Recipe for Winter Salad (Festive, Easy, 15 Minutes)
“I made this for Christmas dinner and it was gone and given rave reviews. Thanks for the substitute ideas, they were very helpful.” Katherine
This recipe for winter salad brings color, crunch, and contrast – sweet pear and pomegranate, toasted nuts, and creamy ricotta with greens, dressed in a bright maple-orange vinaigrette. Serve as a side, arranged as a wreath or spooned into lettuce cups for party bites.
What to expect
Fast and festive: The salad can, of course, be served at any time of year, but with the beautiful colors, crunch, and only 15 minutes (or 5 minutes with shortcuts!), it’s the perfect Christmas salad recipe during the holiday season.
Great flavor/texture balance: Sweet (pear/maple) + tang (orange/apple cider vinegar) + creamy (ricotta) + crunch (nuts/pomegranates) – over a bed of crispy greens. Or check out some great variations.
Plating/serving options: Make a classic side, a wreath or lettuce cups.
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
- Green lettuce: I typically use romaine lettuce as the base, but there are lots of options here.
- Pomegranates: Whole pomegranates can be found in grocery stores from Oct-Jan (mostly Nov/Dec) and sometimes later with imports. Choose ones that are heavy for their size. The seeds/arils can be found at the same time. Costco carries them as well.
- Vinaigrette dressing – orange, maple syrup, Dijon, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil. It’s a balance of sweet and tang, more on the sweet side I’d say – adjust to your liking.
- Add-ins: toasted pecans, ricotta, and pear.
Substitutions
- Lettuce:
- Crisp greens: ‘little gem lettuce’ (a cross between romaine and butter/Boston), romaine lettuce or iceberg lettuce.
- Soft lettuce greens: Boston/Bibb lettuce, peppery arugula, frisée or other leafy greens
- Deep greens: kale salad, baby spinach
- Other greens: shredded brussels sprouts, cabbage, snap peas or avocado.
- Pomegranate: If you can’t find one, try slivers of roasted beets, chopped red peppers, red onion or dried cranberries for the contrasts.
- Nuts and seeds: Any toasted chopped nuts are fine – pecans, macadamia, walnuts, almonds, pistachios. Or try candied nuts, sesame seeds or sunflower seeds from your local bulk food store.
- Cheese: I like mild creamy ricotta- it pops with the vinaigrette. Other good choices are blue cheese, feta cheese and goat cheese.
- Vegetables/Fruits: Add or substitute with mandarin oranges or other citrus fruit, roasted butternut squash cubes, chopped apple, jicama or chopped water chestnuts.
Variations
Here is some more inspiration to make it your own. Most sites use feta or goat cheese for the tang. I like ricotta as it’s a blank slate for the sweet-tangy dressing that makes it pop.
- Maple-balsamic dressing – with goat or feta cheese and arugula/radicchio.
- Honey-lemon dressing (or champagne vinaigrette) – with pear, apple, beets, hazelnuts and Bibb lettuce mixed with baby spinach.
- Walnut dressing – with pear, goat cheese, roasted squash cubes and arugula.
Step-by-step instructions
Pairings and Creative Serving Suggestions
Pair with one of these mains: prime rib roast, vegetable strudel with puff pastry, rack of pork, or sous vide turkey breast.
Try a fun serving alternative:
- Appetizer for holiday parties with little Gem lettuce leaves as lettuce cups. Fill them with nuts, ricotta, pomegranate seeds and julienned pear, then drizzle on some citrus vinaigrette. Winter salad cups – delish! This takes more prep time. Or ask your guests to make their own.
- Festive wreath: Design the salad in the shape of a wreath on a circular platter. Serve the dressing in a small bowl in the center of the wreath.
Shortcuts
If you use all the following shortcuts, this winter salad recipe will take about 5 minutes to prepare! I’m always happy to use shortcuts with good quality, simple ingredients.
- Buy pomegranate seeds (already extracted).
- Get pre-washed romaine lettuce or other tender greens
- Buy pre-roasted nuts. Crush them with the back of a small pan.
- Use a good store-bought vinaigrette and add a dash of pure maple syrup or honey and some orange zest if you like.
Recipe FAQs
Pomegranates have white seeds covered in a sweet-tart, bright red nectar called arils. They burst with flavor and make a gorgeous garnish for the best winter salad recipes. And they are highly nutritious. The darker and deeper the color, the sweeter the seeds.
Extracting the seeds is a bit messy, but it’s fairly simple. There are a couple of ways to do it. Cut the pomegranate in half. Taking the first half, hold the pomegranate seed side down over a bowl. Smack the outside with a wooden spoon (hard!) to release the seeds. Repeat with the other half. Here’s a Jamie Oliver video for how to extract pomegranate seeds. Alternatively, try this other option from Cooks Illustrated where you release the seeds into cold water.
Toss with 1-2 teaspoons orange juice or lemon. Pat dry before adding to the salad.
