Christmas Salad with Citrus-Champagne Vinaigrette
~ A vibrantly beautiful salad that’s truly fit for a celebration! You can even shape it like a gorgeous Christmas wreath for a showstopping, edible centerpiece! Pretty greens are studded with crunchy pistachios, sweet and tangy pomegranate arils, and juicy oranges. Topped off with a sprinkling of creamy goat cheese and a refreshingly light champagne vinaigrette. A perfect party salad! ~
This Recipe Is: • Ready in 30 Minutes or Less • Includes Make-Ahead Steps • Vegetarian • Gluten Free •
This salad screams “Celebration!” (If you listen closely, I think it might sing “Deck the Halls” and “Jingle Bells,” too.)
And, it’s actually simple to make. No kidding! It’s a total showstopper that’s actually do-able. Just check out our little video tutorial to see how easily this beautiful salad creation comes together!
Video Tutorial
But let’s get back to all that celebration-ness this salad’s got goin’ on.
I mean … just look at it. Red pomegranates and green pistachios. You’ve got Christmas right there.
Plus a snow-like dusting of goat cheese.
Oh! And if it’s a celebration, we’ll be needing a bit of champagne, too – like maybe in a festive, light champagne vinaigrette!
Falalalala …
Now, I’m not going to tell you that you can’t make this salad for Thanksgiving, and allllll winter long, when you’re craving juicy, sweet oranges and a crisp salad to break up all that heavier winter comfort food. One taste of this, and serving it just at Christmas won’t be nearly enough. I get that.
And honestly, I’m not gonna stop you from serving it at Easter. Or, heck – maybe St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo, too. Who am I to judge?
But in its heart of hearts, this salad is a holiday salad, a Christmas salad. A special new tradition you’ll look forward to serving each year.
And with a few little tips, it’s a breeze to throw together. You can have it all prepped ahead of time, ready at a moment’s notice when your guests arrive!
Quick Shopping Tips
Greens – To make this holiday salad seriously quick and easy, we generally start with bagged greens, like a pretty spring mix or sweet baby lettuce mix.
Champagne Vinegar – What says “party” more than champagne? I find that champagne vinegar
is pretty commonly stocked at my local grocery stores, but if you’re having trouble snagging it at your own market, you can grab it online, as well.
Pistachios – Although they cost a bit more, shelled pistachios will save you loads of time, and if you know you’ll be making this salad each Christmas, you can keep your eyes open a month or two ahead to snag them when they’re on sale.
Storing nuts in the fridge helps extend their shelf life significantly, so you won’t have to worry about the pistachios going bad before the final, exciting moment when they get to adorn the Christmas Salad (the moment they’ve been waiting for)!
Pomegranates – Another timesaver – the little containers of pomegranate arils that you can find in most any grocery store. Whole pomegranates are definitely a hallmark of the holiday season, so grab a couple for your centerpiece if you’d like, but you can save yourself a couple of minutes by just purchasing the arils, all ready to go. So easy!
What if your grocery store happens to be out of those handy little containers, though? No problem – check out our post on How to Open a Pomegranate. It only takes a couple of minutes, and our method is virtually mess-free.
If you do choose to buy the containers, though, just be sure to drain off (and drink – yum!) the juice at the bottom, rather than pouring it onto the salad along with the arils.
Cheese – Lastly … crumbled goat cheese! Until we started making Gretchen’s to-die-for Cranberry and Goat Cheese Crostini (another holiday gem you’ll want to check out 😉 ), I didn’t even know crumbled goat cheese was a thing. I would actually waste time trying to crumble those little goat cheese logs, ending up with smeary goat cheese all over my fingers and amorphous, gloppy chunks of goat cheese looking all messy on top of my salad. *SIGH*
Crumbled goat cheese to the rescue! Grab it … and move on to the next item on your grocery list. Done!
How to Supreme an Orange (aka Cutting Oranges Like a Restaurant Chef!)
