This fall farro salad is the one I make on repeat once the weather turns. It's hearty enough to be dinner on its own, but it also holds up beautifully as a side for the week. It's a fun one to mix in with my kale and sweet potato fall harvest salad or my spinach quinoa salad with feta and roasted sweet potatoes for more cozy options! 🍂

Overhead view of a fall farro salad on a dark scalloped platter, topped with roasted sweet potato cubes, farro, chickpeas, diced apple, crumbled feta, and chopped pecans, served with a side of yellow vinaigrette and a bowl of pecans, gold forks and a striped napkin nearby.

A Quick Look

Recipe Name: Fall Farro Salad with Sweet Potatoes, Chickpeas & Apple
Serves: 8
Main Ingredients: Salad, chopped kale, olive oil, farro, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, olive oil, salt

Jump to:

This Fall Salad Hits Different
Why You’ll Love This Fall Farro Salad
Ingredient Notes
Erin's Expert Tips
How to make a fall farro salad
Fall Farro Salad FAQ
Storing leftovers
Fall Farro Salad with Sweet Potatoes, Chickpeas & Apple

This Fall Salad Hits Different

A lot of fall salads lean on chicken for protein. This one skips that and lets farro and chickpeas do the heavy lifting instead, so it's just as filling without any meat prep. That also makes it one of the easier salads to double for a crowd or portion out for meal prep, similar to how I build my Mediterranean chickpea salad with lemon dijon dressing.

Why You’ll Love This Fall Farro Salad

It's a full meal in a bowl, farro and chickpeas give you real staying power, not just a side salad that leaves you hungry an hour later.
Sweet potatoes and apple bring natural sweetness so the dressing doesn't have to do all the work.
It's make-ahead friendly and only gets better as the flavors sit together in the fridge.
Feta and pecans add just enough richness without weighing the whole dish down.
Make your favorite protein or try my perfect grilled chicken breasts to add some extra oomf and balance your macros!

Photo of ingredients for Fall Farro Salad with labels.

Ingredient Notes

Most of what's in here is straightforward, but a couple of things are worth flagging before you shop:

Farro: Use uncooked, not quick-cook or pearled if you can help it. Whole or semi-pearled farro holds its chew better in a salad that's going to sit in the fridge for a few days. Check the package for cook time since brands vary quite a bit.
Smoked paprika: This is what gives the sweet potatoes and chickpeas that deeper, almost roasted flavor instead of tasting plain. Regular paprika will work in a pinch but it won't give you the same smokiness.
Apple: Go with a firmer variety like Honeycrisp or Gala so it stays crisp instead of going mushy once it's tossed with the dressing.

Erin's Expert Tips

Let the roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas cool for a few minutes before adding them to the kale so they don't wilt it too much.

Dice the apple last and toss it with a squeeze of lemon juice if you're not serving right away, it helps slow down browning.

If you're prepping this for the week, keep the dressing separate and add it to individual portions instead of the whole bowl at once.

How to make a fall farro salad

Overhead view of a sheet pan with diced sweet potato cubes and chickpeas seasoned with spices, ready to roast, with a small dish of oil in the corner.

Step 1: Roast the sweet potatoes and chickpeas. Preheat your oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Toss the diced sweet potatoes and drained chickpeas with olive oil, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika, then spread in a single layer. Give the pan a shake halfway through the 30 minutes so everything browns evenly instead of steaming.

A hand massaging chopped kale in a large glass mixing bowl, with olive oil and a shaker of salt or pepper nearby on the counter.

Step 2: While you cook the farro, massage the kale. While the oven is going, add the chopped kale to a large bowl with a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Massage it with your hands for a minute or two until it softens and darkens slightly, this step gets rid of the raw, bitter bite.

Overhead view of honey mustard vinaigrette being whisked in a glass measuring cup, with a small dish of honey, olive oil, cracked pepper, and a lemon half nearby.

Step 3: Make the dressing. Whisk together the olive oil, dijon mustard, honey, mayo, apple cider vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a glass measuring cup or bowl until smooth.

Close-up of a kale salad with roasted sweet potato cubes, chickpeas, farro, diced apple, crumbled feta, and chopped pecans.

Step 4: Combine. Add the cooked farro, roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas, diced apple, feta, pecans, and parsley to the bowl with the kale. Drizzle with the dressing and serve!

Fall Farro Salad FAQ

Below are some common questions I've seen about this recipe. Don’t see the answer you’re looking for? Leave a comment at the bottom of this post!

Yes, it actually holds up really well! Keep the dressing separate until you're ready to eat so the kale and apple stay crisp.

A firm, slightly tart apple like Honeycrisp or Gala works best. If you want something sweeter, check out how I use pears instead in my pear salad with farro and dijon vinaigrette.

Overhead view of a kale salad with roasted sweet potato, chickpeas, farro, diced apple, feta, and pecans on a dark scalloped platter with a gold serving spoon, dressing and gold forks nearby.

Two individual plates of kale salad with sweet potato, chickpeas, farro, apple, feta, and pecans, next to the serving platter, a small pitcher of dressing, a bowl of pecans, and apple halves.

Definitely, shredded rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled chicken would both work well. If you want a chicken-forward version of a similar fall salad, my fall harvest bowl with crispy chicken thighs is a good one to try next.

No, farro is a wheat product, so this recipe is not gluten-free as written. If you need a gluten-free grain swap, quinoa is your best bet, though I haven't tested that substitution in this exact recipe myself!

Storing leftovers

Store the undressed salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Keep the dressing in a separate container and add it to individual portions as you go, this keeps the kale from wilting and the apple from getting soft too fast.

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