The best Thanksgiving salad is one you can mostly finish the day before. Hardy ones, such as cabbage, carrot and grain salads, can be dressed ahead, while salads built on tender greens should be dressed right before serving. Below are eight picks from the recipes we read, plus how much to make.
We haven’t cooked these. Each pick is described as its source tells it, and the quantity table is our own arithmetic. Pick one, and you’re done with the salad question!
Do you even need a salad at Thanksgiving?
Most hosts say yes, for balance. Love & Lemons points to color, plus a few bites of something light and refreshing between forkfuls of stuffing. Half Baked Harvest says Thanksgiving plates run heavy, so it makes a simple house salad every year to balance them.
That’s two food bloggers’ views, not a rule. But it explains the pattern in every pick below: something crisp, something bright, and not much fuss.
Which salads need the dressing at the last minute?
Three picks use tender greens or lettuce. You can prep the parts, but the dressing waits until guests are close to sitting down.
- Apple, pomegranate and blue cheese. Dinner at the Zoo tosses mixed greens with sliced apples, pomegranate seeds, blue cheese and candied pecans in an apple cider vinaigrette. It serves 6. The dressing keeps up to 3 days, the nuts, cheese and pomegranate seeds can be prepped a day early, and the apples are sliced on the day. It says to avoid Granny Smith because they’re too tart here.
- Brussels sprouts and arugula with Manchego. Half Baked Harvest uses shredded Brussels sprouts, baby arugula, dried cranberries, candied walnuts and a maple cider vinaigrette. To get ahead, toss the greens with the cheese, walnuts and cranberries and store them lightly covered in the fridge. Keep the dressing in a jar and add it right before guests arrive.
- Roasted squash, apple and pear with goat cheese. Cheese Gal combines roasted butternut squash (sweet potato or acorn squash also work), pomegranate, cranberries, glazed walnuts, apple, pear and goat cheese on gem or butter lettuce. Its dressing keeps 3 to 4 days. If you’re prepping early, combine everything except the dressing and the lettuce.
Which Thanksgiving salads can be dressed ahead?
These three hold up, so they’re the easiest picks for a busy kitchen. All three are Love & Lemons recipes, and each has a note on timing.
- Citrus cabbage salad. It gets better as it sits. Toss the crisp vegetables with the dressing up to a day ahead, then add the clementines, avocado, herbs and seeds at the last minute.
- Carrot salad. Lemony cumin dressing, pistachios and Medjool dates. It can be made up to a day ahead, but wait to add the herbs and nuts until right before you eat.
- Farro and apple salad. Cook the farro and make the dressing a day or two ahead, and it’s quick to put together at the last minute.
Which salads are hearty enough to feel like a side dish?
Two picks are closer to a vegetable side than a bowl of leaves. Love & Lemons says its roasted cauliflower salad is so good that it would happily eat it as a main dish. It has lentils, pickled red onions, dried apricots, olives and tahini dressing.
- Roasted cauliflower salad. Lentils make it filling, so it can stand in for a heavier side if oven space is tight.
- Shaved Brussels sprouts salad. A 7-ingredient recipe that the author’s mom asks her to bring each year. Love & Lemons says it contrasts nicely with mashed potatoes and gravy.
If oven space is your problem, our vegetable sides sorted by oven space covers the cooked options too.
How much Thanksgiving salad should you make?
Plan on a little over a cup of greens per person as a starting point. Dinner at the Zoo’s recipe serves 6 with 7 cups of mixed greens, 1½ cups of sliced apples and ½ cup each of pomegranate seeds, blue cheese and candied pecans. Scale it up from there.
| Guests | Mixed greens | Sliced apples | Pomegranate, blue cheese, pecans (each) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 7 cups | 1½ cups | ½ cup |
| 12 | 14 cups | 3 cups | 1 cup |
| 18 | 21 cups | 4½ cups | 1½ cups |
That’s straight multiplication of one recipe, not a tested portion! Since the salad is a side, many guests will take a small scoop, so leftover dressing is likely. Dinner at the Zoo even warns you may have some left. Half Baked Harvest’s recipe is built differently, with 10 cups of greens and 2 cups of Manchego, but it doesn’t state servings.
“Roasted Brussels sprouts Maple cranberry arugula salad Deviled eggs Charcuterie board”
– part of one commenter’s menu in r/Cooking (33 upvotes)
It’s one menu, but it shows how a salad sits alongside the rest of a spread. Starting the meal? Our Thanksgiving appetizer ideas are sorted by oven demand too. Planning the rest? See our Thanksgiving side dishes ranked, or our Christmas side dishes matched to your main course if the salad is coming back in December. Our turkey calculator helps you work out when the oven frees up.
Thanksgiving salad questions people ask
What kind of salad goes with Thanksgiving?
Choose something crisp and bright to offset the heavy dishes. The recipes we read lean on apples, pomegranate, Brussels sprouts, citrus and roasted squash, with a sharp or nutty cheese and toasted nuts.
What is the best make-ahead salad for Thanksgiving?
The ones with sturdy vegetables. Love & Lemons says its citrus cabbage salad can be dressed up to a day ahead, and its carrot salad can be made a day ahead too. For leafy salads, Half Baked Harvest and Dinner at the Zoo both prep the toppings early and add the dressing at the end.
How far ahead can you make the dressing?
Dinner at the Zoo says up to 3 days, and Cheese Gal says 3 to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.