You know how restaurants always serve beautiful, perfect wedges of citrus without one bit of the white pith or membranes? Looks so impressive, right? Well, it’s super easy and will make you look like a chef extraordinaire!
The technique is called supreming. Here’s how it’s done:
1) Start by cutting both ends off the orange, so you have a safe and stable base.
2) Turn the orange onto one end, and carefully begin to cut away the peel, starting at the top of the orange and slicing down toward your cutting board.
3) Follow the contour of the orange so you don’t cut away too much of the fruit itself – just the peel and white pith.
4) Work your way all the way around the orange, one area at a time.
5) Once you’ve cut away all the peel, go back and carefully remove any little bits of pith that you missed.
6) At this point, you may choose to use a paring knife, although I prefer to finish the entire job with my beloved 8-inch chef’s knife (which is actually this one, and not the prop knife I grabbed for this photo shoot) – whatever you’re comfortable with and feel safe using is just fine. Next, you simply cut out each individual section of the orange, carefully slicing right along the membranes that separate the orange sections from each other.
7) Cut just to the middle of the orange so you can remove each section while leaving the membranes behind, still attached together at the middle.
8) You’ll end up with an empty orange “core” and the attached pithy membranes, and also with a pile of beautifully supremed orange wedges, completely free of peel or pith!
High five – you did it!
I know that might seem like a lot of effort and steps, but once you’ve tried it once, you’ll get the hang of it and see that it’s really not tricky at all. I just tried to break it down for you in photos very clearly, in case you’ve never done it before.
Trust me – although we’re usually all about quick and easy shortcuts here at THK, for a gorgeous salad like this one, it’s worth the effort to make sure those oranges are as stunning as the rest of the salad!
Juicy Orange Secret
One little secret tip on those oranges while we’re at it.
Before juicing the orange you’ll use to make the vinaigrette, let it come to room temperature, and you’ll actually get notably more juice.
Brilliant!
Make-Ahead Strategies
This salad can certainly be made an hour or so ahead of time, but all those (deliciously festive!) toppings can really weigh down the greens if you add them too far ahead, and the arils will start to turn the goat cheese pink after a couple of hours.
Also, as with most any other salad, I don’t recommend dressing this salad ahead of time, to prevent it from getting soggy. In fact, you may just want to offer a cruet of dressing alongside and allow guests to dress their own.
But wait … relaxed hostesses need to prep everything they can ahead of time, right? No worries – this salad comes together in mere moments!
If you want to have everything prepped several hours in advance or even the night before, you can place your greens in their serving bowl, prepare the dressing, and supreme the oranges – and store them each in separate containers in the fridge.
Just before serving, put it all together – and greet your guests at the door with a relaxed I’ve-got-it-ALL-under-control smile!
Christmas Wreath Edible Centerpiece!
You may have noticed in our photos that you’ve got a couple of options for serving this beautiful Christmas Salad.
You can simply pile all the ingredients on a round platter, arranging the oranges in a pretty, circular, wreath-like pattern toward the outer edges, and sprinkling a bit more of the toppings in that outer area to suggest the wreath shape. Like this:
Quick and easy.
But hey now … want to really knock their (festive Christmas) socks off?
This salad goes into full-on wreath mode when you nestle a bowl filled with dressing right in the center.
No doubt about it … that’s a Christmas wreath you’ve got there!
Now it’s not just singing falalalala and screaming “celebration.” It’s become it’s very own Christmas decoration … a showstopping centerpiece!
Happy holidays, friends! Gretchen and I both wish you a season filled with love and laughter, great food and good health. Cheers to you and yours!
More Delicious Holiday Salad Recipe Ideas …
- Chicken Cobb “Christmas Tree” Holiday Salad
- Salad with Goat Cheese, Pears, Candied Pecans and Maple-Balsamic Dressing
- Christmas Fruit Salad
- Salad with Nuts, Feta and Cranberries (Two Ways!)
