Arugula Pear Salad — 🥗🍐🧀Tender arugula greens, juicy and sweet pears, shaved Parmesan cheese, red onions, and crunchy walnuts work so well together in this EASY yet elevated salad recipe! Dressed in a light but very flavorful honey Dijon mustard vinaigrette, this salad is the PERFECT side salad for weeknight dinners, for holiday entertaining, or for a light and healthy stand-alone lunch option!
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Easy Arugula and Pear Salad Recipe
If you think salads are boring, you haven’t tried this one! It’s got so many layers of flavor and textures including arugula that’s peppery and strong in flavor, along with the sweetness of juicy, ripe pears that are the perfect complementary ingredient to the greens. The pear slices are like golden little bites for me!
For crunch I added walnuts (see the FAQs for some of my favorite homemade candied nut recipes and other options), thinly sliced red onions add dimension, and shaved Parmesan cheese is the perfect savory tie-in.
I made a whisk-together (or you can shake it together) honey Dijon mustard vinaigrette. It’s light yet rich in flavor, doesn’t weigh down the delicate greens, doesn’t drown out or dominate the lusciousness of the delicate pears, and it’s the perfect 30-second homemade vinaigrette.
Whether you’re serving this as a side salad for weeknight dinners with your immediate family, as a healthy (work) lunch, or you’re adding it to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner menu as a fresh and lighter option and great for those who are vegetarian and gluten-free, I promise this is a winner.
Ingredients in Pear Arugula Salad
Gather the following simple ingredients for this arugula salad with pears:
For the Salad:
- Arugula – see the FAQs below for other greens or lettuce options
- Pears – I used Anjou pears but if you want to use Bartlett pears, Bosc pear, or another more exotic type of pear (or another fruit), go for it
- Walnuts – see the FAQs for other nut options and/or omitting nuts if you need to
- Red onion – rinsing them takes some of the “bite” out but if you cannot stand raw onions, omit them
- Shaved Parmesan cheese – I love the saltiness and flavor of Parm here, but if you want to do a crumbled goat cheese, feta cheese, blue cheese, or no cheese at all, that’s fine
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
For the Honey Dijon Vinaigrette:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- White wine vinegar – you can also sub with champagne vinegar, rice vinegar, or apple cider vinegar which would be the strongest
- Honey – you can also use maple syrup
- Dijon mustard – do not sub with yellow mustard, they’re not the same! Possibly a whole grain mustard could work, but Grey Poupon is the gold standard for me
- Dried thyme – dried oregano may be substituted
- Salt
- Pepper
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make an Arugula and Pear Salad
It’s easy to assemble this perfect fall salad by simply placing all the ingredients on a serving platter!
- Salad: First place the greens, and then top with the sweet juicy pears, walnuts, red onion, and Parmesan. Make the vinaigrette and toss.
- Vinaigrette: You can either add all ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until they come together OR you can add the ingredients to small mason jar with a lid, seal, and shake it like you mean it!
Either way, make sure to taste the vinaigrette and make any necessary seasoning adjustments, to taste. I tend to like to add a bit more honey and always more salt. If it’s flat or boring in the least, it likely needs more salt so don’t be afraid to add it.
What to Serve with Arugula, Pear, and Parm salad
This salad is a slam dunk to put on your Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday menu. With pears at their peak season in the fall and through the winter, it’s an easy way to use a seasonal ingredient and create a fresh yet lighter option – which I find is sorely lacking when it comes to holiday sides!
But don’t just think holidays, this is a great little side salad to serve for weeknight dinners or for a light, healthy, and flavorful lunch.
Storage and Make Ahead Suggestions
In the Refrigerator: Like all salads, this one is best assembled and consumed right after assembly. If you have extra, undressed greens + other components, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 48-72 hours.
Make Ahead: If you want to whisk together or shake together the vinaigrette ahead of time (up to 24-48 hours in advance) and keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge, that’s fine. You can arrange the salad in a serving bowl about 2-3 hours before you plan to serve it BUT you do risk the pears turning brown (a squirt of lemon juice can reduce it but then you’ve got sour on top of nice sweet pears) so I suggest not slicing the pears until right before serving.
Recipe FAQs
If you want to incorporate other types of greens and lettuces in addition to the peppery arugula such as fresh baby spinach, baby kale, a nice bag of ‘spring mix’, butter lettuce, Romaine, or your favorite greens, you can feel free to mix-and-match the greens. After all, salad ingredients are extremely flexible recipes and substitutions are fine.
I love honey mustard dressing of any kind, but especially this vinaigrette because it’s made with Dijon mustard (which has a little bit of wine in it) and so it has a more complex and richer flavor than yellow mustard. When mixed with the olive oil, white wine vinegar, and bit of dried thyme, it’s really an awesome vinaigrette that comes together in seconds.
Although if you want to use another vinaigrette such as a this maple balsamic vinaigrette or this honey apple cider vinaigrette or your favorite store bought option, feel free.
If there’s a nut allergy, you don’t like nuts, don’t have nuts, and want to omit them – or want to use an entirely different kind of nut, all of the above are perfectly fine to do.
I have a recipe for Homemade Candied Cinnamon Sugar Cashews and Sweet Heat Candied Pecans which are both amazing. If you have a Trader Joe’s in your area, any of their candied nuts (especially around the holidays) are amazing. Or use slivered almonds, chopped walnuts, or your fave nuts (or not, and omit). You can toast the nuts if you want to, or not.
If you want to serve this more as a stand-alone meal, or you just like to bump up your protein stats with every meal, you can easily add shredded rotisserie chicken, leftover baked chicken, grilled chicken, or your favorite protein. I can also see a nice piece of honey lemon salmon being amazing here.
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Arugula Pear Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Salad
- 4 cups lightly packed arugula leaves, or your favorite greens, see FAQs for ideas
- 2 Anjou pears, cored and thinly sliced (peeled if desired; or use your favorite type of pear)
- ½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped (lightly toasted if desired; or use your favorite type of nuts)
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced (rinse under cold water to remove some of the bite)
- ¼ cup shaved Parmesan, or more to taste
Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, champagne vinegar may be substituted
- 1 tablespoon honey, or to taste
- 1 rounded teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme , optional and to taste (dried oregano may be substituted)
Instructions
- Salad – To a large serving platter, scatter the arugula, and then top with all the remaining ingredients.
- Honey Dijon Vinaigrette – To a small jar with a lid, add all the ingredients, seal, and shake vigorously. Alternatively, add the ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. Taste the vinaigrette and make any necessary flavor adjustments. Flavor Tips – I generally add a bit more honey and more salt than called for above because if it tastes at all flat or boring, it likely will benefit from a bit more of each. Of course, season to your own taste preferences. Also, thyme has a distinct flavor, even in small quantities and to me "tastes like the holidays" so make sure that's the flavor note you're going for.
- Serve immediately. Storage – Salad is best when consumed right after assembly. Although extra vinaigrette will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5-7 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Husband who never eats salad, loved this one.A keeper for sure.
Well this is quite the compliment then for this salad if Mr. No Salads loved it and it’s a keeper! Thanks for the great comment and 5 star review!