This show-stopping Pear Salad features mixed greens, ripe pears, dried cranberries, candied walnuts, red onion, and gorgonzola, dressed in a flavorful apple cider vinaigrette.
The Best Pear Salad Recipe
This salad makes a great accompaniment to your holiday table. It’s a lovely addition to a big holiday turkey or ham!
It also pairs so well with those typical cold-weather comforting meals that tend to be on the heavier side (like Shepherd’s Pie, a big Crockpot Roast, or a cheesy Baked Ziti.) This salad helps lighten up those dishes and add some color and nutrition to your dinner plate.
Ingredients
- Mixed Greens: Form the crisp, fresh base of your pear salad.
- Pears and Dried Cranberries: Add sweetness and juiciness, with cranberries offering a chewy texture.
- Red Onion: Provides a sharp, tangy contrast.
- Candied Walnuts: Made with egg whites, sugars, cinnamon, and vanilla for a sweet, crunchy addition.
- Gorgonzola Cheese: Delivers rich, creamy, and tangy notes.
Dressing Ingredients:
- Apple Cider Vinegar and Dijon Mustard: Create a tangy base with a touch of heat.
- Olive Oil: Adds richness to your pear salad.
- Maple Syrup: Brings natural sweetness.
- Salt and Pepper: Enhance and balance the flavors.
How To Make Pear Salad
- Candied Walnuts: Mix egg whites, vanilla, and water. Toss walnuts in this, then sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Bake at 250°F for 1 hour. Cool and chop.
- Dressing: Shake apple cider vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, mustard, salt, and pepper in a jar.
- Assemble: Combine mixed greens, pears, red onion, walnuts, cranberries.
- Finish: Drizzle dressing, add gorgonzola, toss, and serve.
Variation Ideas
- Swap candied walnuts for candied pecans.
- Use dried tart cherries in place of the dried cranberries in this pear salad.
- Swap gorgonzola cheese for goat or feta cheese, or simply leave out the cheese altogether.
- Use Fuji or Honeycrisp apples in place of the pears.
- Swap the apple cider vinaigrette for a lemon–poppy seed dressing
More Delicious Salads
- Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad
- Sweet Potato Salad
- Chicken Salad with Apples
- Winter Fruit Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
Pear Salad
This show-stopping Pear Salad starts with mixed greens lettuce and is loaded with juicy, ripe pears, sweet dried cranberries, candied walnuts, tart red onion, and gorgonzola cheese. A robustly-flavored apple cider vinaigrette tops this salad.
Ingredients
Salad
- 8 cups (5.5 oz.; 163g) mixed greens (baby lettuce and baby greens)
- 2 large pears See Note 1
- 1/3 cup (50g) thinly sliced red onion See Note 2
- 3/4 cup candied walnuts
- 2/3 cup (87g) dried sweetened cranberries
- 1/3 cup (40g) crumbled gorgonzola cheese
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons (30g) apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup (46g) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon Fine sea salt and 1/8 teaspoon cracked pepper
Candied Walnuts (or buy store-bought) See Note 3
- 1 pound walnut halves & pieces
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 large egg whites (discard egg yolk or reserve for another recipe)
- 1/2 tablespoon EACH vanilla extract and water
Instructions
- CANDIED WALNUTS: Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line an extra large sheet pan (or 2 sheet pans) with parchment paper (or a silpat liner) and set aside. In a very large bowl, whisk the egg whites, vanilla, and water together until frothy. Toss walnuts in the egg white mixture until well coated. Right on top of everything add the white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir gently to coat all the walnuts until well coated. Spread coated walnuts onto a baking sheet. Walnuts shouldn't be overlapping. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, flipping and stirring the walnuts every 15 minutes. Allow walnuts to stand for 30 minutes to an hour to fully cool and solidify. Coarsely chop about 1 cup to add to this salad.
- DRESSING: Add all ingredients to a Mason jar, cover with the lid, and vigorously shake to combine. Taste and adjust for personal preference on seasonings (salt and pepper). Refrigerate until ready to eat and shake once more before dressing the salad.
- SALAD ASSEMBLY: Add mixed greens, thinly sliced pears, thinly sliced red onion, candied walnuts, and dried cranberries to a large salad bowl.
- DRESS THE SALAD: Drizzle the dressing only on what will be enjoyed the same day. (Once dressed, this salad doesn't sit well.) Toss salad to coat in dressing. Add the gorgonzola cheese (add more to personal preference). Toss once more and serve salad immediately.
- MAKE AHEAD/STORAGE: If you want to prepare this salad in advance or store leftovers, I recommend measuring out and then storing ingredients separately in plastic bags or small containers and tossing them together right before serving. The one ingredient I don't recommend preparing more than an hour ahead of time is the pears (they will brown). The dressing can be made (and stored) in a Mason jar 2-3 days in advance. Shake up to re-combine before topping the salad. (If the dressing hardens or clumps, this is totally normal -- it's just the olive oil solidifying at cold temperatures. Let the dressing stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes and then shake it up and it's ready to go!)
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: To check the ripeness of a pear, gently press the area around the stem of the pear with a gentle squeeze. If it gives a little, it’s ready to go!
Note 2: You can dice the onion or thinly slice. To take away the "bite" of the red onion (make it milder): submerge the sliced or chopped onions in a bowl of cold or ice water. Let them sit for at least ten minutes, stirring 2-3 times, and then drain and use in this salad.
Note 3: This recipe for candied walnuts will yield more than you need. Sugaring the walnuts works best with this volume; leftovers store nicely! Store leftover candied walnuts in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months or in the pantry for 2-3 weeks.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 174kcal | Carbohydrates: 22.9g | Protein: 3.5g | Fat: 8.8g | Cholesterol: 4.1mg | Sodium: 68.6mg | Fiber: 3.8g | Sugar: 16g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great salad! I had it with diced turkey and feta (instead of onion and gorgonzola) to make it a meal. Love, love, love the apple cider vinaigrette!
Delish! So thrilled you enjoyed! 🙂
Loved this salad! My kids always pass on my regular salad and tell me not to even bother making one. This was the first time the salad bowl was empty at the end of the meal. My daughter just texted me for the recipe. The only difference I made was using feta instead of gorgonzola. Definitely a keeper!
So thrilled to hear you enjoyed this salad! Thank you Colleen!