Try this Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad with Honey Balsamic Dressing for your next Sunday lunch! Terrific as a side or as a meal, this is a really magical combination of flavours.
Make-ahead winner: Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad
I want to regale you with tales of how I always make this Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad for lunch with the girls. How perfect it is for a lazy weekend get together because it’s make ahead and a crowd pleaser because it’s got enough oomph to be a meal in itself whilst still being healthy and gluten free too. (Who else needs to cater for varying diets at get togethers??)
I’ve even recommended this to numerous friends who have come to me asking for ideas for make ahead lunch recipes.
But truthfully, I have never made this for my friends. I can’t ever embellish about what I’ve made for friends because weirdly, some of them actually read my blog and they would call me out. Some of these friends are serious corporate types, jet setting around the world, taking important meetings and working on top secret projects. It amuses me no end that in between reading board papers and information memorandums, they read my posts as I dribble on about whatever deliciousness I’m sharing on that day and Dozer antics. Te he he!!!
Today’s deliciousness -> This Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad that I’ve never made for them.
This is a really terrific combination of flavours, and I think of this as quite a classic salad. I’m sure I picked it up from a Women’s Weekly magazine many years ago.
The roasted pumpkin is sweet and juicy, the feta adds pops of salty creaminess, the pine nuts add a warm, earthy crunch, the freshness from spinach, all lightly dressed with a Honey Balsamic Dressing. You really don’t need that much dressing for this salad, just enough to coat the baby spinach. Plus, I don’t know if it’s just Aussie baby spinach, but dressing just never sticks well to baby spinach.
So I really mean it when I say this salad is light on the dressing!
I know pine nuts are quite expensive so are a bit of an indulgence, but you don’t need much. You can substitute it with other nuts, but if you’re making this to impress guests, it’s worth using pine nuts. No other nuts have that same soft, creamy crunch and the distinct flavour of…. well, pine nuts. 😉
This is not a difficult salad to make but I have a few tips that I’ve picked up over the years, like roasting the pumpkin so it’s golden but still holds its shape rather than turning into mush.
I usually serve this at room temperature but it’s great warm too. Also, rocket lettuce (arugula for those on the other side of the pond) works well with this if you want a bit more of an edge to it. I like using baby spinach because the flavour and texture is quite soft, unlike other lettuces that are really crunchy.
Good way to kick off a new week, with a healthy salad! Giving myself a pat on the back. 😉 – Nagi x
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad recipe video! PS That pumpkin Dozer gets at the end is raw. RAW. 😳
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Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad
Ingredients
Pumpkin:
- 600 g / 1.2 lb pumpkin (after peeling), cut into 3cm / 1.25" cubes (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Dressing:
- 2.5 tbsp / 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- Salt and pepper
Salad:
- 1/4 cup / 35g pine nuts (Note 2)
- 150 g / 5 oz baby spinach leaves (4 handfuls)
- 60 g / 2 oz feta , crumbled (or more!!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220C/430F (standard) or 200C/390F (fan/convection).
- Toss pumpkin with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on baking tray, bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, flip, then bake for a further 7 - 10 minutes until golden but not mushy. (Note 3) Loosen pumpkin with egg flip (it can adhere as it cools), then if serving salad at room temperature, leave to cool.
- Shake Dressing in a jar. Taste and adjust to taste. I like it a bit sharp because it balances out the flavours in this salad.
- Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until light golden and it smells nutty. Remove pine nuts from skillet as soon as it's ready.
- Place Spinach in a bowl. Drizzle with a bit of dressing then toss.
- Add pumpkin, just a bit of feta and pine nuts, then GENTLY BRIEFLY toss just to disperse the feta. (If you toss vigorously, the feta can make it look messy).
- Transfer to serving plate. Sprinkle over remaining feta and pine nuts. Just before serving, drizzle with remaining dressing (dressing doesn't stay on baby spinach well, so worth drizzling at end). Serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Contemplating whether this meatless meal is worth begging for.
Delicious,
Amazingly delicious!! I used an acorn squash and pecans because that’s what I had handy. I will definitely make this again!!
Delicious! Made as written, except used toasted walnuts. This was filling enough to be a meal on its own! Such wonderful textures/flavors with a nice balance of healthy fats and protein from the nuts & cheese , combined with the high vitamins/fiber from the veggies.Will definitely make again!
This salad is easy & tasty. I used to just drizzle my pumpkin & spinach salad with caramelised balsamic, but this dressing is so tasty. I use goats cheese, which adds a bit more creaminess & less salt than the feta.
Yummy pumpkin salad. I cooked the pumpkin day before. Took out of the fridge an hour before serving to get to room temp and added the other ingredients then.
Definitely do this one again!
I have tried to get your free recipe book several times but without success. Help please😃
I’m a slap-dash cook always looking for things I can make ahead of time. Everyone loved this and now I will happily put my hand up to “bring a salad”
Hello Nagi😊 is there a way I could add brown rice or orzo to this salad to give it a bit more body?
Just add brown rice or orzo to give the salad some body.
Great recipe- my favorite work lunch- I just roast the pumpkin, toast the pine nuts and make the dressing, keep all in the fridge, then put it together each morning before work! Just delicious – and a home made lunch I really look forward to!
my daughter makes this,it’s superb
I made this yesterday for a BBQ. I have a lot of pumpkins from summer harvest. I used a kent pumpkin for this recipe and WOW, what an awesome salad. The dressing really makes it. Great flavour, can’t wait to eat the left overs today.
How do I ho about it if I am using frozen pumpkin? Do I defrost or should I roast from frozen?
I grow my own pumpkin, cut it and freeze it. Cut frozen pumpkin is place in the Airfryer on high for 20 min and then I drizzle some olive oil and honey and continue cooking either oven or Airfryer in 180 for another 15 min until crispy.
This was delicious – worked out well, I used toasted sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts.
Quick, easy and delicious
I’ve made this salad several times with either butternut squash or sweet potato chunks – I also use roasted peanuts instead of pine nuts, because they’re usually what I have on hand – and it has always been well received (even at a lunch for high schoolers!) This is a winner salad all the way!
Absolutely beautiful thank you Nagi!
Another absolute hit for us. Used butternut (personal preference) and toasted pumpkin seeds (cheaper than pine nuts) and add chopped sundried tomatoes (because I had some in the fridge). Supper yummy and delicious and the kids enjoy too which is high praise from a 14 and 8 year old. Used your grilled chicken breast recipe from your Avocado pasta salad recipe and it was perfect sliced on the side. Your no yeast sourdough recipe finished off the Nagi recipe trifecta. Thank you! Was amazing.
Love this dressing. I didn’t have pine nuts so I subbed with walnuts and it was Devine. I also used butternut instead of pumpkin. Will definitely make again. Thanks Nagi and congrats on the new cookbook
This is a great recipe, although I’ve never made it properly before. Halloumi is cheaper than feta where I live, and sunflower seeds are much cheaper than pine nuts, so I sub those out. It’s so dang good though, crunchy, sweet, and squeaky chewy with the Halloumi which I adore. One of these days I’ll make the legit version 😅
Made this and loved it so much I think I could have eaten most of it on my own.
I totally get that KayMart!! N x