This delicious Christmas Salad brings spring greens together with sliced almonds, feta cheese, mandarin oranges, and pomegranate arils, all drizzled with a tangy Honey Mustard Champagne Vinaigrette. The flavors of the fresh citrus, salad greens, and pomegranate meld so well together, making it the perfect side dish. I love to serve it with Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Steak Diane.
Christmas is coming! As a matter of fact, 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, kale salad, roasted beets salad, broccoli salad, and strawberry spinach salad.
How do you make Christmas salad?
Start by mixing the Honey Mustard Champagne Vinaigrette. Whisk together 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 green, sliced almonds, feta cheese, mandarin oranges, and pomegranate arils. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Making this Christmas salad is really just that easy and so darn delicious and beautiful.
Where can you find pomegranate arils?
Pomegranate arils are really 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. I have picked them up at Costco on many occasions over the years.
However, do not fret if the removed arils are not available. Just pick up a pomegranate from your local store. When ready to use, roll it on the counter like you would knead a hunk of dough. This will loosen the seeds. Now cut it in half and squeeze the fruit over the bowl while smacking the skin side of the fruit somewhat hard with a wooden spoon. The pomegranate seeds will drop into the bowl, and you can use a slotted spoon to remove them from the juice.
Helpful tips for making this Christmas Salad
- Other nuts to use include pecans, pistachios, pine nuts, or walnuts.
- The Honey Mustard Champagne Vinaigrette can be made up to two days in advance; however, remove it from the refrigerator about 45 minutes before serving to warm to remove temperature and whisk or shake well.
- For optimal taste, I encourage you to use fresh, seedless mandarin oranges, but in a pinch, you could use canned ones.
- If pomegranates are out of season, blueberries or dried cranberries are a great substitute.
- Try adding pear or apple slices.
- Feta cheese substitutes include Parmesan cheese, goat cheese, and blue cheese.
- This salad is equally delicious with a honey poppy seed dressing.
Other salad recipes you will love!
Christmas Salad
A super easy Christmas Salad that is as fun and festive as it is delicious. Drizzle with a delectable Honey Mustard Champagne Vinaigrette.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: salad
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Christmas Salad
- 12 ounces fresh spring greens
- 2/3 cup sliced almonds
- 2/3 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
- Other nuts to use include pecans, pistachios, or walnuts.
- The Honey Mustard Champagne Vinaigrette can be made up to two days in advance; however, remove it from the refrigerator about 45 minutes before serving to warm to remove temperature and whisk or shake well.
- For optimal taste, I encourage you to use fresh seedless mandarin oranges, but in a pinch, you could use canned ones.
- If pomegranates are out of season, blueberries or dried cranberries are a great substitute.
- Try adding pear or apple slices.
- Feta cheese substitutes include Parmesan cheese, goat cheese, and blue cheese.
- This salad is equally delicious with a honey poppy seed dressing.
Keywords: Christmas salad recipes, Christmas salad ideas, salads for Christmas dinner, Christmas green salad, how to make Christmas salad
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Nicki!
This salad looks so good and tempting! I will love to try this. My family will love it for sure.
Jupiter
This salad looks so delicious – lots of fun colors! Thank you for sharing.
Tammy
What a gorgeous winter salad! This looks so colorful and delicious…I cannot wait to make this for the holidays 😀
Sue-Tanya
This Christmas Salad is an absolute delight! The combination of spring greens, sliced almonds, feta cheese, mandarin oranges, and pomegranate arils creates a burst of flavors, especially when drizzled with the tangy Honey Mustard Champagne Vinaigrette. It’s a perfect side dish that pairs well with various main courses. A must-try for the holiday season!
★★★★★
Karen
omg this salad is soooo delicious!!! And it is so colorful, just like Christmas is…perfect in every way.
Rhian
Such a delicious salad! The flavors played so well together especially with the honey mustard vinaigrette. I am going to make this again for our Christmas Eve dinner.
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Rhian! I am so glad that you liked it.
Marie
This was so yummy that I am adding this Christmas salad recipe to my menu for Christmas. I really love this salad, very healthy and yummy! Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine, Marie!
Yeah Lifestyle
It looks festive, it smells festive and it tastes festive, This is such a lovely salad recipe!
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
Thank you! We love it too!
Lisa
This salad is delicious! Perfect for Christmas or any holiday or party celebration this time of year. Thanks for the recipe.
