Blue cheese. Apples. Grapes. Walnuts. That’s the flavor combination I wanted to build my salad around. But I thought, of course someone’s already used those ingredients. So I did some research and discovered something called a Waldorf Salad. Apparently, this historic dish featured apples, celery, lettuce, and mayo. If we’re still talking about it more than a century later, it must have been quite a success. Over time, grapes, cheese, and walnuts were added by various chefs.

The Waldorf had some appeal, especially the later versions. But I had some other ideas in mind. For one, I wanted to pair apples with cinnamon. Cinnamon is best with a sweeter bread, so I chose brioche. And just like that, I decided to create cinnamon toast croutons with brioche. The walnuts needed to be toasted too, so why not toss them with the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture as well. The result, I’d like to think, was a bit of salad making magic!

What are some other flavors that go well with apples? How about lemon and thyme? Perfect! So instead of using heavy mayo, I decided to make a lemon thyme vinaigrette with zest, juice, honey, fresh thyme, and a neutral vinegar. Toss in chewy dried cranberries and crunchy sunflower seeds to accent all these amazing ingredients for a full complement of flavors.

What makes this Blue Cheese Apple Walnut Salad worth trying?

Spring brings out the best of fresh fruit and veggies. That’s why I had to make a salad to celebrate the season. This salad is chock full of honeycrisp apples, strawberries (or grapes!), and butter lettuce greens. But that’s not all!

Gorgonzola blue cheese is the perfect complementary ingredient for apples. It’s creamy and rich, with a mildly sweet, milky flavor. Cinnamon toasted walnuts and croutons too. Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette tops off this fresh and crunchy spring salad with a touch of honey sweetness, sour lemon, and savory herbs.

Fresh Fruit – Tart, crispy, juicy apples are the focal ingredient, accompanied by either sweet (sometimes sour) strawberries or grapes. The perfect components for fresh spring salads!

Creamy Cheese – Gorgonzola blue cheese provides that slightly milky, sweet creamy cheese that goes great with apples.

Cinnamon Toasted Walnuts – If you’re a fan of kettle cooked popcorn, you’ll appreciate the warm, slightly sweet, toasty cinnamon flavors of these walnuts.

Brioche Croutons – Croutons are synonymous with salad. Brioche, cinnamon, and brown sugar go great with apples. So of course you’ll love these brioche croutons in an apple salad.

Lemon and Thyme – Lemon and thyme are great accents for apples, providing layers of flavor to delight your taste buds.

Butter/Bibb/Boston Lettuce – These are soft but sturdy, slightly bitter, but really delicious greens that perfectly complement apples and the other ingredients.

Ingredients for Blue Cheese Apple Walnut Salad

Salad Ingredients

Butter Leaf Lettuce – Colorful, delicate leaves, with a little bitter, but mostly just green leafy flavor. Spinach or spring mix work well too. Heck! Even use romaine if that’s what you’ve got. I like the butter leaf here because i think it tastes great with the apple, cheese, and nuts.

Honeycrisp Apple – A bit tart, juicy and delicious. So important to have fresh apples for this spring salad. Consider using Granny Smith or golden delicious instead, or use all three like I did the first time I made this.

Gorgonzola Blue Cheese – A little more mild than regular blue cheese. I found it to be milky, creamy, and wanted to make sure I had a little in every bite. Regular blue cheese is the obvious substitution here, but feta, goat cheese, or pearl mozzarella would be terrific too.

Strawberries or Grapes – Originally I wanted grapes, but only had green grapes. I also had strawberries! Bright red, perfectly ripe strawberries. Sweet and a little sour, just like grapes. Obviously grapes and strawberries don’t taste the same. However, they were easy to swap here. I was really pleased with how the fresh strawberries looked, and my daughter loved them in this salad.

Celery – Crunch and delicate flavor. A nice complementary ingredient.

Cinnamon Toasted Walnuts and Croutons – Diced brioche bread and shelled walnut, rolled in delicious cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter. Be sure to check out my recipe for these here! (coming soon)

Dried Cranberries – Chewy, sweet, and slightly tart. So great with apples.

