Salad

Roast Pumpkin Salad

Name: Roast Pumpkin Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients: 600 g pumpkin, cubed; 2 tbsp olive oil; 100 g baby spinach; 80 g feta, crumbled; 40 g (1/4 cup) pepitas (pumpkin seeds); 50 g (1/3 cup) dried cranberries; 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar; 1 tbsp honey; Salt and pepper, to taste

Serves 4 Prep 15 mins Cook 30 mins Total 45 mins

Here is our working roast pumpkin salad for Scoops & Dishes: no doorway fluff, just a cookable page with Australian metric detail and notes that prevent the usual failures. Plan on 45 mins from starting prep to plating for 4. Prep is about 15 mins; the active cook or oven time is closer to 30 mins. Read the whole method once before you turn on the heat. Shop first for pumpkin, olive oil and baby spinach; those ingredients do the heavy lifting for flavour and texture, while the rest of the list seasons, binds, or finishes the plate. After cooking, dress close to serving so leaves stay crisp. Double for a crowd; keep dressing separate until the last minute. If humidity or a fan oven changes browning, trust visual cues over the last minute of the clock. Method opens with: “Toss pumpkin with 1 tbsp oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 200°C for 25–30 minutes until golden.”. Follow the order as written; jumping ahead is how pans crowd and sauces split.

Ingredients

600 g pumpkin, cubed
2 tbsp olive oil
100 g baby spinach
80 g feta, crumbled
40 g (1/4 cup) pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
50 g (1/3 cup) dried cranberries
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Toss pumpkin with 1 tbsp oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 200°C for 25–30 minutes until golden.
Arrange spinach on a platter. Top with warm pumpkin, feta, pepitas and cranberries.
Whisk remaining oil, balsamic and honey. Drizzle over salad.

Tip: Serve warm or at room temperature — both work beautifully.

Notes

Putting it together for Roast Pumpkin Salad: work clean, taste as you go, and do not rush browning or reduction steps if they appear in the method. If you are cooking for mixed diets, plate sauces and toppings separately where practical. Keep this page bookmarked if it becomes a household regular — we update wording when cooks report a confusing step. Metric consistency across Scoops & Dishes means once you trust the cups and scales here, breakfast through dessert behaves the same way.
Shopping and mise en place: read the full ingredient list once before you start. For Roast Pumpkin Salad, pumpkin and olive oil are the items that decide whether the dish tastes flat or properly seasoned. Weigh where grams are given — volume cups are fine for liquids and some dry goods, but baking ratios are tighter if you use scales. Australian cups are 250 ml; a tablespoon is 20 ml and a teaspoon is 5 ml.
From our tested tip, expanded: Serve warm or at room temperature — both work beautifully. Treat that as the non-negotiable. If something still feels off — too wet, too pale, too tight — adjust one variable at a time (heat, liquid, or bake time) rather than changing three things at once.
Before the heat goes on, line up pumpkin, olive oil and baby spinach and anything perishable from the list. Soften butter, bring eggs off the fridge if the method needs them room-temp, and preheat so you are not waiting mid-recipe. For a salad cook of this size (4), a clear bench saves more time than any gadget.