Sweet pears on a bed of greens with a tangy citrus dressing is the perfect salad for fall. Serve this Autumn Pear Salad on your holiday table.
Every year I happily volunteer to bring the salad when we celebrate holidays with family. This super simple yet delicious Autumn Pear Salad with a Citrus Dressing is a winner on any dinner table.
What kind of salad should I make for the holiday dinner?
This is the perfect salad for any holiday – Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. This easy-to-make salad is perfect for a fall dinner or lunch when pears are ripe for the picking.
We eat a lot of pears in my house when they are in season.
My favorite varieties are Bartlett, Bosc and Anjou pears. I don’t discriminate between the green or red varieties.
They are sweet and mellow and are just as delicious raw as they are baked or roasted.
Another favorite pear recipe of mine is my Pear Tart with Goat Cheese, Rosemary & Honey. It’s a popular recipe on Pinterest that has been pinned thousands of times.
It makes a wonderful holiday dessert.
Be sure to leave those pears on the counter to ripen. A few days is all you need.
When you’re ready to make your salad simply fill a bowl with baby greens, add your sliced pears, toasted almonds and crumbled goat cheese and drizzle with the homemade orange and honey vinaigrette.
The orange and lemon flavors in the dressing mix beautifully with the pears and goat cheese. It’s the right combination of sweet and tangy.
And what’s not to love about a homemade dressing. It always tastes better than anything you can buy on the grocery store shelf.
How often do you volunteer to bring a salad to a potluck or dinner with neighbors? This has become one of my go-to salads to make when I contribute to the main meal.
I’ve been asked for this recipe so many times that I decided to share it here. I hope you like it.
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Autumn Pear Salad with Citrus Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup orange juice, from one orange
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 large ripe pears, cored and sliced
- 6 cups mixed greens
- 3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
Instructions
- Place the shallots, mustard, orange and lemon juices, honey, salt, pepper and olive oil in a mason jar or large measuring cup.
- Use an immersion blender to mix the ingredients well. Next, combine the lettuces, pears and goat cheese in a bowl. Serve with the dressing.
This is my kind of salad! Love that homemade dressing and that you’ve used two different citrus juices for it! Delicious!
The fresh citrus adds so much flavor you can reduce how much oil you need. So tasty. Thanks Lisa.
I always forget how delicious pears taste in salads!
this looks so so good! I love pears in salads so much
Apples are also favorites of mine in salads. Thanks.
This salad looks amazing!
This looks delicious! I love pears in salads. The dressing sounds so tasty too! I prefer to make homemade dressing too; it’s just tastier than store-bought. 🙂
Thanks Marie…I agree. Homemade dressing so tastier and healthier too. 🙂
This salad has all of my favorite flavors in a single dish!
Mine too…it’s perfect on any holiday table. Happy Holidays 🙂