- Kale Chopped Salad with Berries and Freekeh (or Quinoa)
Christmas Salad with Citrus-Champagne Vinaigrette
This delicious, easy Christmas salad is vibrantly beautiful and truly fit for a celebration. It can even be served as a festive wreath!
• Ready in 30 Minutes or Less • Includes Make-Ahead Steps • Vegetarian • Gluten Free •
Ingredients
Salad:
- 5 ounces of salad greens (such as spring mix or sweet baby lettuce mix)
- 2 navel oranges (about 11-12 ounces each, or 4 smaller navel oranges, about 6 ounces each), peeled and cut into sections (see directions for how to supreme an orange in the post above)
- 4 ounces shelled, roasted and salted pistachios (about a scant cup)
- 4 ounces pomegranate arils (a 4.3-ounce container is fine, drained)
- 2 ounces crumbled goat cheese (about a scant 1/2 cup)
Dressing:
- 5 tablespoons fresh-squeezed orange juice (from about half a large navel orange)
- 4 teaspoons honey
- 3 1/2 teaspoons champagne vinegar
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1/2 teaspoon smooth Dijon mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/16 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place greens in a large serving bowl (or divide evenly among individual salad plates).
- Arrange oranges, pistachios, and pomegranate arils over top of greens. Sprinkle with goat cheese.
- For dressing, whisk together orange juice, honey, champagne vinegar, canola oil, mustard, salt, and pepper until the salt has dissolved and the dressing is emulsified.
- Dress salad just before serving, or pass the dressing at the table.
Notes
Make-ahead tips: The best way to prep this salad ahead is simply to have the dressing made, the oranges cut, and all of the components measured and ready. You can do this up to a day ahead, storing the greens, vinaigrette, oranges and goat cheese in separate, covered containers in the refrigerator. You can compose the salad up to about an hour before serving, but wait to dress it until the last minute (or allow guests to dress their own).
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 11 servings Serving Size: 1 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 119Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 104mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 2gSugar: 7gProtein: 4g
Nutrition information should be considered an estimate only, and may vary depending on your choice of ingredients or preparation. No guarantees are made regarding allergies or dietary needs. Always consult a physician or dietician for specific advice and questions.
this is not enough dressing. is there typo error in the dressing recipe? most dressings have 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 cup oil,
Hi, Heather! I’ve made this Christmas Salad so many times, and if anything, I find that there’s actually a tiny bit more dressing than needed, even though it just doesn’t LOOK like that much dressing (always a bonus, as I can pour extra, leftover salad dressing over other salad greens a day or two later). The flavors in the vinaigrette are designed to work with all the other textures and flavors in the salad in a lovely balance – and not to overwhelm the rest of the salad components or drown them in puddles of dressing. Having said that, you can certainly feel free to double the vinaigrette portion of the recipe, if needed, of course – especially the first time you make this recipe, if you’re really worried there won’t be enough – but I think that you’ll find that it truly is enough salad dressing. And regarding the ratios you mention (1/2 cup vinegar to 1 cup oil) – my dressings are very specifically created to be different from many others you may find. They deliver big flavor with much, much less oil than the typical vinaigrette ratios – this limits unnecessary calories and fats. For other examples of how beautifully this healthier, low-fat vinaigrette technique can work, check out the vinaigrette recipe in our Salad with Goat Cheese, Pears, Candied Pecans and Maple-Balsamic Dressing and also the one in our Corn, Edamame and Quinoa Salad with Lemon-Dijon Vinaigrette. Hope all of that info helps, and that you’re enjoying a wonderful holiday season, and thanks for popping by with these terrific questions! 😀 ~Shelley
I brought all the ingredients tonight. After going to 3 stores, I found Champagne vinegar, but there were 4 choices. All different types, not brands of Champagne vinegar. There was a dry white oaky taste, a pinot citrus taste, a pomegranate taste and a lemon one. All Champagne vinegars. I ended up with Cuvee Champagne vinegar, blend of california pinot and chardonay grapes. bubling, crisp and dry floral notes of lemon and apple. I am sure it will be delicious,but didn’t know what to get. I will try it, tomorrow.
