These 7 Fall Apple Salads Taste Like Autumn in a Bowl

I was late to the “apples in salad” game. I chalk it up to a childhood spent eating flavorless, one-note Red Delicious apples. They were so utterly forgettable that I never thought of apples as anything more than a snack-time vehicle for peanut butter. Of course, that all changed when I finally tasted varieties like Fuji, Pink Lady, Granny Smith, and Gala. I began tossing these flavorful apples into every type of salad to add sweet-tart flavor and crisp texture.

The best time to showcase apples is in the fall, when they are the most flavorful and you can get them locally-grown in many places—or at least not from the other side of the world. So, we’ve pulled together some of our favorites fall salad recipes with apples, including an updated Waldorf that’s beautifully balanced and bright, hearty grain salads that belong on every autumn table, and a Thai spicy shrimp salad in which tart green apples replace the more traditional but harder-to-find green mangoes. Below, you’ll find a fall salad that will make whichever apple variety you favor shine.