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.
Fantastic salad! Absolutely delicious! Tried to use watercress and goat cheese and it’s amazing too. Cook it once a week for sure. Thank you Nagi.
Hi Nagi,
Have to ask, is this actual pumpkin, or is it squash? I have some friends in your neck of the woods and I have seen them call squash pumpkin, or, did they call pumpkin squash? Anyway, here in Minnesota there is a definite difference. Thanks
Hi Lisa, it’s simply called a pumpkin here – squash to other people, depends on your location 🙂 N x
Really nice served it with the Greek lemon chicken. Dressing is lovely with the honey
Sounds perfect Petrina!! N x
Hi Nagi! Can you sub pumpkin with sweet potato? Looks so yum
Hi Nagi,
Could you use a lemon and olive oil dressing for this instead of the balsamic? I don’t like balsamic vinegar.
Hi Leah – yes definitely, try this recipe: https://www.recipetineats.com/roasted-sweet-potato-salad-honey-lemon-dressing/ N x
Love this salad but wanted to try adding roast beetroot. Nagi do you think it would work and if so would the cook time be the same as the pumpkin?
This salad was beautiful. Didn’t have any spinach so substituted with iceberg lettuce & no pine nuts so swapped with almonds. Served with pork schnitzels. Even the teenage boys liked it! Thanks for all the great recipes Nagi!
Amazingggg!
Hot tip… buy some chicken tenderloins, use Nagi’s lemon pepper chicken recipe and pop them on top of this salad…. *drool*
YUM!! Perfect Cassy! N x
Made this last night and had leftovers for lunch today. OMG it’s so good! I added 120g freekah, cooked which helped to absorb and spread the dressing over the leaves and was a really nice addition. I also swapped the honey for maple syrup as I don’t much like honey – was a little uncertain it would work OK but it was delicious. Is great on its own but we had it with crispy skin barramundi (using your method of course!!) which was sensational.
It was great and tasted absolutely good
Perfect recipe, literally. The honey balsamic dressing is so so good! I used pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts and it was still so delicious!
Sounds like you nailed it Jocelyn!! N x
This was absolutely delicious, and healthy! My family raved about it all day, and I feel so much better at adulting having cooked pumpkin for the first time 😀 Thank you Nagi!
Easy and delishio
I made this as a side dish for friends who came for lunch on the weekend – it was a big hit! I served it in a shallow casserole dish (shhh) so the pumpkin didn’t fall to the bottom 🤪. Another success – thank you Nagi! x
I love your recipes. So easy to follow and they always turn out delicious. Thank you
Thanks so much Clara!! N x
Beautiful salad enjoyed by whole family (even hubby who is not a big fan of pumpkin). Pine nuts just finished it.
Love this salad! I have made it three or four times already. Always a hit with everyone. A great simple recipe.
Hi Nagi
I’ve commented only once before but always come back to your website. This is a top recipe and so simple. You have taught me a lot about cooking methods and ingredients, etc, etc. thank you so much for your enthusiasm and educational approach in your recipes!