Sunflower Seeds – A little salty and crunchy, with added nutrients.

Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette Ingredients

Lemon – A fresh lemon provides the punch of zest and zing of juice needed to give this dressing it’s citrus focus.

Thyme – A few sprigs of fresh thyme give the salad a savory herb complexity.

Honey – A great counter to the sour lemon.

Oil – Provides the body and texture of the dressing. Extra virgin olive oil, canola, vegetable oil, or any neutral oil you’d like.

Vinegar – Distilled white vinegar does the trick, with a bit of acid to balance the dressing and the salad. Also white wine vinegar would work well.

How to Make Blue Cheese Apple Walnut Salad

To make this delicious spring fruit salad, start by toasting the cinnamon walnuts and croutons. You can find the recipe link here (coming soon!). While that’s going, get the lemon and thyme vinaigrette started. Dice and slice some fruit and veggies, and put it all together!

Step #1: Toast Cinnamon Walnuts and Brioche Croutons

This recipe is available here (coming soon!). But the basic idea is to mix together butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Then dice some brioche bread and add them to the butter mixture along with walnuts. Toss until covered and toast to make croutons and toasted walnuts.

Step #2: Start the Vinaigrette

Get out a medium or large, non-stick skillet and place it over medium heat. When it’s ready, add the oil. Rinse a few sprigs of fresh thyme, remove the leaves from those hard, woody stems, then finely chop the leaves. Toss the chopped leaves into the shimmering oil. Stir occasionally so it doesn’t brown too quickly.

Next, rinse the lemon. Give it a good zest, then sprinkle the zest in the oil with chopped oregano.

Let oil with thyme and lemon zest simmer on low for about 10 minutes to infuse the flavors.
Meanwhile, cut that same lemon in half and squeeze out juice from both halves into a small bowl. Discard the seeds. Add honey and vinegar to the juice and whisk it all together.

Step #3: Cut and Dice the Fruit and Veggies

Set out a large cutting board with a chef’s knife on your prep surface. Then rinse your apple, celery, strawberries or grapes, and greens.

Cut an apple in half. Then dice one half. That’s enough for one large salad. Next slice one stalk of celery. Cut off strawberry tops, then slice in half. Cut each half into slices. If using grapes, simply slice them in half.

While we’re cutting our fruit, consider cutting the greens as well. If they are small just add them to the bowl to eat. Otherwise, give them a chop to bite size.

Step #4: Finish the Vinaigrette

Once the thyme and lemon zest infused oil cool for a few minutes, add it to the honey, vinegar, and lemon juice. Whisk together until well combined.

Step #5: Assemble the Blue Cheese Apple Walnut Salad and Enjoy!

First, find a good salad bowl. Something a little wide and shallow would be perfect, but a cereal bowl will do too.

Spread out greens to cover the bottom of the bowl. Not too many or they will conceal the flavors of the other, more exciting, ingredients.

Speaking of exciting, here comes the good stuff! To the bowl, add the celery, apples, strawberries, and cheese. For the next layer, add walnuts, croutons, cranberries, and sunflower seeds.

Finally drizzle the salad with our fresh lemon thyme vinaigrette. Toss to mix all ingredients and it’s ready to eat! Mmmmm.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR!

FAQ for Blue Cheese Apple Walnut Salad

Does it matter what kind of apples I use?

Most recipes I found for Waldorf salads included Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, or Golden Delicious because they are a bit tart. Personally, I found honeycrisp to be my favorite for this Blue Cheese Apple Walnut Salad. Another option could be using pears. Asian pears are terrific in salads. They are juicy and sweet and even look like apples.

What can I substitute for blue cheese?

I prefer feta because it’s crumbly. But goat cheese is nice too. Looking for something a bit more mild, try some shredded mozzarella.

How can I make this salad vegan?

Either omit the blue cheese or go with a vegan version. Here’s a recipe for making your own cashew and coconut oil based vegan cheese.

Did you make this recipe? Share your experience in the comments below and photos on Instagram @TheFlavorFanatic1.

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