Fall Salad With Apples, Cheddar and Crispy Sage
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 25medium to large sage leaves
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and pepper
- 2tablespoons honey
- 2teaspoons Dijon mustard
- ⅓cup lemon juice (from 2 to 3 lemons)
- 1medium shallot, finely chopped (about ¼ cup)
- 1pound sweet and crisp apples (such as Honeycrisp or Cripps Pink, 2 to 3 medium)
- 6ounces aged white Cheddar, chopped or sliced into bite-size pieces
- ¼cup chopped parsley
- 2small or medium heads butter lettuce, leaves torn (about 6 loosely packed cups)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
289 calories; 19 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 15 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 477 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan or pot over medium until the oil is hot enough to make a sample sage leave sizzle immediately, about 3 minutes. Working in batches, place the sage leaves in the hot oil, moving them with a fork or spoon to help them fry evenly, and cook until the oil stops bubbling and leaves crisp up, about 1 minute. Transfer the sage leaves to a paper-towel-lined plate and season with salt and pepper; repeat with remaining sage leaves.
- Step 2
Remove the saucepan from the heat then stir in the honey and Dijon mustard until combined; set aside to cool.
- Step 3
Mix the lemon juice and shallot together in a large bowl. Slice the apples into ¼-inch wedges, toss with the shallot and lemon juice and season with ½ teaspoon salt. Add the Cheddar and parsley and toss to coat.
- Step 4
Once the sage-honey oil has cooled until just warm, pour into the bowl with the apples and Cheddar, toss well to coat. Gently fold in the lettuce. The Cheddar and apples will be pesky and fall to the bottom of the bowl, but scoop as much as you can to arrange them on top of the lettuce. Top with whole or crushed sage leaves and serve immediately.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Mike in Indy
Use plenty of sage. This recipe has quite a few steps, but excellent for a Sunday dinner, especially if you have a pot roast or a roasted chicken in the oven and have a bit of time to kill. Won’t taste like anything you have made since last Winter. Welcome to Autumn.
Debnev
I like the idea of this, but I think it needs some tweaks. For one thing, when I added the honey mustard to the sage pan, even though it was off the heat for a couple of minutes, it was still too hot and the honey seized up like candy. I had to toss it and start over. Next time I would cut the apples to bitesized pieces, and use less lemon. I would also bump up the sage, as Mike in Indy suggests. I couldn't taste it. I added some chopped glazed pecans to the salad and think they were a good fit.
mainemom
This was basically great but I was disappointed in the sage leaves, which seemed to entirely lose their taste after frying, although they were straight off the plant and flavorful before cooking. I don't think I overcooked them...they were crisp but not burnt...but next time I might try wilting only, although that loses the crisp contrast. Any suggestions?
Kris PA
Mainemom, I’ve had good results spreading lightly salted sage leaves on a baking pan and letting them toast in the oven at moderate heat till fragrant. Then turn heat off and let residual heat finish crisping. No oil necessary. A convection oven would be nice I imagine. They will be fragile, but I prefer crispy to chewy oily. I don’t have an air fryer….anybody?
salex53
This is a wonderful salad. Just full of fall! Use an apple that will hold up—the Cosmic Crisp was a great choice. I had no problem adding the mustard and honey to the warm oil (unlike a previous poster). We paired this with another NYT Cooking recipe (focaccia with herbed honey plums and prosciutto) for an extraordinary dinner.
fall salad
Really good if a little high maintenance. Think about adding nuts
Bob Stone
I used an air fryer (about 1min at 375) to crisp up the sage and then combined oil, mustard, shallot, lemon and apple cider vinegar to make the “lazy” version of this salad
Anna
Good. Made as suggested, used red onion instead of shallot
MK Owens
Only some of my sage leafs made it into the salad. The rest, I ate, salted. Wonderful. The salad was very nice, but I agree with someone who suggested adding toasted pecans - the sage loses crispiness when the salad is dressed. Lovely, easy.
Katja
Excellent salad. I agree that if you like sage bump it up!
Great Salad
Very delicious! I sprinkled a few crushed pecans over the top.
Sandy
Olive oil is a classic pairing with sage. I would think a more neutral oil risks changing the balance of flavours too much here. (The heat need not be excessively high.) Similarly, I’d lean toward walnuts as a tried and true foil for the sage, if you like that extra bit of crunch.
NDN
Phenomenal! Wow!!
Cindy G
This salad was a great success - added toasted pine nuts and extra sage! Guests wanted to eat the sage garnish just on its own.
jonas
Loved this. Suppose more sage would be good but the extra work was worth it!
clevelandette
Made this last Thanksgiving and no one cared for how bland it was. The fried sage tasted like just that: small leaves fried in oil — no flavor at all, just greasy and weird. Will never make again.
Barbara
Great!! Made exactly as the recipe said. Added the sage leaves at the very end right before serving.
Kim
Even without the parsley and using fewer applies, this is a very good salad. I also used grated sharp cheddar and less than called for, since my husband does not like too much cheese. I added a sprinkling of roasted, salted pecans with the sage leaves.
Courtney
Delicious. Added fennel as well, to make the salad a little more robust.
Julie
This turned out really well… I suffer from “boring salad syndrome” and this definitely broke me out of the salad slump. It comes together pretty quickly in my opinion. I made it as part of a dinner train for a friend and after tasting I made it again for my family.
Micah
This is a perfect fall salad. I followed the recipe as written, only adding a handful of toasted walnuts. It was delicious! A couple of tips: whisk the mustard and honey into the oil to emulsify and use Beecher’s Flagship cheese if you can find it!
Susi
Amazing!!! I used extra sharp aged cheddar, added endive, thinly sliced red radishes, cucumbers, and toasted walnuts. What a wonderful fall salad!!
Carol
Try using sage Derby in lieu of plain cheddar to up the sage flavor.
FNT
Diced apple is easier to handle at the table. I used feta rather than cheddar for the salt and texture. Great fall salad.
Nicole
Used half apples and have Fuyu persimmon and it made it more beautiful, however I diced rather than sliced the fruit. I served by arranging the butter lettuce on plates then spooning on the fruit mixture. I was not that crazy about the fried sage and guests didn’t seem to appreciate it much either (as a topping, not mixed in). Unfortunate since I made a lot of extra fried sage. All that frying also caused the oil to eventually get too hot and start to smoke, so watch for that & reduce temp.
laurabootsy
I prefer to make cheddar crisps as a topping. The dressing benefits from a shot of balsamic, and a shower of pistachios is a nice way to add a vegetarian protein.
Ingrid
This was such a phenomenal salad. There are few times when I feel I can achieve restaurant quality food at home and this is one of them.
Isabella
Really good, easy recipe. I added some strips of panko-fried chicken to appease the family carnivores and it went well together.
Hannah S
Delicious! My new favorite autumn salad. I first made this for a dinner party and it was a crowd pleaser.
biesstie
Outstanding recipe! I paired it with oven roasted chicken breasts, which definitely worked, but the flavor profile of the salad begs for pork. Next time it will be sliced pork tenderloin.
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