Toast the nuts, extract the pomegranate seeds, make the dressing and prepare the greens – all ahead of time. Keep components separate and assemble last minute.
More holiday salad recipes
- fig and pomegranate salad
- chopped salad (with holiday-inspired themes)
- citrus salad
- broccoli apple salad
- beet and orange salad
- kale salad with hazelnuts and charred onions
And check out our Christmas holiday recipes or our full collection of holiday recipes.
Please leave a 5 star rating ***** with a comment in the recipe card below if you like the recipe, Thanks so much!
Recipe for Winter Salad (Festive, 15 Min)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces romaine lettuce or other greens, Note 1, washed and dried well.
- 1 cup Pomegranate seeds, Note 2 to extract seeds. Note 3 to store. (1 pomegranate)
- 1 pear, julienned (cut into thin strips)
- 1/3 cup roasted nuts Note 4
- 1/4 cup ricotta cheese, Optional (or use goat cheese or feta instead)
Vinaigrette Dressing ingredients, Note 5
- 1/2 orange, juice and zest (2 tbsp juice, 1 tsp zest)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste)
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- ROAST NUTS. Note 4
- MAKE VINAIGRETTE DRESSING: Combine all ingredients in a jar or sealed container. Shake well until smooth and emulsified. Alternatively, whisk all ingredients together except oil. Slowly add a stream of oil while whisking until smooth.
- ASSEMBLE WINTER SALAD: Cut or rip greens into small pieces and add them to a large bowl. Drizzle on dressing – you won't need it all. Scatter nuts, pears and pomegranate seeds evenly over lettuce. Add small clumps of ricotta if desired (e.g. 1 teaspoon in size). Serve immediately. If forming into a wreath on a platter, you can serve the dressing in a small bowl in the center of the wreath.
Recipe Notes
- Greens substitutes: Feel free to mix it up with lots of green contrasts.
- Crisp greens: ‘little gem lettuce’ (a small sweet romaine-type lettuce), romaine lettuce or iceberg lettuce.
- Soft lettuce greens: Boston/Bibb lettuce, arugula, frisée or other leafy greens
- Deep greens: baby kale (finely chopped) or baby spinach
- Hearty add-ins: shredded brussels sprouts, cabbage, snap peas or creamy avocado.
- How to extract pomegranate seeds from pomegranate: Roll pomegranate on counter to loosen seeds. Cut pomegranate in half. Taking the first half, hold pomegranate seed side down over a bowl. Smack the outside with a wooden spoon (hard!) to release the seeds. Repeat with the other half. Here’s a video on extracting seeds. Alternatively, try this other option from Cooks Illustrated. You will get about 1 to 1 1/4 cups or a bit more from 1 Pomegranate.
- To store or freeze pomegranate seeds: Seeds can be extracted 4-5 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container or zippered bag. They can also be frozen by laying them on a parchment lined pan, freezing them for an hour, then transferring them to a sealed container or bag.
- Nut options and how to toast them: Use pecans, macadamia, walnuts, almonds or pistachios. Heat oven or toaster oven to 375F/190C. Lay nuts on pan in a single layer and roast for about 5-6 minutes until fragrant. Cool.
- Dressing variations
- Add finely chopped green onion, tarragon, chives, garlic.
- Replace orange zest with lemon zest or lime juice.
- Alternative dressings: maple-balsamic, honey-lemon, walnut dressing, honey-mustard, poppy-seed, pomegranate vinaigrette and champagne vinaigrette
- Shortcuts: To cut the time, try one or more of these shortcuts: buy pomegranate seeds (they sell them at Costco); buy pre-washed greens; buy pre-roasted nuts; use a store-bought vinaigrette and add a dash of pure maple syrup or honey and some orange zest if you like.
- Other variations and substitutes:
- Pomegranate: Substitute slivers of roasted beets, chopped red pepper, red onion or dried cranberries.
- Cheese: Instead of ricotta, try feta or goat cheese. Or leave out the cheese for a vegan salad.
- Vegetables/Fruits options: mandarin oranges or other citrus fruit, roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash cubes, chopped apple, jicama or chopped water chestnuts.
- Make Ahead: The dressing can be made several days ahead. You can also roast the nuts ahead and store them in a sealed container when cooled to keep fresh. And, extract the pomegranate seeds up to 4 days ahead. Cut the pears and assemble the salad just before serving. Toss in 1-2 tsps lemon or orange juice to prevent browning.
I made this for Christmas dinner and it was gone and given rave reviews. Thanks for the substitute ideas, they were very helpful.
We try hard to be helpful! Glad the salad was a hit 🙂
What are you thoughts on substituting the apple cider vinegar and using red wine vinegar instead? Have you tried this?
Hi Megan. I haven’t tried that, but I think the red wine vinegar should be fine. Maybe use a bit less – at least to start – as it is a bit stronger and more robust than apple cider vinegar. I hope that helps.