Apple Arugula Salad with Beets and Blue Cheese

Let’s make a fresh and flavorful Ambrosia Apple Arugula Salad with beets, blue cheese, and a splash of lemon juice. This easy-to-make salad is perfect for the season and all-year, offering a delicious blend of sweet, tangy, and peppery flavors.

Fall is peeking around the corner and that means that apple season has finally arrived. Whether you get to head to the apple orchard, a farmer’s market or your favorite grocer, it’s time to indulge in all things apple!

That’s right, it’s time to pull out all of your favorite apple recipes and find some new ones…like this Apple Arugula Salad with Beets and Blue Cheese. We often think of apples as being an ingredient for desserts or sweet treats like pies, muffins, and cobblers but they are pretty amazing savory dishes too. 

This delicious Fall apple arugula salad with beets and blue cheese has so many amazing flavor and texture combinations that everyone will love it. This ambrosia gold apple salad is easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner and still special enough to deserve a spot on your holiday dinner tables. It’s never too soon to start planning those holiday menus; they’ll be here before you know it, especially now that Fall has arrived! 

Apples are a staple Fall ingredient, and the season wouldn’t be the same without them.

Ingredients for Ambrosia Apple Arugula Salad with Beets and Blue Cheese

Let’s chat for a moment about what ingredients you will need to make this tasty seasonal salad!

Apples – The first ingredient that you will need for this salad is two Ambrosia Gold apples that have been thinly sliced. If you have a mandolin you can use that to get thin, uniformly sliced apples. The Ambrosia Gold apples have a distinct honey sweet flavor, and they are juicy and crisp.

Arugula –  The lettuce for this salad is arugula with its tender leaves, and crispy stems. Arugula has a spicy and slightly tart flavor that pairs well with the sweetness of the apples. 

Red onion – You will need one thinly sliced red onion for your salad. This will give it a bit of crunch and a bit of sweetness too. 

Bell Pepper – You will need ½ cup of chopped bell pepper which will also give your salad even more of a crunchy texture. You can use any color of bell pepper you have on hand, but a yellow bell pepper will give your salad a pop of color. 

Beets – Ready to eat beets can be found in the produce section of your supermarket. These beets have already been peeled and cooked so they can be used straight out of the package. Perfect kitchen hack in my opinion 😉

Radishes – Sliced radishes are also included in this salad and they will give it a zesty flavor as well as a bit of an extra crunch. 

Blue Cheese Crumbles – Blue cheese crumbles give this salad a little bit of a salty flavor to contrast the sweetness of the apples. 

Dried Cranberries – Dried cranberries have a contrasting sweet and tart flavor that pairs perfectly with the peppery arugula.

Cilantro – Cilantro will give your salad a bright, fresh flavor which pairs perfectly with the sweet elements and the fresh lemon juice for your dressing. 

Fresh Lemon Juice – Fresh lemon juice will give your salad a bright, citrusy flavor. It’s perfect with the sweet and peppery elements of this beautiful salad. 

How to Make this Apple Arugula Salad with Beets

Putting together this salad couldn’t be any easier. Simply combine all of the ingredients together and then top with lemon juice or your favorite salad dressing and serve! 

Protein Suggestions 

If you would like to serve this salad as a main dish for dinner, you might want to make it just a little heartier with the addition of protein. 

Non-Plant Based Protein Suggestions  

Grilled chicken or thinly sliced flank steak would be a great addition to this salad. The flavors of the salad would meld smoothly with either of these protein choices. This would make a simple, and nutritious weeknight dinner. 

Plant-based Protein Suggestions 

If you want to bulk this tasty salad up just a bit but prefer to steer clear of non-plant based proteins there are some wonderful options for you as well!

Quinoa, tofu, and walnuts would all make flavorful plant-based protein additions to this salad to make it hearty enough to serve as a main dish. 

Variations and Substitutions 

Cheese –  If you or your family aren’t particularly fond of blue cheese, you can always substitute it. Some excellent choices would be feta cheese, goat cheese, or some shredded aged sharp cheddar cheese. Alternatively, you could skip the cheese altogether. 

Dried Cranberries – If you can’t find dried cranberries, or if they just aren’t for you, there are several substitutions that you can use that will taste amazing.  Dried cherries or apricots, blueberries, or pomegranate seeds would all work really well in this salad. 

Arugula –  If you are worried that your kids won’t like the spicy flavor of arugula you could try a spring mix that contains some arugula as well as other leafy greens for a milder flavor. You could also use spinach, kale, or romaine lettuce or a combination of them for your salad base. 

Lemon juice –  If you want your salad to have a more substantial dressing than just lemon juice, you can use any type of dressing that you like. 

This healthy, hearty, and beautiful fall salad deserves a place on your dinner table and maybe even your holiday table. Make it your own with the ingredients that you prefer but don’t leave out the apples, they are the star of this incredible dish!

Alright, let’s make it shall we?!