Ina Garten Cape Cod Salad Recipe

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Ina Garten’s Cape Cod salad is an autumn chopped salad of baby arugula, oven-roasted bacon, diced Granny Smith apple, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, and crumbled Roquefort, tossed in a maple-orange vinaigrette. It serves 4 to 5 and takes about 35 minutes, with most of the time spent waiting for the bacon to roast.

This recipe comes from Ina’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook (2008). In the headnote, she writes to “make this autumn salad just when you feel like eating apples and Roquefort cheese.” She designed the dressing with orange juice and maple syrup for “a touch of sweetness” that bridges the tart apple and salty blue cheese. Ina says she and her assistant Barbara “love a big plate of this salad for lunch.”

The technique that makes this salad work is oven-roasting the bacon on a rack at 400F (200C) for 20 minutes instead of frying it in a skillet. The rack lets the fat drip away so the bacon crisps up flat and even on all sides. Pan-fried bacon curls, pools in grease, and makes the finished salad oily instead of crunchy. The oven also frees you up to prep everything else while the bacon cooks.

FAQs

Why does Ina oven-roast the bacon instead of frying it?

Roasting bacon on a rack at 400F (200C) lets the fat drip away instead of pooling under the slices, so the strips turn out uniformly crispy and flat. They are also easier to chop into clean pieces because they do not curl the way pan-fried bacon does.

This matters because soggy, greasy bacon wilts arugula on contact and turns the whole bowl heavy. Crisp, dry, oven-roasted bacon stays crunchy even after you toss it with the dressing. The oven method also frees you to dice the apple and toast the walnuts while the bacon cooks.

Can you make this salad ahead of time?

The dressing can be whisked together up to a week ahead and stored in a sealed jar in the fridge. The bacon can be roasted a day early, cooled, and refrigerated. Toast the walnuts and crumble the cheese ahead too.

But do not toss the salad until right before serving. The arugula wilts within minutes of contact with the vinaigrette, and the apple starts to brown once diced. If you are hosting, prep every component in advance and toss at the table. For an autumn dinner party, set out Ina’s  Spinach Artichoke Dip  as a warm appetizer while you assemble the salad at the last minute.

What kind of blue cheese works best?

Ina calls for Roquefort, a French blue cheese made from sheep’s milk. It has a sharp, tangy bite and a creamy texture that crumbles easily without turning to powder. The bold flavor holds its own against the bacon and the sweet maple dressing without getting lost.

If Roquefort is hard to find or too pricey, Stilton or Danish blue both work. Avoid mild, creamy blues like Cambozola because they melt into the warm bacon and disappear instead of staying in distinct salty pockets. If you enjoy cooking with Roquefort, Ina’s Blue Cheese Crackers use Stilton in a savory shortbread that makes a great autumn cocktail snack alongside this salad.

Can you use a different apple?

Ina calls for Granny Smith because the tartness cuts through the rich bacon, cheese, and maple dressing. A sweet apple like Fuji or Gala would tilt the whole salad toward sweet and it would taste cloying instead of balanced.

Honeycrisp is the best substitute because it has both tart and sweet notes and stays firm after dicing. Pink Lady works for the same reason. Whatever you choose, peel it as Ina instructs. Apple skin gets tough in a chopped salad and disrupts the texture of the tender arugula leaves.

What makes this a “Cape Cod” salad?

The name comes from the ingredients, not a specific restaurant or tradition. Cranberries, apples, and walnuts are all New England harvest staples you find across Cape Cod farm stands every fall. That combination with sharp blue cheese and thick-cut bacon creates a classic autumn flavor profile that feels like New England in a bowl.

Ina lives in East Hampton on Long Island, not Cape Cod, but her cooking draws heavily from the broader New England coastal pantry. This salad fits alongside her other fall recipes that lean into orchard fruit, toasted nuts, and bold cheeses when the weather turns cool.