Chopped Winter Salad
This simple crunchy Chopped Winter Salad is made with apples, celery, radishes and carrots. It is full of color and texture, and perfect to pair with any cozy wintertime meal or serve with a holiday feast! It takes minutes to make and can be customized for your favorite seasonal ingredients.
I originally shared this recipe on February 15, 2012. I have updated the images and some of the text today.
Table of contents
Why We Love This Recipe For Chopped Winter Salad
Have you had a chopped salad before? Chopped salad is a salad made up of several finely chopped ingredients such as chopped lettuce and other veggies. My kids call them “goodies salad” because it is more goodies than greens.
In this winter chopped salad, we have combined cold-weather veggies that all qualify as good storing crops. And we have tossed it all together with a variation of my apple cider vinaigrette for a crunchy fresh salad to pair with Roasted Chicken Thighs or Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese or even Christmas or a holiday meal.
Recipe Highlights
- It’s Earth Friendly because it is made with storing crops and seasonal ingredients which help lower your carbon footprint.
- This salad only takes 20 minutes to make.
- Each serving only contains 106 calories.
- This is the basic recipe, but it is really fun to play around with the ingredients.
Key Ingredients For This Winter Salad Recipe
- Apple- honeycrisp or any other crisp apple is great for this recipe.
- Radicchio– you will only need 1/2 head.
- Escarole- another crisp leafy green similar to Bibb lettuce.
- Romaine lettuce- a staple in chopped salads.
- Celery hearts- celery hearts are the inner stalks of the celery bunch.
- Carrots- you can use regular or rainbow carrots.
- Radishes- radishes add spice, color and lots of crunch.
How to Make This Recipe
Puree vinegar, olive oil, shallot, Dijon, honey, salt and pepper in blender, mini food processor or with immersion blender.
Combine apple, radicchio, escarole, Romaine, celery, carrots and radishes in a large bowl.
Drizzle the dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat.
FAQs and Expert Tips
To make it a meal, try adding chopped hard boiled egg or flaked salmon. Serve it as a side salad with beef lasagna or pork tenderloin with apples. The tart dressing and crunchy texture make it a great side dish to pair with rich winter comfort food like Braised Beef, Porcini and Penne Pasta or Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder.
Try adding fennel, sunflower seeds and orange zest. Or even better, goat cheese and toasted walnuts! Or try chunks of cheddar cheese if you like.
I also love dressing it with my Walnut Balsamic Dressing or this Lemon Vinaigrette. We also have dozens more Salad Dressings here on the site to choose from!
Since the majority of the ingredients are crisp, leftovers of this salad will store great for 1 to 2 days in the fridge. Just make sure to wait to add the dressing until ready to serve.
Combine all but the leafy greens and store in an airtight container. Once ready to serve, add chopped lettuce and dressing of choice. If you prefer your apple to keep from browning either wat until the last minute to cut it, or cut it and store it in water with lemon. Drain before using.
At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
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Chopped Winter Salad
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Chopped Winter Salad with escarole and Romaine lettuce, apple, celery, radishes and cider vinegar shallot dressing.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced shallot, about 1 small
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey (or agave for a vegan option)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 apple, cored and diced
- 1/2 head chopped Radicchio
- 6 cups chopped escarole
- 4 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery hearts
- 1/2 cup finely diced carrots
- 1/2 cup finely diced radishes
Instructions
- Puree vinegar, olive oil, shallot, Dijon, honey, salt and pepper in blender, mini food processor or with immersion blender. Combine apple, radicchio, escarole, Romaine, celery, carrots and radishes in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat.
Notes
Storing Tips:
Combine all but the leafy greens and store in an airtight container. Once ready to serve, add chopped lettuce and dressing of choice. If you prefer your apple to keep from browning either wat until the last minute to cut it, or cut it and store it in water with lemon. Drain before using.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups
- Calories: 106
- Sugar: 6
- Sodium: 351 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 10
- Fiber: 4
- Protein: 2
Added some cucumber because I had it on hand. Was a big hit at the party. Did require a bit of chopping, wouldn’t be bad though if you had a food processor or something.
I appreciated the simplicity of this recipe as so many recipes had a looooong list of ingredients, many of them expensive. Simple, affordable healthy and delicious. Thanks for sharing!
I love these heartier salads! This is a great salad for winter.
This chopped salad has jumped to the top of my lunch list! It is so fresh and flavorful, loved it!
This is such an amazing and flavorful salad! Everyone at my house really loved it!
I have bene making this for years! It’s so good. I love a chopped salad!
Great salad, everyone loved it! I added more honey to dressing, used Arugula instead of radicchio and escarole.
Thank you Maureen. I am so glad you liked it!
I love the combination of apples and radishes in this salad. A little spicy with some sweet and the added crunch is perfect!
Yes!! I love the crunch in this salad! Thank you for coming by Megan.
I’m a long time fan of raw apple cider vinegar (I use Braggs). When I drink it, as you described, every day faithfully, I don’t get colds. (I use local honey for the anti-allergy properties.)
There is nothing better than chopped salad. It takes a tiny bit more effort, but it is totally worth it.
I love the idea of using real food to prevent needing meds! That’s such a great testimonial to ACV. Thanks for sharing Amanda. Have a great day.
What a gorgeous looking salad! Salad isn’t something I really associate with winter, but this one totally makes sense. Yum!
Hi Elizabeth. Glad to hear it! Have a great day.
Thank you for the 411 on cider! I had no idea. Love the chopped salad recipe, too.
You’re welcome! Thanks so much for coming by! Have a great day.
Katie – thank you for this – I’ve been taking a teaspoon or two of ACV every so often, I knew it was good for me but I had no clue it was THIS good for me! Loved reading about it’s use with farmers too! And – this salad – I’m see why your kids in calling this a goodies salad – delicious!
BTW – after reading several of your posts on how pumped you are to be doing Bodypump, I signed up for Les Mills on Demand – and am totally addicted to Bodypump and BodyCombat – thanks for the intro, my friend!
That’s so great to hear you’re already taking apple cider vinegar. And yippee about BodyPump. I haven’t tried the on-demand version yet, but that is such a great option for people who can’t make it to the gym to do it.
[quote name=lynn]i find that when things get chopped, they get eaten! my husband (a george school grad) pointed me to your blog – so glad he did![/quote]Lynn,
I know what you mean about chopping. My kids will eat anything off of my cutting board. I am so glad you found me!
i find that when things get chopped, they get eaten! my husband (a george school grad) pointed me to your blog – so glad he did!