This tasty and vibrant pumpkin salad is simple to make with beautiful, fresh ingredients. It is everything you’d want in a healthy salad. With such an amazing flavour burst, this vegetarian salad is great as a side dish served with your favourite falafels. If you’re not vegetarian, it’s also delicious when served with a protein such as fish. But you can also enjoy this earthy, fresh salad as a whole meal on its own. It’s not only perfect to take to work for lunch, but it’s a great salad to make ahead of time, and take to your next BBQ or party. I usually double the ingredients if I take this with me to a party for sharing.

While this salad sounds unusual, the flavours really work well together. The combination of crispy, roasted pumpkin and salty feta just works. Accompanied with peppery rocket and roasted capsicum, this salad recipe is simply delightful. And the added kick of drizzled balsamic glaze just tops it off to be the perfect salad in wintertime or on hot summer days.

Reasons to Love This Pumpkin Salad

Nobody wants to spend hours in the kitchen, tackling a complicated recipe. That’s why we go out for dinner right? This recipe is so simple and easy, and you only need 6 ingredients (and a little bit of oil spray).

If you’re taking this salad to a party or to work, you can make it ahead of time. I usually prep the day before and store it in the fridge. But be sure to hold off on the balsamic glaze and add it just before you serve.

Last but not least, this roasted pumpkin salad is really healthy (especially if you opt for low salt options). And it’s so adaptable. You can swap any ingredients with ones that you love. For example, you could swap the feta for goats cheese, or the lentils for slithered almonds. I often add beetroot to my pumpkin salad instead of roasted capsicum, and I swap lentils with quinoa.

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Pumpkin Salad

This roast pumpkin salad is bright and exciting, full of fresh ingredients and flavour. The vegetarian salad recipe is sure to please all, with options to swap ingredients to suit your taste.

Course Salad

Keyword pumpkin salad, pumpkin salad recipe, vegetarian salad, vegetarian salad recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Calories 270kcal

Author Renae Diggles

Equipment

• Roasting tray
• Oven
• Baking paper
• Mixing bowl
• Sharp knife
• Salad bowl
• Salad Fork and spoon

Ingredients

• 60 g Rocket washed
• 200 g Lentils 1/2 can washed and strained
• 200 g Pumpkin cut into 2cm to 3cm cubes
• 5 g Olive oil spray
• 100 g Feta Cut into cubes
• 40 g Roasted capsicum strips remove excess oil (adjust qty to your liking)
• 30 ml Balsamic vinegar glaze Adjust quantity to your liking

Instructions

• Start by preheating your oven to 200 fan forced. Grab a large baking tray and line it with baking paper.
• Cut the pumpkin into 2cm cubes. Coat the cubes with olive oil and desired herbs/seasoning - I used salt and rosemary. Place the cubes on a baking tray and cook it for 30 minutes or until you can pierce a fork through the pumpkin.
• Once the pumpkin has cooked, let the pumpkin sit out and cool for 5 to 10minutes.
• Wash and try the rocket. Then put the rocket in a large mixing bowl.
• Wash the lentils in a strainer and then place the lentils in the mixing bowl with the rocket.
• Place the pumpkin, feta, and capsicum in the large mixing bowl. Add the balsamic glaze and toss the salad until well combined.
• You can now serve your salad and enjoy!

Notes

 

Serving Suggestions:

This salad can be a nice side salad for two and goes nicely with grilled fish, especially salmon. This salad is also a great vegetarian option if you are or are cooking for someone who is.

If you are at a gathering or celebration, you can put the salad in a lovely salad bowl, however, do not dress the salad until just before serving to avoid it from getting soggy.

Ingredient Alternatives

Pumpkin - Sweet potato is a good alternative if you are not the biggest pumpkin fan. This also does not require you to change any of the cooking methods.

Feta - Parmesan cheese is a good alternative to feta if you prefer a sharper cheese. However, the salad would no longer be vegetarian as parmesan cheese contains meat products.

Lentils - Quinoa or couscous are both possible alternatives to lentils, though cooking methods may vary. Another option is to use nuts instead of using lentils. Slithered almonds particularly go quite well with this salad.

Nutrition

Calories: 270kcal

Salad Tips

Choosing the right pumpkin is so important when it is the staple ingredient for the salad. Look for a pumpkin that is really golden, and not pale in colour. I usually go for a butternut pumpkin or a kent pumpkin that is halved, so that I can see the colour.

Remember that you can always add as many vegetables that you’d like, and you can swap the ingredients if something works better for you.

Finally, it’s really important that you don’t overcook the pumpkin. Nobody likes soggy pumpkin. If you’d prefer something firmer, sweet potato is a good alternative. But if you’re cooking pumpkin, aim to have crispy edges with a slightly firm centre. And there you have it. The most beautiful, easy, adaptable salad around. Enjoy!

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