This salad is one of my favorite fall recipes. It’s delicious. It’s beautiful. It’s packed with superfoods and antioxidants. It’s a crowd-pleaser. And it’s perfect for a dinner party or special occasion — in fact, this is my go-to salad for Thanksgiving dinner.  As a hostess on any occasion, I appreciate that it’s easy to prep the delicata and pomegranate in advance, leaving you with just a few minutes of easy assembly before it’s time to eat.

Fall is Delicata Squash Season!

We all have our favorite seasonal foods, and delicata squash is definitely one of mine. It’s in season between late summer and early winter, making it one of those special foods with a pretty narrow window of availability. 

I love the flavor and texture of roasted delicata squash and it also happens to be the easiest winter squash to work with (if you’ve ever tried to cut into a butternut squash or a spaghetti squash, you know what I mean!!). I really appreciate that you can cut into these without much fuss and that you don’t need to peel the skin; in fact, it’s totally edible and adds some really nice texture.

How to know if delicata squash is ripe: look for yellow skin and green stripes. These keep for several weeks on the counter or in a cool, dry pantry. Do not refrigerate.

The Salad Ingredients

Everything that goes into this Delicata Squash Salad:

For Roasted Delicata Squash

• 1 delicata squash
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Avocado oil spray (or about 2 teaspoons of avocado oil or ghee)

 For Salad

• 4 cups of arugula, tightly packed (equal to a 5 ounce container)
• 1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled (about 3 ounces)
• 1/2 cup of sliced almonds (though no one will complain if you add more!)
• 1 cup pomegranate seeds (about one medium pomegranate)

For Dressing

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons champagne vinegar
• 2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

How to Prepare Delicata Squash

First, preheat oven to 425 (convection on it you have it). 

After washing, slice off both ends (about ¼ to ½ inch).

Then stand squash upright on one of the flat ends and slice in half lengthwise, leaving you with two boat shapes.

Scoop out the seeds on each side.

Then place the halves cut-side down and cut into ¼ inch slices. These can be as large as ½ inch, but I prefer having more, thinner slices. I also like that this decreases cook time. 

Spray the empty baking sheet evenly with avocado oil spray. Then arrange the delicata squash slices (spaced out to minimize crowding as much as possible) and spray the top side of the squash slices. Season with salt and pepper. Note: if you don’t have avocado oil spray, toss with avocado oil or melted ghee .

Pop into the oven for 10-15 minutes until fork tender and golden brown along the edges.

How to Remove the Seeds from a Pomegranate

There are two popular methods for quickly removing the seeds from a pomegranate: the “whack with a spoon” method and the “bowl of water” method, which is my preference. You begin by scoring a circle into the skin around the center of the pomegranate and breaking it two with your hands (you can also slice it in half, but you’ll cut through lots of seeds this way and make more of a mess). Then you place the halves in a bowl of water and work the seeds out with your hands. The seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membranes will float. Pick those out and then drain. There you have it!

How to Make Delicata Squash Salad with Pomegranate, Almonds and Goat Cheese

I start by roasting the delicata squash. That’s in the oven for 10-15 minutes, which is enough time to crumble the goat cheese, remove the seeds from my pomegranate, and make the dressing. If you’re prepping in advance, the roasted squash, pomegranate seeds, crumbled goat cheese and dressing all keep well in the refrigerator (separately). Just try to get your dressing and delicata out with enough time to come up to room temperature. You can certainly eat the squash cold, but I much prefer it room temp or warm right after roasting.

To assemble the salad, begin by adding the box of arugula and almonds to your salad bowl. Drizzle with dressing. Toss well and taste to make sure you like the flavor balance of the dressing. Adjust as needed.

Add the crumbled goat cheese, roasted delicata squash and sprinkle the pomegranate seeds evenly. Wait to toss all of these ingredients until you are ready to serve the salad. This keeps the nice roasted texture of the squash and prevents the goat cheese from turning pink (which can happen if it’s mixed and hangs out next to the goat cheese for a while….not the end of the world, but not as pretty).

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