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoon shallots
2 teaspoon dijon mustard
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
pinch black pepper

Instructions

Make the salad dressing:

In a small pan add shallots, apple juice, and apple cider vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered ~ 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Taste and add salt/pepper as desired.

For The Squash Salad:

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment for easy clean up.
Peel and dice the squash into 1" chunks. Place in large bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Roast uncovered on a lined baking sheet for 15 minutes.
Take out of the oven and drizzle maple syrup on squash and stir. Bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes or until squash is tender. Let cool ~ 5 minutes.
Add arugula, squash, pomegranate kernels and walnuts to a bowl. Toss with dressing. Happy eating! Beckie