This Christmas salad is a blend of mixed greens, oranges, pomegranate, feta cheese and candied pecans, all tossed in a homemade dressing. An easy and festive salad that is the perfect addition to any holiday menu!
When I’m looking for a salad that features winter produce, I turn to favorites such as kale salad, brussels sprouts salad and this colorful and refreshing Christmas salad.
If I’m making the menu for the holidays, I always include at least one salad for nutrition and to provide a lighter counterpart to the heavier main course options. This Christmas salad features a sweet and savory blend of fruit, cheese and nuts that ends up being the perfect flavor combination.
How do you make Christmas salad?
This salad starts with small oranges such as tangerines or clementines, which are peeled and placed in a bowl of mixed greens along with feta cheese, candied pecans and pomegranate seeds. Make a homemade dressing with a few simple ingredients, then pour it over the salad and toss to combine. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Tips for the perfect salad
- You can use canned mandarin oranges, or any variety of fresh orange that is peeled and cut into segments. I prefer the fresh oranges as they have a better texture than the canned variety.
- I like to buy a block of feta cheese and crumble it myself. Pre-crumbled feta cheese often contains anti-caking agents and stabilizers, and it doesn’t have as good of a flavor in my opinion.
- You can buy candied pecans at the grocery store, or make your own with my recipe.
- When I’m looking to save on prep time, I buy a container of pomegranate seeds at the grocery store instead of removing the seeds from a whole pomegranate. I also get a tub of pre-washed greens to make life a little easier.
Make ahead instructions
One of the most important features of a holiday salad is that it can be prepared in advance, because no one wants to be in the kitchen chopping produce on Christmas. Feel free to make the salad dressing up to 3 days in advance. Just store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it, then shake well and pour over the salad. The oranges and pomegranates can be prepped up to one day in advance. When you’re ready to eat, simply place the ingredients in a bowl with the lettuce, add the dressing and serve.
Christmas salad flavor variations
This salad is fabulous as-is, but you can add other ingredients to make it your own.
- Fruit: Instead of oranges, try another cold weather fruit such as apples, pears or persimmons.
- Nuts: While I think the pecans go well with the flavors in the salad, other options include almonds, walnuts or even cashews. You can choose roasted or candied nuts, but I feel the candied nuts add a nice crunch and sweetness.
- Cheese: Swap out the feta for blue cheese, shaved parmesan, ricotta salata or small mozzarella balls.
- Add-Ins: Feel free to add other ingredients such as shaved fennel, red onions, avocado or dried cranberries.
You can’t go wrong with this salad, in fact, I make it all winter long!
More salad recipes you’ll enjoy
Christmas Salad Video
Christmas Salad
Ingredients
For the salad
- 7 cups mixed spring greens
- 1 1/4 cups orange segments mandarin oranges, clementines or tangerines
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds can substitute dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
- 1/2 cup candied pecans roughly chopped
For the dressing
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon shallot minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the mixed greens, oranges, pomegranate seeds, feta cheese and pecans in a large bowl.
- Place all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, whisk until smooth.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad mixture to taste, then gently toss to coat. You may have dressing left over. Serve immediately.
Gone in one sitting!! Great recipe
Thank you! This made a beautiful salad for a potluck today. I added blueberries, as well. The pomegranate seeds looked like sparkly little jewels under the lights! It was worth the twenty minutes I spent carefully extracting those little gems from the fruit!
It was very well received and enjoyed. I got lots of positive comments from people. Thank you!
This salad was a hit with our Christmas dinner guests. It will definately be a go to dish. I just made it again for dinner. Delicious!
I made this for our belated Thanksgiving dinner and we loved it. I’ll be making it for a family Christmas get-together. It looks beautiful and tastes delicious. I’ll be serving the feta on the side though as I’m not sure the grandkids will like it.
Everyone loved this and it really easy to make.
Delicious and colorful! I will make it again!
I made this salad for a Christmas Eve dinner for 13 people. It turned out great and several of my guests got a second helping. Delicious and colorful salad and a very flavorful salad dressing. I will make this again!
Made this salad for a large group at Christmas dinner. It was a hit! Everybody loved it. I made my own candied pecans following the recipe that was provided. Everyone loved the dressing and the fresh mandarin oranges.
Bottom line… I’ll definitely make it again. Thank you!
Thank you for this recipe. What is the ounces equivalent of 7 cups of mixed spring greens?
A 10 ounce package will work!
Planning to make this for Christmas. Could I sub bacon bits instead of pecans for nut allergy? Thanks!
Yes that should work! You could also try some type of seeds like sunflower seeds instead of nuts.
I made this for a family party last night and everyone loved it. I made it as written except for substituting soft goat cheese for the feta. It served 6 with a few people able to have seconds. My adult nephew said “I think this is the best salad I ever had.”
What can you substitute for the shallot in the dressing?
It’s fine to omt it!
I have a family member allergic to mustard. Idloveto make this salad and wondering what I can use instead of the mustard. Thanks!
I’d just omit the mustard! It will still be good!
Can goat cheese be used instead of feta?
Yes that’s fine!
Rave reviews at the holiday party we hosted! Beautiful and delicious. Love the salad dressing!!!
Made this with dried cranberries and regular chopped almonds last winter. Everyone loved it! Making it again to pair with breakfast for dinner this summer. I think the mandarins with work nicely! Definitely a keeper.
Also, I didn’t go out to buy a shallot this time. Subbed with 1/4 tsp onion powder and 1/8 tsp garlic powder after a bit of googling and dressing tastes great! Though a special shallot trip is probably warranted for Christmas. 😊
Correction – I used chopped pecans! Not almonds.
This is by far my favorite salad. It gets raves every time I make it. I finally have a “go to” dish to take to gatherings that I’m proud of and can count on.
This is a beautiful salad plus it tastes amazing!! I will make this again
Served today with Christmas dinner. Loved it!
Would blue cheese work as a substitute for feta? Thanks.
Yes that’s fine!