Day-After-Thanksgiving Crunch Salad

Yes, those are fried onion croutons.

Skip to Recipe

I love Thanksgiving dinner, but it can eat pretty heavy, so the day after, I’m craving something fresh, light, and crunchy—which leads me to this salad. Tossed together with leftover ingredients that you probably have hanging around from the big holiday cook, this day-after-Thanksgiving crunch salad is perfect for restoring balance to both you and your overflowing crisper drawer.

This salad is designed to help you use up the odds and ends that are leftover from your big meal, so it’s extremely flexible. To that point, don’t feel like you need to go out and buy dried cranberries; dried cherries or even pomegranate aerials will work just as easily. Don’t open a new bag of pecans; use the half-empty bag of almonds that’s hanging around instead. You get the picture: this recipe is a template; mix it up and make it work for you.

Crispy fried onions might be synonymous with green bean casserole on Thanksgiving Day, but they have year-round potential. I like to think of them as crispy onion chips that you can use just like any other chip or crouton: in sandwiches, on salads, in a breading, or as a crispy topping for mac ‘n’ cheese or any other casserole or skillet dinner. While you can make your own, I typically buy them ready-made and, if I’m not using them in a recipe where they’ll naturally get crispy in a pan or in the oven, I always pan-toast them for a few minutes over medium heat, just to make sure they’re at their crispy and most flavorful.

This salad makes great meal-prep. All the vegetables can be cut up to 3 days before assembling the salad and stored, (separately or together) in airtight containers in the refrigerator. The dressing can also be made up to three days ahead. Once dressed, the leftovers should keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. They might not be quite as crunchy on day 2, but the flavor will deepen, which will almost make up for it!

Enjoy!

---

Day-After-Thanksgiving Crunch Salad

(Makes 4 servings)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook and mix time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

⅓ c. store-bought crispy fried onions

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. pure maple syrup

¼ tsp. kosher salt (I used Diamond Crystal)

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ c. extra-virgin olive oil

8 oz. brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved, and thinly sliced into ½ moons

2 cups stemmed kale, torn or cut into ½” pieces

2 celery stalks, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)

2 oz green beans, sliced into 1” pieces on a bias (about ½ cup)

½ apple (preferably honeycrisp or fuji), cut into ½” cubes

⅓ c. pecans, well-toasted

¼ c. dried cranberries

Equipment: cutting board, knife, large dry pan, whisk, large bowl

Instructions

1. Add fried onions to a large dry pan and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until deeply golden and aromatic, 2-3 minutes. Remove to a small bowl and let cool.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together apple cider vinegar, dijon, maple syrup, ¼ teaspoon salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Whisking constantly, slowly stream in olive oil. Remove half the dressing to a small container and set aside.

3. Add brussels sprouts, kale, celery, and green beans to bowl with remaining dressing and toss to coat. Add apple, pecans, and cranberries and toss again, then taste and add more dressing to taste.

4. Top with crispy fried onions and serve.

Originally published November 30, 2025.