Bacon, Apple & Cheddar Spinach Salad
with Dried Cranberries, Walnuts & Honey Dijon Dressing
- Milk
- Tree Nuts
- Eggs
Step aside, side salad—this hearty spinach version is the stuff of dinner dreams. We toss tender fresh spinach with sweet-tart apple slices, smoky bacon, tangy cheddar, chewy dried cranberries, and a creamy honey Dijon dressing. It’s all topped with crunchy walnuts for a bowlful of delicious textural and flavor contrasts that makes a fresh, light dinner idea you’re going to want to make again and again.
Ingredients
1 unit
Granny Smith Apple
4 ounce
Bacon
5 ounce
Spinach
½ cup
White Cheddar Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 ounce
Dried Cranberries
½ ounce
Walnuts
(Contains: Tree Nuts)
3 ounce
Honey Dijon Dressing
(Contains: Eggs)
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Halve, core, and thinly slice apple.
• Heat a medium dry nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Using kitchen shears, cut bacon* into bite-size pieces directly into pan. Cook, stirring occasionally and adjusting heat if browning too quickly, until crispy, 4-6 minutes. • Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
• In a large bowl, combine spinach, apple, bacon, half the cheddar, half the cranberries, and half the walnuts. • Add as much dressing as you like and toss to combine. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.
• Divide salad between shallow bowls. Top with remaining cheddar, remaining cranberries, and remaining walnuts. Serve.
Bacon is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 145°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Sep 2026- Flavor: The sweet-and-salty balance of bacon, apple, dried cranberries, and honey Dijon dressing is a crowd-pleaser that keeps customers coming back. 🎉
- Ease of prep: This salad comes together quickly with minimal cooking — just crisp the bacon and toss everything together.
- Suggestions: Add grilled or rotisserie chicken, hard-boiled eggs, or salmon to make it a more filling main dish. Some also enjoyed adding wonton strips, fried onion crisps, or avocado for extra texture.
- Leftovers: Store the dressing separately and the salad keeps well for lunch the next day; use only half the dressing if you prefer a lighter coat.
- Portions: Some found it light for a standalone dinner and recommend pairing it with bread or a protein to round out the meal.
- Dressing: The honey Dijon dressing is a standout favorite; those who find it too strong can mix it with a little Italian dressing or use just half the packet.
Reviews from our home cooks
This was an absolutely amazing salad! We loved it and would love to have it again! So many great things about this salad - the salty bacon, the creamy cheese, the crunchy nuts, the tart crisp apple, the sweet cranberries, and the dressing was an amazing compliment. The chefs really impressed us on this one! Thank you!
Delightful salad! The flavors blend together so well. I don't normally like mustard based dressings but it complimented the cranberries, walnuts, and apple so perfectly. The bacon took longer to cook than indicated due to its thickness.
We really enjoyed this tasty salad. We had some chicken left from the Creamy Dijon Dill Chicken meal and added it to the salad. After dinner, I saw the apple sitting on the counter. It would have made an excellent addition but wasn't really missed. We did have to add more walnuts and dried cranberries and used less bacon, our preference.
This was a great salad. And there was plenty of dressing to add for individual taste. I love adding fruits to my salads, southern apple was a perfect choice, along with the dried cranberries. And who doesn't love bacon! Plenty of yummy all the way around.
Very nice salad! I was surprised at the amount of spinach we got. I added hard boiled egg, which was a nice addition. The honey Dijon dressing was good, although I probably prefer a Vidalia onion, champagne vinaigrette, or a poppyseed dressing myself. To each their own. We were fed well!
Very good but needed less spinach or more of walnuts, cheddar, bacon and cranberry.
Oh my! So good and plenty for 2 the combination of cranberries, apples, cheese & the dressing oohhlaalaa, delicious. But I think the apple should be not just thinly sliced but cut to manageable eating pieces. I will also cut the spinach up. I give it 10! stars...
Perfect combination of flavor, although I did add some iceberg lettuce for more crunch. The dressing was perfect for this combination of spinach and apple and bacon! Yum!
So the bacon was too thick, in my opinion. Regular, thin sliced bacon would be crisper and tastier on the salad. Also, honey mustard on a spinach salad is just weird. I'd go with about any vinegar and oil based dressing like balsamic.
