Fuji apple salad & vinaigrette is a perfect salad any day of the year. It’s a colorful blend that’s bursting with flavor.
Which ingredients are in Fuji apple salad?
Romaine lettuce is tossed with fresh Fuji apples and apple chip, sugared pecans, red onion, and a sweet and tangy apple vinaigrette that's good enough to drink!
When should you add the goat cheese?
I like to add crumbled goat cheese to the salad after I toss the salad and dressing. I wait on the goat cheese after tossing so the cheese doesn’t get pasty. The goat cheese's mild flavor and soft texture add dimension to the salad.
How to make the best vinaigrette (aka Panera Fuji apple salad dressing)
Let's just pause a moment to talk about the Fuji Apple Vinaigrette. Can I say "flavor explosion?!" This salad is at its best from October through December when apple cider is plentiful. The apple cider is really the key ingredient to give the dressing (and the salad) its "wow" factor.
We boil down the the apple cider to reduce one cup to half a cup. This gives us a concentration of that fresh apple flavor! If you can't find apple cider, I suggest using ½ cup of frozen apple concentrate in place of the 1 cup of apple cider. Honestly, this might just be my favorite salad dressing.
The dressing recipe makes about 1 ½ cups of dressing. You should need about ½ cup to toss and serve with the salad. We make extra 'cause it takes some time to make and it's so good to have on hand. If you only want enough for the salad you can cut the recipe down.
Holiday Salad
Fuji Apple Salad is a wonderful addition to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. We often serve it at Thanksgiving, but it's actually a favorite any time of the year!
Flavor and crunch
In our Fuji apple salad, the fresh Fuji apples are crisp and juicy. Their sweet yet tart flavor is so refreshing. Add the crunch from apple chips and that apple-icious dressing and you've got a winning combination. This recipe is a copycat of Panera Fuji apple salad. You'll love serving it for a special meal--actually you'll love serving it anytime!
Enjoy!
Dianna
You Might Also Enjoy these other Refreshing Dishes!
- Mediterranean Salad
- Thai Lettuce Wraps
- Pear Salad w/ Pomegranate, Toasted Almonds, Avocado & Bleu Cheese
- Herbed Cheese and Heirloom Tomato Tart
- Zucchini noodle Pasta w/ Creamy Yogurt Herb Sauce
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Fuji Apple Salad & Vinaigrette
Flavorful salad of Romaine lettuce tossed with two types of apples, crunchy sugared pecans and red onion, served with Fuji apple vinaigrette.
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Servings: 6
Calories: 367kcal
Ingredients
For Vinaigrette
- 1 cup apple cider not juice
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh onion grated
- 1 teaspoons ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
For Salad
- 1 head Romaine or green leaf lettuce
- 2 Fuji apples
- 3.4 ounces Fuji apple chips*
- ½ medium red onion
- 1 cup pecans
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 4 ounces goat cheese
Instructions
For Vinaigrette
- Cook apple cider in a saucepan until it reduces to ½ cup. Let cool.
- Place all ingredients in a blender and purée. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. Keeps 2 weeks.
For Salad
- Wash and dry lettuce and chop into bite-size pieces. Set aside. Thinly slice apples, removing the core. Then, thinly slice red onion. Crumble goat cheese and set aside.
- Place pecans into frying pan on high heat. Add sugar and stir just until sugar melts on pecans. Pour pecans onto lightly greased foil or other non stick surface.
- Place all ingredients except goat cheese in a large bowl. Toss salad with ½ cup of vinaigrette and then sprinkle the goat cheese on top and serve immediately.
Notes
*Naturally BARE Baked Crunchy Fuji & Reds Apple Chips are available at Kroger grocery stores and other supermarkets.
This dressing recipe makes about 1 ½ cups of dressing. You should need about ½ cup to toss with the salad. We make extra 'cause it takes some time to make and it's so good to have on hand. If you only want enough for the salad you can cut the recipe down.
Dressing will keep, if refrigerated in a convered container, about 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 367kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 7mg | Sodium: 350mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 24g
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originally published December 12, 2018
When you say "ground mustard," are you referring to dry mustard (spice) or stone-ground mustard (condiment)? I thought I had some stone-ground in my house, but was wrong. I looked up substitutions thinking the best would be Dijon, since it's common to use in a homemade vinaigrette. But then I came across something that said "ground mustard (dry mustard)" and was all "Hmmmm." Have you ever used Dijon in this dressing?
Hi Christina! Great question! When we say 1 teaspoon ground mustard, we are referring to dry mustard powder! You could easily substitute 2 teaspoon of dijon mustard (the condiment) if you don't have the dry ground mustard in your pantry. Hope that helps!
- Dianna
What does it mean to cook down from 1 cup to 1/2 cup? Let it evaporate? What’s the point? I have no idea what that means. On step 8 it says add 1/2 cup + dressing. Half cup of what?
HI Davis, sorry for any confusion, I've updated the recipe instructions so they hopefully makes more sense. The vinaigrette recipe makes more dressing than is needed for salad recipe. So you'll want to toss the salad with a 1/2 cup of dressing (again, recipe instructions updated so it's not confusing!).
You'll take 1 cup of apple cider and boil it down until you're left with 1/2 cup of apple cider, this will give you a more concentrated flavor without making the dressing watery.
Hope that helps!
- Dianna