Stephanie
This salad consists of great textures and tastes – everything works together wonderfully. Yes – it’s a great salad for Christmas or anytime!
★★★★★
Jennifer L Prince
This looks so healthy, tasty, festive, and colorful. What a treat to have around the holidays. Yum!
Ned
Delicious and beautiful salad. I am going to make it again probably for Thanksgiving and try to balance out that very heavy meal. Thanks for the recipe.
Melanie
I do love that this salad is so different. The flavors really play well together especially with the honey mustard viniagrette. Thanks for the recipe, Beth
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Melanie! So glad that you liked it.
Moni
Thanks for the Christmas salad idea! Gave it a try and it turned out great. Simple, tasty, and perfect for someone like me who isn’t much into cooking. It was a hit at our family gathering.
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Moni! So glad that you liked it!
Olga
This is such a colorful and tasty salad. The honey mustard dressing is the perfect accompaniment. I will make this multiple times over the winter months. It has fantastic flavor.
★★★★★
Richard Low
Love the look of this salad. I don’t like pomegranates, so I wonder if they can be replaced with some other kind of berry?
Beth Pierce
Yes, they can. Used dried cranberries.
Dana
This Christmas salad was amazing. The flavors all blended together perfectly. I had to use dried cranberries because pomegranites are not available yet here. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine, Dana!
Stephanie
What a perfect salad for the winter months! It’s nice to be able to have the tastes of winter while still being able to eat lightly.
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
I agree, Stephanie!
Heather
This salad is so fresh and delicious. Perfect for the holidays. Everyone loved it.
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
Thank you, Heather!
Brianne
This is such a beautiful, festive salad. I love the flavors, and I just love the look of it, too. It really is a bowlful of Christmas.
★★★★★
Ed
I believe this salad will be very good for us, for a change on Christmas! Not that what we have is awful but it’s the season for trying out new traditions!
Frank
This looks yummy, it might be early for Christmas but it is never too early for eating something like this. Thank you for sharing!
Sonia
Great salad recipe for anytime of the year. We loved it. I used dried cranberries since pomegranites are really not available yet.
Moni
This Christmas salad idea is fantastic! The post is brief yet exciting, capturing the holiday spirit in a bowl. The mix of ingredients sounds delicious and festive. Can’t wait to try it out and add some Christmas cheer to the table. 🎄🥗
★★★★★
Angelica Sereda
This will be added to our Christmas menu. Looks so flavorful.
★★★★★
Kimberley
Hi, I loved your blog post about the best Christmas salad recipe. It looks so fresh and festive. I’m always looking for new ways to make salads more exciting and delicious. Your honey mustard champagne vinaigrette sounds amazing. I can’t wait to try it.
★★★★★
Ellanor
I’m so looking forward to making this Christmas salad recipe this year. I already know the flavor combos will be scrumptious.
★★★★★
Richard
We love this salad. It is a hit anytime of the year.
Debbie
This is the first time I’ve heard of delicious Christmas Salad – but it sounds amazing. I love sliced almonds, feta cheese, and mandarin oranges, and it sounds fabulous all drizzled with a tangy Honey Mustard Champagne Vinaigrette. I can’t wait to make it!
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Debbie! Enjoy!
Vanessa
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?
Beth Pierce
The Honey Mustard Champagne Vinaigrette can be made up to two days in advance; however, remove it from the refrigerator about 45 minutes before serving to warm to remove temperature and whisk or shake well. You can prep all the salad ingredients about 24 hours in advance and keep the ingredients in separate containers and refrigerated. When ready to serve, add everything to a serving bowl. drizzle with the dressing and toss to coat.
Suzanne
This looks so good! Do you use this dressing in any other recipes?
Beth Pierce
Yes, sometimes on my spring green salad!
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.
Heather Rinaldi
Looking to make rugs for Christmas Eve; can you suggest a honey poppyseed recipe that you mention as an alternative? TIA
Beth Pierce
Here is my poppy seed dressing. If you like sub 3-4 tablespoons honey for the sugar. Merry Christmas.
Erika
I’ve made this so many times! The only thing I do differently is to use almonds without toasting. I just grab them straight out of the bag! I’ve also added blackberries, and swaped Cara Cara oranges for Mandarin. Every time it’s SO delicious! Love this salad!
