Favorite Pear Salad – Two Peas & Their Pod

Pear Salad with candied walnuts, pomegranate, red onion, crumbled blue cheese, and a simple roasted pear vinaigrette. This festive pear salad is perfect for the holidays!

Holiday Pear Salad

I love making fun and delicious salads, especially during the holiday months. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and every holiday gathering in between requires a GOOD salad. If I am entertaining or asked to bring a dish to share, this Pear Salad is my go to. Everyone loves it and it is so festive, a must for the holiday season!

If you are looking for an amazing holiday salad, make this pear salad with roasted pear vinaigrette. It is always a hit!

Pear Salad Ingredients

• Greens-I like to use red leaf lettuce for this salad because I love the touch of red. It is so pretty with the pears and pomegranate. Feel free to use your favorite greens, any will do!
• Pears-I use Anjou pears or Bartlett pears. The red Anjou pears are especially pretty! Just make sure you use RIPE pears. Pears should yield slightly to pressure when gently pressed near the stem when they’re ripe and ready to eat.
• Candied Walnuts-You will love the sweet and sugary crunch! A MUST for this salad!
• Red Onion-Thinly sliced red onion adds great flavor!
• Pomegranate-Add in pomegranate arils for a pop of color and a burst of juiciness. Dried cranberries also work well in this salad.
• Cheese-I like to use crumbled blue cheese or gorgonzola cheese. Both pair well with pears. You can also use crumbled feta or goat cheese.
• Roasted Pear Vinaigrette-This dressing is AMAZING and I promise it’s easy to make!

How to Make Roasted Pear Vinaigrette

I am obsessed with this roasted pear vinaigrette! It may sound fancy, but it is SO easy to make and really takes the salad to a whole new level. Roasting the pear brings out amazing flavor and makes the dressing super creamy and delicious!

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and place the pear halves on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil and roast for 10 to 15 minutes or until the pear is soft and juicy. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.
• To make the vinaigrette, place the roasted pear, olive oil, lemon juice, champagne or white wine vinegar, garlic, shallot, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender. Blend until smooth.
• The roasted pear vinaigrette can be made in advance. It will keep in the refrigerator in a sealed jar or container for up to 3 days.

Candied Walnuts

The candied walnuts are SO good in this salad. Please don’t skip them. They are easy to make, you can use my homemade candied walnut recipe. I make them in a skillet on the stove top so they only take a few minutes. You can make them in advance and you might even want to make two batches because they are addicting and always good to have on hand.

If you don’t like walnuts, you can use candied pecans for this salad. They are good too!

How to Assemble Pear Salad

I love this salad because you can prep a lot of it in advance. If you make the pear vinaigrette and candied walnuts ahead of time, and have your greens washed and ready to go, assembling the salad is EASY! Your friends and family will be impressed with your salad making skills.

To assemble the pear salad:

• Place the lettuce in a large bowl.
• Top with the sliced pears, candied walnuts, crumbled blue cheese, red onion, and pomegranate arils.
• Drizzle with roasted pear vinaigrette and toss. Serve immediately.
• After the salad is assembled, it is best the day it is made, but remember, you can prep a lot in advance!

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Photos by Dishing Out Health