Are you looking for a healthier option for your holiday meal? Try out this easy and delicious Christmas salad recipe! Packed with nutritious ingredients and bursting with festive flavors, it’s the perfect addition to any holiday spread.
The flavors of the fresh citrus, salad greens, and pomegranate meld so well together, especially with a honey mustard vinaigrette, making it the perfect side dish. I love to serve it with roasted rosemary potatoes and New York Strip Steak.
Christmas is coming! It is right around the corner. Are you ready to go? Do you have your holiday menu planned? This gorgeous Christmas salad comes together quickly and is always a hit.
It pairs wonderfully with roasted chicken, prime rib, pork tenderloin, lobster, or shrimp. Other gorgeous salads to inspire your holiday meal are ambrosia salad, brussels sprouts salad, and broccoli salad.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
See the complete list of ingredients below on the recipe card.
- Spring greens: or mixed greens like arugula, baby spinach, baby greens
- Nuts: almonds, pecans, pistachios, pine nuts, and walnuts.
- Cheese: I like feta because it works well in this salad, but you can substitute Parmesan, goat, or blue cheese.
- Oranges: Preferably seedless mandarins. They are easy to peel, full of flavor, and bite-sized.
- Pomegranate seeds: also known as pomegranate arils. If you can not find them, try dried cranberries or blueberries.
How to Make Christmas Salad
This is the summary version; see the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and the instructions.
Start by mixing the vinaigrette. Whisk the minced garlic, champagne vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. If you prefer, you can shake everything together in a mason jar. Now, slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuously.
Next, grab a big, beautiful bowl and add your spring greens, sliced almonds, feta cheese, mandarin oranges, and pomegranate arils. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Making this Christmas salad is just that easy, and it’s so darn delicious and beautiful.
Make It Ahead
You can make the honey mustard champagne vinaigrette up to two days in advance; however, remove it from the refrigerator about 45 minutes before serving to warm to room temperature and whisk or shake well.
Prep the oranges and pomegranate arils up to 24 hours in advance and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Assemble the salad up to 1 hour before, but do not toss with the vinaigrette until ready to serve.
Preparation Tips
- I encourage you to use fresh, seedless mandarin oranges for optimal taste, but you could also use canned ones in a pinch.
- Pomegranate arils are just the red jewels found inside a pomegranate. They contain a sweet nectar that surrounds a white seed in the middle. Around late November through December, grocery stores will have pomegranates available, and some stores may even have the arils already removed and available for sale.
- This salad is equally delicious with a honey poppy seed dressing.
More Salad Recipes
Christmas Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
Christmas Salad
- 12 ounces fresh spring greens
- ⅔ cup sliced almonds
- ⅔ cup feta cheese
- 4 seedless mandarin oranges peeled and segmented
- 1 pomegranate seeded
Instructions
- Whisk together minced garlic, champagne vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly drizzle in olive oil, whisking continuously.
- Add spring green, sliced almonds, feta cheese, mandarin oranges, and pomegranate arils in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- I encourage you to use fresh, seedless mandarin oranges for optimal taste, but you could also use canned ones in a pinch.
- Pomegranate arils are just the red jewels found inside a pomegranate. They contain a sweet nectar that surrounds a white seed in the middle. Around late November through December, grocery stores will have pomegranates available, and some stores may even have the arils already removed and available for sale.
- Feta cheese substitutes include Parmesan cheese, goat cheese, and blue cheese.
- This salad is equally delicious with a honey poppy seed dressing.
Nutrition
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https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf
Karlie
This salad was a hit at my family Christmas! Very easy to make and already had most of the ingredients. So beautiful and tastes amazing!!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Karlie! So glad that you liked it! Happy New Year!
Joy oda morlang
What can I use instead of champagne vinegar we don’t have that here
Beth Pierce
White wine vinegar
Kelly
Oh, this looks like a wonderful salad to make around Xmas time. This would be ideal to take over on boxing day for a big family get together.
Ebony
I made this recipe for dinner yesterday and it was a HIT! We especially enjoyed the Honey Mustard Champagne Vinaigrette! I wouldn’t change a thing on this recipe. Keeper for sure!
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much, Ebony! I am so glad that you liked it!
Anna Young
Agree, the vinaigrette was delicious, a keeper, thanks for recipe Beth!
Beth Pierce
My pleasure, Anna!
Vanessa Palma
I can’t wait to try this salad! I noticed you said dried cranberries can also be subbed, and I have a ton of those left from Thanksgiving, so I will use those in mine.
Jasmine Martin
Such a great salad with so much flavor. It was delicious and gorgeous!
Leanne Wong
That is such a beautiful salad! I love the way you combined the colors and flavors to make something so deliciously festive.
Tammy
What a gorgeous salad! Salads can be so comforting honestly and I love all the add-ins…so, so satisfying!
Jupiter Hadley
This salad sounds so birght and vibrant, perfect for Christmas dinner which is so meat heavy. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Beth Pierce
My pleasure, Jupiter!
Yeah Lifestyle
This Christmas salad is delicious. It is so fresh and tasty and has a really lovely and refreshing crunch to it.
Anna Young
Looks delicious and so healthy. I plan to make it for Christmas dinner – are the almond slices toasted?
Beth Pierce
You can certainly toast them. That would add even more flavor.
Glass Mosaic Tiles
The salad is really Christmassy, I LOVE IT! The colors are perfect and it tastes amazing.
Talya Stone
I love the idea of a fresh Christmas salad especially. I will probably make this for our Xmas Eve buffet!
Amanda
I come back to this recipe time and time again. It’s always a hit. It’s like a grown-up honey mustard that never fails ❤️❤️ When I don’t have Pom, I substitute mango, grapes, craisins or skip altogether.
Beth Pierce
So glad that you like it Amanda and thanks for the great tips!
Linda Latta
Why not recommend crumbled chèvre (goat cheese) instead of feta. It makes sense. Baby spinach instead of mixed lettuce and strawberries instead of oranges. Just a thought.
Barbara Kreuzmann
This is one of the best salads I have ever eaten. I added a head of romaine lettuce to the package of Rhine mix that an organic farm in Cincinnati area sells and there was enough dressing to handle the added lettuce. I know my daughter and I will make it again.
Beth Pierce
Thanks Barbara! We had this salad last night for dinner. It is quite yummy. So glad that you and your daughters like it.