Roasted Pumpkin Salad is one of my favourite fall salad recipes. The roasted yellow pumpkin tossed with greens, quinoa, cheese, and nuts in a sweet, savoury dressing is truly a flavour bomb.
When it comes to a salad recipe, I always look for ones that are unique, delicious to the core and far from boring.
This pumpkin salad recipe has EXCITING written all over it.
Reasons To LOVE It:
- gluten-free
- fulfilling and healthy
- vegetarian and wholesome
- skip the cheese, and you have a vegan salad
There are different components in this pumpkin salad. So let’s have a look at them:
- roasted pumpkin
- cooked quinoa
- fresh salad greens
- homemade salad dressing
- toasted walnuts and almond
- extras – pomegranate & feta cheese
The Roasted Pumpkin
It is the key component of this salad recipe.
Any good roasting pumpkin or butternut squash will work well. I use the yellow pumpkin available here in India.
Remove the skin of the pumpkin. Discard the seeds and the veins. Cut it into bite-size pieces. Add onion cut into quarters, olive oil, garlic powder, and salt. Mix nicely.
Preheat the air fryer to 180-degree Celcius. Roast the pumpkin and onion for 15 minutes. Shake the basket once during the process.
Roast pumpkin turns mushy when cooked too long. Keep an eye on it while roasting – you want it golden and fork-tender but still holding its shape.
You can roast the pumpkin on a stovetop or oven as I do for my roasted pumpkin soup.
Cooked Quinoa
You can cook quinoa in a pot of salted water on the stovetop. Or pressure cook it like rice in an instant pot.
Rinse quinoa with water. Boil water in a saucepan. Season it with salt and garlic cloves.
Once the water starts boiling, add quinoa. Stir. Cover the saucepan with the lid. Cook quinoa until it becomes soft. Drain all the liquid. Transfer quinoa to a colander and allow it to cool down.
You can store it in the refrigerator or use it for the pumpkin salad.
Salad Dressing
A good dressing is like a soul of a salad. It brings out the flavour of the salad. For roasted pumpkin salad, I make a sweet and savoury vinaigrette. You need:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Ginger Syrup or Juice
- Salt & Pepper
- Lemon or Lime Juice
- Italian Herbs Seasoning Mix
- Ginger Powder or freshly grated ginger
- Honey or Maple Syrup or Pomegranate Molasses
Add all the ingredients for salad dressing in a jar. Seal it with the lid. Shake until combined. The vinaigrette is ready!
How To Assemble Pumpkin Salad
Arrange salad greens like lettuce, kale, and rocket leaves on a platter.
Add a layer of quinoa. Top it with roasted pumpkin, onion, toasted nuts, pomegranate and feta cheese.
Drizzle salad dressing and sprinkle chopped parsley.
Gently mix the pumpkin salad before eating to combine all the ingredients.
Serve immediately.
Storage Suggestion
You can meal prep your pumpkin to make this salad even quicker during busy weekdays.
You can also pre-make the pumpkin salad minus the dressing and cheese. Then when the time comes, add the salad dressing and toss it.
I don’t recommend prepping salads too far in advance except for the salad jars, as the ingredients don’t tend to hold up that well.
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Air Fryer Pumpkin Salad Recipe
- Salad Mixing Bowl
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
Ingredients For Roasted Pumpkin
- 250 gram diced yellow pumpkin
- 1 Cup onion, cut into quarters
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
Ingredients For Salad Dressing
- ⅛ Cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon ginger juice
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herb mix
- ½ teaspoon dry ginger powder/saunth
- Salt & pepper to taste
Other Salad Ingredients
- 2 Cup mixed salad greens
- ½ Cup cooked quinoa
- ¼ Cup pomegranate pearls
- 2 tablespoon coarsely chopped walnuts
- 2 tablespoon sliced almonds
- 2 tablespoon feta cheese crumbled
Instructions
Air Fry Pumpkin
- Remove the skin of the pumpkin. Discard the seeds and the veins. Cut it into bite-size pieces. Add onion, olive oil, garlic powder, and salt. Mix nicely.
- Preheat the air fryer to 180-degree Celcius. Roast the pumpkin and onion for 15 minutes. Shake the basket once during the process.
Make Salad Dressing
- Add all the ingredients for salad dressing in a jar. Seal it with the lid. Shake until combined. The vinaigrette is ready!
Cook Quinoa
- Rinse quinoa with water. Boil water in a saucepan. Season it with salt and garlic cloves.
- Once the water starts boiling, add quinoa. Stir. Cover the saucepan with the lid. Cook quinoa until it becomes soft. Drain all the liquid. Transfer quinoa to a colander and allow it to cool down.
Assemble Salad
- Arrange salad greens like lettuce, kale, and rocket leaves on a platter.
- Add a layer of quinoa. Top it with roasted pumpkin, onion, toasted nuts, pomegranate and feta cheese.
- Drizzle salad dressing and sprinkle chopped parsley.
- Gently mix the pumpkin salad before eating to combine all the ingredients.
- Serve Roasted Pumpkin Salad immediately.
Recipe Notes:
- You can use romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, kale, or rocket leaves for this salad recipe.
- Roast pumpkin turns mushy when cooked too long. Keep an eye on it while roasting – you want it golden and fork-tender but still holding its shape.
- You can roast the pumpkin on a stovetop or oven, also.
- After assembling, it is best to serve the salad immediately else the greens lose their crunch.
- For a vegan pumpkin salad, you can skip adding honey and cheese. Substitute them with maple syrup and nutritional yeast or vegan cheese.
Rachna M S says
Sounds yummy n healthy.. Going to try..
Hina Gujral says
thank you for your feedback! Glad you liked the pumpkin salad.
Rachna M S says
Looks yummy n healthy.. Going to try…