Christmas Salad
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By Alyssa Rivers
on Dec 03, 2023 |
Serve this bright, festive Christmas salad with your holiday menu! It’s a beautiful wintery salad full of mixed greens, orange slices, juicy pomegranates, red onion, candied pecans, and crumbled feta cheese. All tossed together in an orange vinaigrette.
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Beautiful: This Christmas salad is so beautiful. It’s perfect for a girl’s brunch, holiday party, or any weeknight dinner.
- Refreshing Flavor: Christmas salad is so bright and refreshing. The juicy pomegranates and citrusy mandarins are tossed in an amazing orange dressing.
- Easy to Make: This salad only takes 10 minutes to whip up. It will give you plenty of time to make Beef Wellington, 1-hour rolls, and my Grinch cookies for dessert.
Christmas Salad Ingredients
Full of fresh and festive ingredients, this Christmas salad is everything your holiday menu needs. You are going to love the flavors and textures in every bite! And the orange dressing takes this salad over the top!
Salad
- Mixed Greens: Spinach, arugula, or a spring mix. I love mixing greens because of the different textures.
- Red onion: The flavor of onion is always a perfect salad ingredient.
- Pomegranate Seeds: Juicy seeds burst in every bite. Buy a container of pomegranate arils in the produce section to make it easy!
- Feta Cheese: Crumbled feta is my favorite, but try blue cheese or goat cheese.
- Candied Pecans: Sweet candied pecans add great texture and crunch to the Christmas salad. Candied walnuts or almonds would also be delicious!
Orange Vinaigrette
- Orange Zest: Adds a pop of orange flavor to the vinaigrette! Orange is a classic winter flavor that is perfect for the holidays.
- Orange Juice: Fresh squeezed is best, but store-bought juice is easy to use.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: The acidity balances the citrus flavors.
- Honey: Gives the dressing a sweet flavor that balances the acidity.
- Dijon Mustard: Adds creamy, savory flavor to the dressing.
- Poppyseeds: Add a fun texture and hint of flavor.
- Kosher Salt: Season to taste to help balance out all of the flavors.
- Olive Oil: The base of the vinaigrette.
Christmas Salad Recipe
Assembling this beautiful Christmas salad is easy, and it comes together quickly. Once you layer the ingredients in a bowl, all you have left is to make the dressing. Make the dressing ahead of time, and it’s easy to serve when you’re ready!
- Combine: Place the mixed greens, red onion slices, orange segments, pomegranate seeds, feta cheese, and candied pecans in a large bowl.
- Whisk: Blend or whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until smooth.
- Toss: Drizzle the dressing over the salad before serving and gently toss.
- Serve and Enjoy: Serve immediately and enjoy!
Variations
This Christmas salad is simple to make and also easy to switch up the flavors. This salad recipe will forever be on my holiday menu because it’s so beautiful and festive. I know you’ll love it too! Here are some variations to try.
- Add Protein: Add some protein to make it hearty. Crumbled bacon, hard boiled eggs, or grilled chicken breast would be delicious!
- Switch Up the Fruit: Add berries, pears, or apples to this salad. I love to stick with seasonal fruits.
- Dried Fruit: Dried fruit would be a lovely addition. Dried cranberries or dried blueberries would be my first choice!
- Nuts: The nuts don’t have to be candied, but I love the hint of sweet it adds.
- Dressing: Even though the orange vinaigrette is perfect on this salad, it’s fun to experiment with other dressing flavors! I would recommend this balsamic or my apple cider vinaigrette.
Storing Leftover Salad
- Make Ahead: If you plan on making this salad ahead of time, I recommend storing the salad and dressing in a separate containers. so the greens don’t wilt. I like to have all the salad ingredients ready to go and assemble them right before serving.
- In the Refrigerator: Enjoy fresh Christmas salad or put it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 days. The orange dressing can be kept on its own in the fridge for up to a week.
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Place the mixed greens, red onion slices, mandarin oranges, pomegranate seeds, feta cheese, and candied pecans in a large bowl.
Blend or whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until smooth.
Just before serving, drizzle the dressing over the salad then gently toss.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
Calories: 188kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 3gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 157mgPotassium: 144mgFiber: 1gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 437IUVitamin C: 22mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.