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Erika! I am so glad that you like the salad. Yum on the blueberries.
Raegan
Hi! I’m excited to try this! Do you think I could sub in Clementine slices for orange slices? I have a lot of those right now!
Thank you!
Beth Pierce
Yes that would fine.
Mary
What cheese could I sub for feta? It looks beautiful & will make for Christmas, thank you.
Beth Pierce
Try a Mexican crumble cheese called cotija.
Erica
I am looking forward to making and eating this salad. I know I could just leave it out, but could you please suggest a substitute for the feta cheese? Thank you!
Beth Pierce
You could try a crumbly Mexican cheese called Cotija
Lucille
What can I use in place of pomegranates ?
Beth Pierce
Dried cranberries
Kristina
Literally. The best salad I have ever had. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
My pleasure Kristina! So glad that you enjoyed it.
Allyson Gallagher
Made dressing ahead of time…used rice wine vinvgar. Added baby spinach & kiwi.
Made this for Christmas dinner.
Everyone loved it!
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Allyson! So glad that everyone liked it! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Rebecca
This salad looks amazing!
I don’t have champagne vinegar though. Any ideas on what I could replace it with? Thanks!
Beth Pierce
Sorry I missed this. You could use red wine vinegar or even apple cider vinegar.
Brooke
How long is the dressing good for in the fridge? Thanks!
Beth Pierce
2 days
Melissa
Beautiful and delicious! Great for the for the holidays!
★★★★★
Heather Lynn Sharpe
Thank you for the lovely recipe! Looking forward to trying it this Christmas Eve. My father-in-law is allergic to apples and pears and I’m always on the hunt for recipes that don’t include them since EVERYONE seems to put them in there somehow, haha.
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Heather! Enjoy!
Toni
This is such a fun and festive salad! Such a great addition to our holiday menu!
★★★★★
LAUREN KELLY
Beautiful, delicious and healthy! Great recipe!
★★★★★
Emily Flint
I don’t think I can wait until Christmas for this one, that dressing sounds light and delicious!!
★★★★★
Laura
I love the pomegranates in this recipe. It’s so pretty and they add a great pop of flavor.
★★★★★
Shashi
Such a gorgeous and colorful salad – the perfect addition to the Christmas table!
★★★★★
Alisa Infanti
So yummy and pretty on the table.
★★★★★
Karen
I HIGHLY suggest to substitute MINCED SHALLOTS for the garlic & you will add such a nice flavor to the dressing & thus the salad. And sprinkle your greens with a bit of salt & pepper & mix well before adding rest of ingredients & the dressing (I learned that little secret from Bobby Flay!) Try this salad with thinly sliced Comice pears & gorgonzola crumbles instead of mandarins & feta. SOOOO good!
Beth Pierce
Thanks for all the great tips!
Melissa
Beautiful and delicious! Thanks for a great recipe!
★★★★★
Erin
We love all the flavors and textures of this recipe. It’s good year-round!
★★★★★
wilhelmina
Love this salad! The mustard dressing is out of this world!
★★★★★
Jo Allison
What a fantastic combination of flavours, textures and colours, it looks beautiful and really Christmassy indeed. Can’t wait to try it especially with this lovely vinaigrette!
★★★★★
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Jo! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Mayuri Patel
This salad is so beautiful, colorful and festive. perfect for Christmas or even as a light meal. Would love to try it with the honey poppy seed dressing.
★★★★★
Adrianne
Christmas is indeed coming so soon! What a perfect addition to the table. I love the colours and the festive appearance. Can’t wait to try it! Cheers
★★★★★
Jamie
A delicious salad to bring for the holidays! I love the flavors in the salad dressing. Delicious!
★★★★★
Shanika
This Salad really does look colorful and festive! I’m loving the addition of tangerines and pomegranate seeds! Delish!
★★★★★
Taylor
Love the addition of the fresh pomegranates and that honey mustard vinaigrette is to die for!
★★★★
Cathy
Such a gorgeous salad and the flavors are amazing!
Erin
This Christmas Salad couldn’t look any more perfect!
★★★★★
Dorothy Reinhold
First of all I want that honey mustard vinaigrette on everything!! I love how fresh and colorful this salad looks!
annie
This sounds amazing, I’m adding it to our menu for Christmas Eve!
Jessica
I really can’t believe that Christmas is just a few weeks away! This salad looks divine!