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.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
See the complete list of ingredients on the recipe card below.
- 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.
- Whisk the minced garlic, champagne vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuously.
- Add your spring greens, sliced almonds, feta cheese, mandarin oranges, and pomegranate arils to a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.
Make It Ahead
You can make the honey mustard champagne vinaigrette up to 2 days in advance; however, remove it from the refrigerator about 45 minutes before serving to warm to room temperature, then 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 For The Best Christmas Salad
- 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 surrounding a white seed in the center. 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-poppyseed 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.
Nutrition
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https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf
Kim
What other vinegar would you recommend if I cannot find champagne vinegar? Thank you!
Beth Pierce
How about white wine vinegar?
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.