Our Thanksgiving Salad is vegetarian, and gluten-free and can be made in advance. A gorgeous way to include greens on your holiday table!
Thanksgiving is coming fast. I know right? How did that happen? One day you need a sweater, then you turn on the heat, then boom Halloween and the next day, it’s time to plan a Thanksgiving menu.
When it comes to a festive Thanksgiving table, I always like to make sure that we have at least a few vegetarian items, a few gluten-free items, and always include a fresh salad to balance out the heaviness of many of the traditional dishes.
Thanksgiving Salad Ingredients:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Shallot
- fresh Thyme
- Spices (Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Red Pepper Flakes)
- Raw Pumpkin Seeds
- Red Leaf Lettuce OR Butter Lettuce
- Cooked Beets
- Herbed Goat Cheese
Let’s get to the details on this Thanksgiving Salad. Like I said above, it is always a great idea to have something light and green on the table to cut the carbs and heavy foods. This Thanksgiving Salad is not only very easy to make but stunning to look at and makes a perfect addition to any table.
You can make the dressing and the toasted pumpkin seeds in advance and assemble early in the morning or right before serving.
Recipe Tips
- To Save Time: follow the instructions to make the dressing and toasted pumpkin seeds up to 3 days in advance. Clean the lettuce, spin dry, and store in a bag with a few paper towels to absorb any extra moisture.
- If you are serving a large crowd and plan to double or triple (or more) this Thanksgiving Salad recipe, I highly recommend arranging and serving it on a flat platter. This allows for the toppings to be more evenly distributed with the lettuce and dressing and ensures that every person will get all of the components.
- TIP: Use unflavored floss to slice goat cheese rounds that don’t break!
More Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas:
5 Easy Thanksgiving Drink Ideas
10 Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Appetizers
5 Thanksgiving Main Dishes Besides Turkey
10 Thanksgiving Sides You Need on Your Menu
7 Ways to Use Up Thanksgiving Leftovers
5 Awesome Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Desserts
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
Our Thanksgiving Salad is vegetarian, and gluten-free and can be made in advance. A gorgeous way to include greens on your holiday table!
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 medium shallot finely chopped
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 pinch salt, black pepper and paprika
- 1 large head red leaf butter or bib lettuce cleaned and ripped into bite-sized pieces
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- 4 ounces cooked beets thinly sliced
- 6 ounces herbed goat cheese thinly sliced or crumbled
- toasted pumpin seeds and dressing from above
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Combine all ingredients for dressing in a mason jar or small bowl. Cover and shake or whisk until well mixed. Refrigerate until ready to use.
*Can be made up to 3 days ahead of time.
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Heat a small frying pan over medium-low heat.
Once hot, add oil and then pumpkin seeds along with salt, pepper and paprika. Cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until toasted.
Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before storing or adding to salad.
*Can be made up to 3 days ahead of time.
-
Layer lettuce in a large salad bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Add sliced beets and sliced (or crumbled) goat cheese.
Top with toasted pumpkin seeds and serve with balsamic thyme vinaigrette. Enjoy!
- To Save Time: follow the instructions to make the dressing and toasted pumpkin seeds up to 3 days in advance. Clean the lettuce, spin dry, and store in a bag with a few paper towels to absorb any extra moisture.
- If you are serving a large crowd and plan to double or triple (or more) this Thanksgiving Salad recipe, I highly recommend arranging and serving it on a flat platter. This allows for the toppings to be more evenly distributed with the lettuce and dressing and ensures that every person will get all of the components.
- TIP: Use unflavored floss to slice goat cheese rounds that don't break!
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
UPDATE NOTES: This Thanksgiving Salad recipe was originally published in November 2016 and was most recently updated in October 2020.
I feel like this needs to be on every holiday table! I’m trying this out!
This salad looks wonderful! And I am all for less stress on holidays!
Wow that looks amazing and it is even quite quick to make!
I must try that for my Thanksgiving dinner:-)
Thanks for the inspiration.
This salad is fabulous for Thanksgiving. Outsourcing the turkey – now that is a good idea. My oven is jealous – it’s going to be roasting its little heart out on Thursday.
What a great addition to the holiday table!
Thanks so much Kellie!
Now this is a salad that I would love at Thanksgiving! I can’t believe that it’s almost here!
It’s coming so quick!
The beets and goat cheese are such winners in this salad – delicious! And New Seasons Market is such a great store, I love all the options!
I am obsessed with the Wok Bar Kimberly!!
I love the pepitas and goat cheese in this! What great additions! And, to be honest, I’m sorta freaking out over Thanksgiving being NEXT WEEK (!!!!!) so thanks for your ideas on keeping it simple!
Right? I feel like we should just focus on the parts we enjoy!
What? Thanksgiving isn’t next week! Relax. Two weeks 🙂
Pinning this it will be wonderful for thanksgiving.
Thanks for pinning Theresa!
I still can’t believe Thanksgiving is next week! ??? but this salad looks like the perfect side for the occasion!
I can’t either. I feel relieved that we have our menu planned but stressed when I think about going to the store next week the get the ingredients. YIKES