Christmas Salad

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

Four Bean Salad

Nicoise Salad

Chef Salad

German Cucumber Salad

Antipasto Salad

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

Christmas Salad Recipe

A super easy Christmas Salad that is as fun and festive as it is delicious. Drizzle with a delectable Honey Mustard Champagne Vinaigrette.

4.99 from 65 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 313kcal

Author: Beth Pierce

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

Calories: 313kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.002g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 473mg | Potassium: 806mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 3858IU | Vitamin C: 69mg | Calcium: 222mg | Iron: 2mg

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