Wow, Linda! The vinegar you describe sounds just amazing! I’m so sorry you had such trouble finding it (and then so many confusing options when you did!), but it sounds like it will be really wonderful! I made this Christmas Salad last weekend for a family party, but just thinking about that vinegar, I’m sort of wishing I’d gotten a salad assignment for one of our other family parties these next few days! (I got a lot of appetizer assignments – so, festively colored Baked Hummus Dip with Tabouli Topping is definitely in my future lol!) Enjoy, and merry, merry Christmas to you and your family! 😀 ~Shelley
Thank you! Merry Christmas to you!
Another question 🙂 what would you think about Grapeseed oil substitute for Canola?
P.s. Thank you so much for including the very detailed and shopping and prep tips! So helpful!!
Hey there, Megan – great questions today! The reason I chose canola for this Christmas Wreath Salad is simply because it’s a rather neutral-flavored oil that I feel people commonly have on hand. For the dressing in this salad, I didn’t really like the flavor of olive oil shining through. So, I think any other neutral-flavored oil would be just fine – including grapeseed, which is generally considered to be rather neutral. We have a big family Christmas Eve party tomorrow, but I will try to check back in to see if you have any other questions. Please don’t hesitate to ask if I can help you more! Have a wonderful holiday, and good look with that BIG family gathering – how fun!!! 😀 ~Shelley
Beautiful! Looking forward to trying to 🙂 About how many people does this serve? I’m making it for my BIG family get together of 20 so want to make sure I have enough 🙂 thank you!
Hi Megan! I’m so thrilled you’re trying this! So, I would say that it depends on how much salad you will serve to each guest, or how you will serve this. What I mean is that, at 11 cups, it’s basically 11 one-cup servings. But, if it’s going to be served buffet-style, some people may take more (and honestly – with this salad, they’re likely to come back for seconds). If you’re plating it, you can better control exact amounts. For 20 people, I would say to at least double the recipe, just to be sure. I just made this again last weekend for one of our big family Christmas gatherings, for 15 people – I made a double batch and had only a little left over (I had been hoping there’d be even more left over for myself for the next day lol!). If you want to extra-safe and will enjoy the leftovers yourself, then I would say you could even triple the recipe for that many folks, although if you are going to have just a giant buffet of so, so much food, then tripling it could be too much. And, I always like to make PLENTY so the food is bountiful when I entertain, especially with foods the I love and will enjoy leftovers. Does that all make sense and help a little?? I hope so! But let me know if I can help further. Happy holidays, Megan! 😀 ~Shelley
Thank you so much Shelley! I really appreciate your quick replies and very helpful info!! I’ll go ahead and double it and based on the amount of other food I agree that sounds like a perfect amount. With your test on 15 people at your big gathering I feel very confident about that too :). Thanks so much for the answer you gave on the grapeseed oil too, I’m going to try it as a substitute and I’ll let you know how the Grapeseed oil turns out! Thanks again and Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!!
Oh, you are so very welcome, Megan! Merry, merry Christmas!! 😀 ~Shelley
Love the way this recipe looks and want to try for Christmas eve, but not a fan of pistachio’s, do you think pine nuts or slivered almonds might work just as well?
I do! Although the flavor will be just a little different, I think most any nut that you like best would be an acceptable substitute in this Christmas Salad, if you don’t like pistachios. One thing, though: I do think that pine nuts would be yummy, but I would maybe opt for something just a little bigger – like slivered almonds or maybe even toasted pecan pieces – just to deliver a little bit of a bigger crunch than the tiny pine nuts would. I’d love to hear what you decide to use! Merry, merry Christmas to you, Char! 🙂 ~Shelley