This Pear Arugula Salad is perfect for your holiday table or any day of the week. Peppery arugula is combined with sweet pears, pomegranate arils, tangy blue cheese, red onions, toasted walnuts, and salty, crispy prosciutto. Top it all off with a little creamy balsamic dressing for a great salad for cooler months!
This salad is a delicious combination of sweet, salty, tangy, pungent, nutty, crunchy, and salty. Perfect for both a dinner party and when you're looking to liven up your winter salads during the week. It's filling and full of flavor!
Looking for more simple salad recipes? Try this harvest salad with cranberry dressing, this burrata and prosciutto salad, or this simple spinach arugula salad recipe.
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❤️Why we love this recipe
- A delicious salad - it's the perfect blend of peppery greens, juicy pears, salty cheese, and crispy, nutty, tangy, and pungent flavors. This salad has it all! It's a wonderful salad that you'll actually crave.
- Easy to make - This recipe is ready in under 15 minutes.
- Great for gatherings - This arugula pear salad recipe is great for dinner parties and holidays like Christmas dinner with bright colors and vibrant flavors.
- Naturally gluten free - Made with wholesome ingredients, and no gluten, so it suits a variety of diets.
🍐Ingredients
Here are the ingredients we used for this recipe. You can find more information for substitutions below.
- Arugula
- Bartlett pears - Or any sweet pear of choice. You will want firm pears that are also ripe. You'll need to make some thin pear slices, so you want the pears to hold up enough to do that.
- Walnuts
- Red onions
- Crispy prosciutto - We like to make crispy prosciutto to top this salad, though it is optional.
- Pomegranate seeds
- Blue cheese
- Kosher salt & black pepper
- Dressing of choice - We like using our creamy balsamic dressing or honey lemon vinaigrette.
Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.
✨Substitutions & variations
Here are a few suggestions on additional flavors to try, or simple variations to this salad.
- Use any pear you prefer if you can't find bartlett pears. Comice pears, Asian pears, bosc pears, anjou pears, Tosca, and Concorde would all make excellent alternatives.
- Add in more greens. You could always add baby spinach, butter lettuce, and/or baby kale in addition to the arugula.
- Use different cheese. Crumbled goat cheese, feta cheese, and parmesan cheese would all make excellent alternatives to creamy blue cheese.
- Add more fruit. Green apples or your favorite variety would make a wonderful addition to this salad.
- Swap the walnuts. Almonds, pecans, or pistachios would all make great choices instead of walnuts.
🔪Prep work
- Prepare the creamy balsamic dressing up to 10 days in advance.
- Prepare the crispy prosciutto up to 3 days in advance if desired.
- Thinly slice the red onions and place them in cold water while you prep the other ingredients. This helps get rid of some of the pungent flavor.
- Cut the pears into thin slices.
- Measure out all remaining ingredients.
📋Instructions
Add walnuts to a skillet over medium heat. Toast, moving around constantly for 2-3 minutes until the walnuts are golden brown and give off a nutty aroma, then immediately remove from the skillet. (Image 1)
Add the arugula to a large platter, bowl, or plate. Season with salt and pepper. (Image 2)
Layer on the walnuts and blue cheese. (Image 3)
Remove the red onion from the water (Image 4), then add it to the salad, along with the pomegranates. (Image 5)
Layer on the crispy prosciutto, (Image 6), and finally, add the pears. (Image 7)
Drizzle with dressing, and enjoy!
✨Tips & tricks
- Layer the ingredients. This ensures that there's a bite of everything in each bite.
- Don't dress the salad until right before serving. Dressing the salad in advance will make the spinach wilt.
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💭Frequently Asked Questions
This drink is best enjoyed right away, and we don't recommend making it in advance. However, if you need to save it, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Do not freeze.
You can make the salad up to 1 day in advance, wrap it in plastic wrap, and store it in the fridge. Right before it's time to eat, add the dressing.
More Recipes To Consider
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📖 Recipe
Arugula Pear Salad
Ingredients
- ½ cup walnuts
- 5 ounces baby arugula
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces crispy prosciutto (One batch of our recipe. Uncooked prosciutto can also be used.)
- ½ cup pomegranate arils (About ¼ of a large pomegranate)
- ¼ medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 medium pears, thinly sliced
- 4 ounces blue cheese
- creamy balsamic dressing to serve (or any dressing of choice)
Instructions
- Place the thinly sliced red onions in a small bowl of cold water to cut down on some of the pungent flavors while you prep the other ingredients. In a skillet over medium heat, add walnuts. Move constantly for 2-3 minutes, until the walnuts are golden brown, then immediately remove from the heat and set aside.
- Arrange arugula on a platter or plate. Season with salt and pepper.
- Layer on pomegranate arils, blue cheese crumbles, pear slices, red onion, toasted walnuts, and crispy prosciutto. Drizzle on the creamy balsamic dressing. Serve and enjoy!
- Store leftover salad separately from the dressing in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
- The crispy prosciutto can be prepared 3 days or so in advance and stored in the fridge.
- You can make the balsamic dressing up to 10 days in advance, or use any other dressing you prefer.
- Walnuts can be substituted for any other type of nut.
- If you don't prefer blue cheese, try parmesan cheese, creamy goat cheese, or feta cheese instead.
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