12 Thanksgiving Salads That Bring Freshness to Your Holiday Table

A salad made with kale roasted root vegetables and crumbled cheese topped with nuts on a rectangular serving dish — Serious Eats / Qi Ai

On a table sagging under the weight of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and who knows what other dishes, a salad can easily go ignored. And it's especially easy to ignore it if the salad is an afterthought—something thrown together in a couple of minutes right before people sit down to eat.

But Thanksgiving dinner is full of heavy dishes, and an artfully prepared salad can be a welcome addition to the spread, serving as both a palate cleanser and a delicious attraction in its own right. In that spirit, we've rounded up 12 Thanksgiving salad recipes worth saving room on your plate, whether it's crisp broccoli with a basil-pistachio vinaigrette, warm Brussels sprouts with bacon and hazelnut vinaigrette, or a toasted barley number with kombu and pepitas.

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Roasted-Beet Salad With Horseradish Crème Fraîche and Pistachios

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Beet and horseradish is a classic combination, and this salad makes the most of it with tender, deeply sweet roasted beets and a crème fraîche–based horseradish sauce.

Roasted-Beet Salad With Horseradish Crème Fraîche and Pistachios
Trevisano Radicchio Salad With Citrus and Ricotta Salata

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Fresh satsuma juice, pomegranate molasses, and Calabrian chiles bring bold flavor to a simple vinaigrette, and bright, fresh herbs and crunchy pistachios help round out this salad.

Trevisano Radicchio Salad With Citrus and Ricotta Salata
Radicchio, Endive, and Anchovy Salad

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Bitter greens like radicchio, Belgian endive, and parsley take on a surprising sweetness when paired with fennel and celery dressed in an aggressively savory anchovy vinaigrette.

Radicchio, Endive, and Anchovy Salad
Roasted Root Vegetable and Kale Salad With Maple-Pecan Dressing

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

Roasted carrots and beets, glossy kale, and a maple-pecan dressing come together in a fall salad that deserves a spot on the Thanksgiving table.

Roasted Root Vegetable and Kale Salad With Maple-Pecan Dressing

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Pear Salad

Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

Crunchy candied hazelnuts, shaved Gouda cheese, pomegranate seeds, and a mix of bitter, crisp-tender greens bring several contrasting yet complementary textures and flavors to the salad.

Pear Salad
Warm Brussels Sprout Salad With Bacon and Hazelnut Vinaigrette

Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

The key to cooking sprouts is to use very high heat, giving them a nutty char. Here, we char the leaves in meaty bacon fat and dress them with a flavorful hazelnut and bacon vinaigrette.

Warm Brussels Sprout Salad With Bacon and Hazelnut Vinaigrette
Broccoli Salad With Radicchio, Basil, and Pistachios

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Here, broccoli stems and florets are tossed with radicchio and a bold vinaigrette made from basil and pistachios.

Broccoli Salad With Radicchio, Basil, and Pistachios
Salt-Wilted Brussels Sprout Salad With Hazelnuts and Goat Cheese

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

This salad uses shredded Brussels sprouts in two ways—half raw and half wilted. Both get paired with creamy goat cheese, crunchy toasted hazelnuts, and a winter-appropriate tangerine vinaigrette.

Salt-Wilted Brussels Sprout Salad With Hazelnuts and Goat Cheese

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Beet and Wheat Berry Salad With Pickled Apples and Pecans

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Hearty grain salads don't just keep well; they actually tend to get better after spending a few days in the fridge. That's certainly true of this salad, made with chewy wheat berries, sweet roasted beetroots, sautéed beet greens, toasted pecans, and pickled apples.

Beet and Wheat Berry Salad With Pickled Apples and Pecans
Wild Rice Salad With Dried Cranberries, Pickled Apples, and Pecans

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Earthy and flavorful wild rice meets two bright and fruity elements in this salad—sweet-tart dried cranberries and tangy pickled apples. Toasted pecans add a rich and nutty note, while sautéed onion and celery contribute aromatic depth.

Wild Rice Salad With Dried Cranberries, Pickled Apples, and Pecans
Roasted Pear Salad With Endive, Pomegranate, Blue Cheese, and Hazelnut Vinaigrette

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

This perfectly seasonal salad is packed with contrasting flavors and textures: sweet roasted pears, bitter endive, tart pomegranate seeds, funky blue cheese, and a hazelnut vinaigrette. The vinaigrette can be made a week in advance, and the pears can be roasted on Tuesday, but save everything else for right before serving on Thanksgiving.

Roasted Pear Salad With Endive, Pomegranate, Blue Cheese, and Hazelnut Vinaigrette
Winter Greens Salad With Flax Seeds, Shaved Beets, and Radishes

Serious Eats / J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

Raw shaved beets are the perfect companion to stout winter greens in this simple, flavor-packed salad.

Winter Greens Salad With Flax Seeds, Shaved Beets, and Radishes