17 Must-Make Winter Salad & Winter Bowl Recipes (Gluten Free & Dairy Free)

Are you a winter salad fan?

We’ve almost made it through January, the winter-iest of winter months! Many people don’t often automatically think of salad as a go-to meal in the winter but there’s so many ways to make delicious winter salad meals and “winter bowls” that are loaded with seasonal vegetables like sweet potato, butternut squash, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, and fennel, as well as winter fruits like oranges, grapefruit, pomegranate, and apple! I also love adding roasted vegetables to my salads in the winter to bring in warm ingredients mixed with the fresh greens like spinach and kale. I’ve scoured the blogosphere for some of the best winter salad and winter bowl recipes to keep you fuelled, nourished, and happy all season long!

Take a look through the list below which includes amazing winter salad recipes that contain citrus fruits, fennel, heartier root vegetables and delicious dressings and winter-inspired buddha bowls and bliss bowls that are filled with roasted vegetables, proteins, grains, and delicious sauces!

The Winter Salad & Winter Bowl Recipes

1. Winter Spa Salad With Lemon Chicken from Pinch Of Yum

I know I’m not the only one who thinks that everything that comes from Pinch of Yum is pretty much amazing! This salad is no exception, it’s fresh, bright and loaded with beautiful winter ingredients like citrus and pomegranate and a must-make this season!

2. Winter Bliss Buddha Bowl from The Chriselle Factor

This stunning winter bowl is filling, hearty, and contains a beautiful combination of healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, and vegetables. I love the addition of blood orange, sprouts, and hemp seeds. Oh, and the turmeric ginger dressing? Sign me up!

3. Ahi Tuna Winter Salad with Creamy Balsamic Dressing from NITK

From the blog archives, my take on a winter salad includes perfectly seared ahi tuna, roasted potatoes for a hearty addition on a bed of fresh spinach and a homemade creamy balsamic dressing. A meal-sized salad perfect for the colder months!

4. Roasted Vegetable Lentil Salad from Running on Real Food

Deryn from Running on Real Food includes a beautiful variety of roasted vegetables in her hearty winter salad bowl and also adds in filling lentils, hemp seeds, and balsamic for flavour.

5. Chopped Crispy Citrus Chicken Salad from Running To The Kitchen

Citrus is the star of this salad as a perfect ingredient combined with chicken, kale, mint, tarragon and pomegranate for winter brightness and freshness on your plate. It’s filling and perfect for an energizing meal and oh-so-beautiful!

6. BBQ Tempeh Nourishment Bowls from Abras Kitchen

This bright, bold, and beautiful winter “nourishment bowl” has several seasonal ingredients including roasted Brussels sprouts, rutabaga, turnips and a gorgeous beet, apple, and ginger relish. Yum!

7. Bounce-Back Vitality Bowl from NITK

From my own blog this bounce-back vitality bowl is a wonderful winter meal loaded with faro, kale slaw, avocado, chicken, and walnuts and it’s also topped with a tasty, refreshing, and creamy lemon ginger tahini dressing.

8. Winter Fennel Salad from Gathering Dreams

Light and airy, this sweet and tart winter salad contains two of my favourite winter ingredients; fennel and grapefruit. Combined simply with the addition of pomegranate, pecans, and fresh herbs, this is a definite pick-me-up on any winter day.

9. Citrus Fennel and Avocado Salad from Flavor The Moments

Another beautiful take on a winter salad! This one contains citrus including grapefruit, blood orange, and clementine, avocado for healthy fats, and a fresh lemon and white balsamic dressing.

10. Roasted Veggie Winter Bliss Bowl from The View From Great Island

How amazing does this winter bliss bowl look? So colourful, bright, and hearty, this bowl is filled with quinoa, roasted vegetables including mushrooms, tomato, onion, Brussels sprouts, and a light and simple tahini lemon dressing.

11. Vitality Superfood Salad from NITK

One of my absolute favourites and a recipe that made it’s way into my Power Bowls cookbook, this vitality salad is loaded with superfoods, has a variation of vegetables, herbs, nuts, fruit, chicken, and avocado. The dressing is light and sweet with a hint of lime and chia seeds!

12. Vegan Winter Carrot Beetroot Salad from Cupful of Kale

Beets are another wonderful winter salad ingredient and are in plenty in this shredded beetroot and carrot salad that also contains energizing chickpeas, cabbage, and apricots. Delish!

13. Vibrant Winter Slaw Salad from The View From Great Island

Another recipe from The View From Great Island, this bright and crunchy winter slaw salad has a great variation of seasonal ingredients including beets, fennel, kolrabi, carrots, kale, and cabbage along with a light and fresh citrus vinaigrette.

14. Healthy Niçoise Salad with Roasted Garlic Lemon Dressing from NITK

Another one of my favourites from the blog, this Nicoise salad is hearty and balanced with protein from the eggs, carbohydrates from the potatoes, healthy fats from the olives and lemon garlic dressing and beautiful plump cherry tomatoes and spinach for those extra vitamins and minerals!

15. Citrus and Fennel Salad from Dietitian Debbie

Yep, more citrus! Can you tell I have a thing for citrus and fennel winter salads? This version also contains pistachios (another favourite of mine), radish, and a sweet and tart grapefruit vinaigrette.

16. Blackened Salmon Citrus Salad from Well-Fed Soul

This seriously stunning winter salad contains citrus (nope, not done with the citrus yet!), hearty kale, avocado, and perfectly blackened wild salmon filets with a shallot and honey vinaigrette. YUM.

17. Sesame Balsamic Tofu Bowls from The Pig & Quill

Last but definitely not least, this beautiful winter bowl from my pal Emily of the Pig & Quill is filled with crispy baked tofu, cooked rice, leafy greens, chile mango, and a delicious homemade sunflower-cilantro pesto! This bowl is healthy and sure to fill you up and warm you up at the same time.

I hope you have truly enjoyed this list of delicious winter salad and winter bowl recipes and that you now feel even more inspired and motivated to get into the kitch to make at least one of these! Enjoying a nutrient dense, filling salad in the winter months doesn’t need to seem odd but rather should be normal thing we do to brighten up the somewhat dark and colder snowy days! Which salad or bowl will you make first? Let me know in the comments section!

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