Easy Pear Salad Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (2024)

Perfect for fall, when pears are fresh and delicious, this Pear Salad is fresh, sweet, and savory, with a homemade balsamic dressing, crunchy walnuts, tangy feta cheese, and tart dried cranberries.

I just love making new and exciting salads! I get bored with the same old greens and veggies, and this Pear salad is anything but boring.

Use your favorite lettuce, greens, or spinach. Add in ripe, thinly sliced pears and a divine combination of nuts, cheese, and cranberries. Finish it off with a simple homemade dressing featuring balsamic vinegar, honey, and garlic.

You might forget that you’re eating a salad – Pear salad is that good!

If you enjoy an exciting homemade salad, you should try my recipes for Beet Salad and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad. Both are filled with sweet, salty, and savory toppings and are super satisfying.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

1. Fresh Pears –Pears are one of those ingredients that I don’t use as often as I should! They are a delicious fruit, juicy, and flavorful, with a texture a bit softer than apples. Pears are wonderful in salads.
2. Easy Homemade Salad Dressing –There’s no need to buy expensive bottled dressings when you can make your own and it tastes this good! I like to shake up this dressing in a mason jar. It’s more fun that way.
3. Versatile Recipe – The ingredients in this recipe work really well together, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t adjust them to your own tastes. Try a little bit of sliced red onion to give it a kick, or swap out the feta cheese for blue cheese or goat cheese.

Ingredients In Pear Salad

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

• Salad Mix: You can use baby spinach and make a pear spinach salad, or use a bag or box of spring mix. Any type of soft salad greens that you enjoy will be delicious here.
• Pears: Choose pears that are ripe, but not overripe. You want them to be juicy but not falling apart. We’ll coat the pear slices in lemon juice to keep them from browning.
• Walnuts: This salad is delicious with either plain roasted walnuts, or candied walnuts.
• Sweetened Dried Cranberries: I eat these by the handful sometimes, I love the sweet and tart flavor they have.
• Feta Cheese: This adds creaminess and tanginess to the salad. You can also use crumbled blue cheese if you prefer a stronger flavor.
• Homemade Pear Salad Dressing: A simple mixture of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, garlic, salt and pepper.

How To Make This Pear Salad Recipe

1. Make the Dressing: In a bowl or a small jar combine the olive oil with balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper. Whisk or shake to combine until the dressing is emulsified and creamy.
2. Slice the Pears: Thinly slice the pears, and toss them with a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Set them aside while you assemble the rest of the salad.
3. Toss: To a large bowl, add the salad leaves, half of sliced pears, half of the walnuts, and half of the feta cheese. Add all of the dressing, and toss gently to combine.

1. Serve: Transfer the dressed salad to your serving bowl and top with the remaining pears, walnuts, feta, and cranberries.

Recipe Tips

• Don’t forget to wash your lettuce! I love this salad spinner. It gets the job done and it’s fun to use.
• Buy feta cheese as a block, and crumble it yourself. The flavor is so much better than that of pre-crumbled cheese.
• Not a fan of walnuts? Swap them out for sliced almonds, pecans, pepitas, or sunflower seeds.
• Instead of dried cranberries, try raisins or fresh pomegranate seeds.
• Add Protein: Turn this salad into a full meal by adding more protein to it. Try shredded chicken or crispy air fryer chickpeas!

Storing Tips

If you think you’ll have leftovers, it might be best to leave half of the salad undressed. Salad stored with the dressing on it will wilt, and won’t be very good the next day.

As with most salads, it’s best to make this one right before you plan to serve it.

What To Serve With Pear Salad

This salad is a wonderful accompaniment to any meal you’re serving this fall or winter.

Roasted favorites like Easy Roast Chicken or Roasted Cornish Hens are so good, nestled up next to a pile of pear salad. Try it with homemade Instant Pot Meatloaf too!

FAQs

Would you have ever thought that pears in a salad would be your new favorite thing? It’s truly amazing how well the flavor of pears works with this balsamic dressing. Save this recipe for the next time you’re dreading eating a boring salad. You’ll be glad you have this Pear Salad Recipe to liven things up.