The Best Festive Holiday Christmas Salad Recipe

For a beautiful Holiday Salad Recipe this year, add a healthy punch of bold flavors to your holiday menu. Simple greens, fruits, and veggies topped with goat cheese and crunchy nuts — it is a festive Christmas Salad topped with pomegranate arils and a pomegranate balsamic vinaigrette.

It is almost that time of year again, and this holiday salad recipe is one of those easy recipes that is like edible centerpiece addition to any Christmas or Thanksgiving menu. In fact, most dinner buffets have some sort of salad greens – and this is a festive holiday salad with a super healthy benefit.

This Thanksgiving and Christmas, schedule out your stunning and delicious holiday spread in advance. Try my Copycat Honeybaked Ham (super easy!) with Air Fryer Asparagus, Easy Instant Pot Glazed Carrots, and a healthy heaping of Potatoes au Gratin.

Ingredients for Holiday Salad Recipe

For the full recipe, pop to the end of the post for the printable recipe card.

• Baby Spring Lettuce | Baby greens are a beautiful combination of tender baby spring varieties of lettuce, peppery arugula, and spinach– and it looks fancy too!
• Pear | Pears are the sweet fiber and vitamin-packed fruit providing the lightest color of the salad. Choose your favorite pear; Anjou, Bosc, Asian, Bartlett, Comice or apple slices would be a crunchy and sweet alternative.
• Naval Oranges | These are the seedless and best-tasting oranges lending a citrus punch.
• Shallot | Shallots are the sweet mild onion for a subtle oniony flavor.
• Beets | Earthy and sweet, I love the taste and color of beets in my salad.
• Pistachios & Walnuts | Nuts in a salad add a hearty bite – use crunchy pistachios and honey toasted walnuts for a nutty good combination.
• Goat Cheese | This cheese sprinkles easily onto the salad, adding a tart and early taste.
• Pomegranate Arils | Garnish your salad with these tiny tart beauties.
• Ingredients for Pomegranate Salad dressing | Olive oil. balsamic vinegar, shallots, Dijon mustard, orange juice and pomegranate juice.

How to make a stunning holiday salad

Step 1 | Make Pomegranate Salad Dressing Recipe

Please see my recipe for homemade Pomegranate Salad Dressing, but the full recipe is in the recipe card below.

This tangy sweet citrus salad dressing recipe is the icing on the cake- so to speak. The Christmas Salad Pomegranate plate is already stunning in presentation with fresh ingredients and full flavors.

Pour on the tangy balsamic vinegar, bold olive oil, orange juice and pomegranate juices for a beautiful salad with complex dressing– it brings all the lovely flavors together just right!

Step 2 | Toast your Honey Walnuts

Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment to receive the hot sticky nuts.

Place chopped walnuts into a skillet over medium heat and shake around until warmed and nutty smelling. Drizzle honey and stir to coat evenly, stirring for one minute, then remove and cool for 5 minutes separating nuts so they don’t stick! You might also enjoy my maple bourbon candied pecans!

Step 3 | Prepare the Holiday salad recipe

Clearly, you need to wash and prep all the fruits and veggies. So grab the cutting board and a sharp knife — here is what needs to be done.

• Pears will be sliced thin.
• Orange segments are peeled and sliced.
• Shallots are sliced for the salad and diced for the dressing.
• Chop or slice cooked or canned beets to your liking. Use regular or pickled beets here.
• Pistachios are chopped if you want to, their pretty green adds such a holiday flare!
• Juicy pomegranate seeds need harvesting (see FAQ) if you are using whole fruit. Or purchase a package of pomegranate arils.

Step 3 | Arrange Your Salad

I love to present my salad in the best way, whether on individual plates (my favorite), in a large serving bowl, or on a big platter. So take time to arrange your salad, it doesn’t take long!

Artfully arrange the baby spring greens and add the layers of the remaining ingredients:

Lay out the pears, oranges, and sliced beets, and then sprinkle with shallots, pistachios, walnuts, and goat cheese, finishing with pomegranate arils for color. 

Finally, serve the Christmas salad with pomegranate dressing on the side or dress in a large salad bowl and toss (in front of guests for a great way to impress!) and maybe a fresh grind of black pepper.

Take a moment to stand back and take a look at the pretty presentation– so satisfying!

Variations & Substitutions

• Oils | Change olive oil out for grapeseed oil or avocado oil.
• Vinegar | Use balsamic or pomegranate balsamic for the best taste profile. Or try red wine vinegar if you’d prefer.
• Cheese | Not a fan of creamy goat cheese? Try feta cheese or blue cheese crumbles instead.
• Onions | If you love the crunch of a strong onion in your salad, add the bold taste of red onion slices in place of the shallots or try my quick refrigerator pickled red onions for a milder take.
• Spring Mixed Greens | You can use other healthy greens to make this hearty salad. Mix up your lettuce choices to taste.
• Nuts | If nuts are not your thing, try sunflower seeds or pepitas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest way to remove seeds from a pomegranate?

I feel like I’m a pro at this, being raised in So California with neighbors who grew pomegranates.

• There are many tutorials out there, many of them suggest the submerge the pomegranate in a bowl of water, but that seems a bit fussy for this veteran pomegranate seed remover.
• Growing up in Southern California, we had a neighbor who had a gorgeous pomegranate tree in their front yard. Smartly, he and his wife started hosting a “Pomegranate Party” for the neighborhood kids (who would steal them at night), we could pick and eat as many as we liked and even take a few home. I have fond memories of this time, it was usually near Halloween and I am pretty sure we came dressed in costumes.
• The easiest way to remove seeds from a pomegranate is to slice through the rind in 4 quarters (not all the way through the pomegranate, that’s what makes a juicy, sticky mess). Then you gently pull the quarters away from each other revealing the ruby jewels that are called arils. Gently push them away, stripping the arils away from the bitter white pith. I like the way this tutorial explains it. You can plop them into a bowl of cool water or do it on a cutting board.

How to Store and Freeze Pomegranate Arils (Seeds)

Refrigerate leftover arils in an airtight container, they should last about 5-7 days.

If your pomegranate arils are about to go bad, spread them out in an even layer on some wax paper or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Flash freeze for 30-60 minutes, then transfer to an airtight freezer baggie or container, freezing up to 3 months. To thaw, place in fridge overnight and discard any juices that accumulate. (Super delish in smoothies!)

More Gorgeous Salad Recipes

• Fall Harvest Salad {with Roasted Butternut Squash & Quinoa}
• Harvest Wild Rice Salad {Holiday Salad Recipe}
• Blackberry Grilled Chicken Salad with Fried Goat Cheese
• Easy Chicken Cobb Salad
• Maple Dijon Vinaigrette {Salad Dressing}
• Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing {& Marinade}
• Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

More Helpful & Easy Holiday Recipes

1. Make Ahead Thanksgiving Side Dishes
2. How to Make Gravy from Scratch
3. Copycat Panera Autumn Squash Soup
4. Tender Roasted Herb Butter Turkey
5. Italian Braised Short Ribs
6. Best Instant Pot Turkey Breast Recipe
7. Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes with Ham 
8. Bourbon Glazed Ham (Coca Cola Ham Recipe)
9. Southern-Style Green Beans
10. Easy Corn Casserole without Jiffy

I hope you loved this Christmas salad with Pomegranate — if you did, would you share your creation on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest? And be sure to comment below!