Arugula Salad with Pears and Goat Cheese
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
A simple, tasty pear salad recipe, with arugula, red onion, walnuts and two cheeses —creamy goat and blue cheese. This is a perfect arugula salad for everyday or having friends over.
I’m always searching for simple but elevated salad recipes like this one, and this arugula salad fits that description to a “T”. Because I think a pear salad recipe should not only have crisp sweet pears in it, I went ahead and added two different kinds of cheese (blue and goat).
Also, there’s toasted walnuts and a smattering of thinly sliced red onion. This unbeatable combination of nuts, soft cheese and sweet fruit is a component of my favorite radicchio salad.
Arugula salad dressing
The mix of nutty arugula greens, walnuts, salty cheese and sweet pears needs a dressing that mimics those very flavors.
The dressing that ties this whole beauty together is a light and tangy-sweet vinaigrette, blended with lemon, white wine vinegar (I choose rice vinegar because it has lower acidity) and a dash of honey.
Cheeses to use in the salad
Pears and cheese are a classic combination, and for good reason. Italians love a classic pairing of pears with cheese. Compared to other fruits like apples and peaches, pears have subtle acidity and a distinctive texture.
Those two qualities help the fruit balance beautifully with all kinds of cheese, especially young, soft goat cheese and creamy blue cheese.
- Choose a soft, unripened goat cheese (the kind that comes in a log) and a creamy, cow’s milk blue cheese. Sweet Gorgonzola or Danish-style blue are both good blue cheeses to use.
- Not a fan of goat OR blue cheese? A good Parmesan or sheep’s milk cheese like aged Pecorino would be delicious!
My salad pear recommendations
- Bartlett: This variety is an all-around good choice for salads, snacking and even desserts. Bartlett pears are tinged with yellow when ripe and ready to eat. These pears are juicy, sweet and have a good amount of acidity to balance the sugar.
- D’Anjou (or Anjou): This pear looks a bit like Bartlett, plump and green. It has a pleasantly crisp texture which makes it a perfect pear for salads and also roasting.
- Comice: My absolute favorite pear to eat raw with cheese, and also what I used for this salad. Comice pears are green, blushed beautifully with red spots. They have soft, creamy flesh and are exquisitely sweet and juicy when ripe.
- Bosc: This pear variety is hard to confuse with the others. Bosc pears have a bronze-amber colored skin, and an elegant, tall shape. I find their flavor on the spicy side, but they can have a less than juicy texture.
Arugula Salad with Pears, Goat Cheese and Walnuts
Equipment
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons chopped shallot, about 1
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, or white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Salad
- 5 ounces prewashed arugula greens
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 1 green or red pear, cored and sliced into 1/4" half-moons
- ⅓ cup toasted walnuts*
- 2 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled
- 2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup mixed microsprouts, optional
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
To make the dressing:
- Combine all ingredients in a blender or mini food processor until very smooth. Note: The dressing can be prepared up to 3 days in advance. Keep it refrigerated in a sealed container.
To make the salad
- Put the greens in a large bowl or on a platter. Top with the remaining ingredients.
- Drizzle with 2 or 3 tablespoons of the dressing and toss gently to coat. Serve the salad with additional dressing to taste on the side.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- Toss the salad just before serving so the greens don’t become soggy.
- If you’re not making the salad right away, sprinkle the slices with lemon juice to help stop them from browning. Brown pears will still taste fine, but they don’t look as pretty on your salad.
- To toast walnuts: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake 10-12 minutes, until the nuts are light golden brown.
- I like to blend this dressing in a mini food processor because it emulsifies into a creamy texture. If you don’t have one (or a blender) whisk the ingredients in a bowl, adding the oil last in a steady stream while you whisk. Or simply combine the ingredients in a lidded jar and shake vigorously.
- Choose pears that feels firm, but with a slight give at the top near the stem. This means the fruit is at a good stage of ripeness, not too soft (and overripe) or too hard.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
Leave a comment and star rating
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Can you roast the pears? That would stop them browning
I haven’t tried roasting the pears, but that would certainly work!
This salad is scrumptious, and I’ll definitely be making it again! I added dried cranberries, and the next time I plan to try dried cherries, but otherwise I followed it exactly as it is here.
So delicious! I left off the blue cheese because I’m not a fan of it but otherwise it was delicious. I used green pears that were a little too soft so next time would make sure that the pears weren’t quite that far along. I served it at a baby shower and got rave reviews! And it was the one thing that was eaten.
This is my favorite go-to salad. Super easy! I’ve added dried cherries if I have them. Thanks for sharing!
This salad was so good! I switched the pears for honey crisp apples, and the walnuts for pecans.
I have made this salad numerous times and I love to use it as a base salad and change it up some. It always gets great compliments and I really like arugula. I just had to tell you how much I use this recipe and really appreciate you sharing it 😁👍❤️
This is my favorite salad dressing EVER! This entire salad is so yummy, and I use this dressing on all kinds of other salads! Supreme!
I love to hear that!
Made this for a party and it was delicious! First time I’ve seen people go back for seconds on a salad!
Oh my goodness, this salad is fantastic. I could eat this often. I did not have walnuts so I used roasted pecans. The roasting of any nut is a must for this salad. Thank you for a great recipe.
Great salad dressing’s recipe. Loved everything about it
Fantastic recipe! The only addition I made was for some Christmas color which was pomegranate. Beautiful and so tasty!
This was fantastic! I added a little toss of dried cranberries to the salad, and a squeeze of stone ground mustard to the dressing. We licked the bowl!!
Perfect! I love the idea of cranberries in this salad.
How long advance can I make the salad dressing?
Great question! The dressing can be prepared up to 3 days in advance. Keep it refrigerated in a sealed container.
Looks great! Can I use champagne vinegar?
Hi – yes you can!
I loved this salad. Doesn’t matter what type of pear you use. Just an interesting combination of flavors.. made several times