This asian pear salad with walnuts and a maple mustard dressing is fall & winter salad GOALS. Made with tender salad greens, thinly sliced asian pear, toasted walnuts, sweet pomegranate seeds, optional feta cheese, and a punchy maple mustard dressing that makes the salad truly shine. Perfect for festive dinners and weeknight meals alike!
The most satisfying salad for your fall and winter table
This salad is a straight up GEM, y’all.
Whether you’re looking for an easy, festive salad to serve for the holidays or a flavor-packed side for your fall and winter weeknight meals, this stunner is it!
We eat a lot of never-boring salads at our house and I absolutely love making them, even when it’s cold outside.
🌿 One of my secrets for putting together the yummiest salads is to include lots of texture and complementary flavor profiles. These two little tips keep salads interesting and fresh, and so good that everyone comes back for seconds.
I am also a firm believer that using seasonally fresh ingredients is always a top characteristic of the best-tasting salads.
There’s nothing that compares to peak-season produce in terms of quality and texture, and this Asian pear salad is one of our favorite things to make when pears and pomegranates are in season.
You’ll finish this salad with a punchy, perfectly balanced Maple Mustard dressing that is a outstanding match for the sweeter notes in the recipe!
👉🏼 If this salad looks familiar to you, that’s because it’s an older recipe from NK that I decided was due for an update. This version is very similar, but after testing it a few times I decided to add feta cheese. While nearly all of the recipes here are made without dairy, there is the occasional salad or pasta where I include some. That said, if it is in a recipe in this space it’s always optional, or can easily be substituted with a dairy-free alternative. We LOVE the Violife Plant Based Feta Cheese for salads like this!
A few ingredient notes
This gorgeous salad is made with just a few seasonal ingredients that come together in the perfect array of bright flavor and irresistible texture.
Any kind of tender salad green is perfect (the peppery bite of arugula makes a wonderful contrast to the sweeter flavors!), and the dressing comes together in less than 5 minutes.
It is a beautiful accompaniment to richer dishes that you might serve during the colder months, and will never disappoint on a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner table.
❤️ And if you have extra pomegranate arils after making this recipe, don’t miss our recipes for Fresh Pomegranate Relish, Kale, Apple, and Pomegranate Salad, a Festive Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail, & Maple Chili Glazed Carrots with Pomegranate and Thyme!
Let’s talk about Asian pears
If you haven’t ever tried an Asian pear or haven’t yet this year, I’m BEGGING you to go do it now! They have been insaaaanely delicious lately.
They’re crunchy, fragrant, and sweet – like are-you-sure-this-is-fruit-and-not-candy sweet (!!!).
But don’t fret – if you can’t find asian pears at your local store another pear of any kind – or even an apple – would be a totally perfect substitute.
And even though pomegranates can be sometimes tricky to find on grocery store shelves, I would highly suggest you try to seek them out for this recipe. They’re bright pop of sweet-tart flavor is so exceptional in a salad like this.
Keeping the pears fresh when prepping this salad
From my experience, I’ve found that Asian pears start to brown at the edges much more quickly than other types of pears.
To prevent this from happening, I like to add them to a bowl of cold lemon water just after slicing them. And then when you’re ready to serve, drain and quickly pat them dry before tossing them into the salad.
Quickly toast the walnuts
Toasting raw nuts like walnuts at home in the oven yields a far superior result to store bought toasted nuts. It only takes about 10 minutes and is well worth the extra effort!
Whisk together the maple mustard dressing
This dressing is a truly magical combination of flavors. Punchy and zippy from the 2 kinds of mustard and apple cider vinegar, and warmly sweet with the addition of maple syrup.
And the best part – salad assembly!
I recommend tossing the salad together just before you serve. This keeps all the lovely texture in peak form, and helps prevent the pears from browning due to oxidation.
👉🏼 If you want to prep the salad ahead of time, keep the pears in the lemon water in the refrigerator and all of the other ingredients in separate bowls / containers until you’re ready to serve. You can do this up to one day ahead of time!
If you enjoyed this Asian pear salad we’d love it if you would take a moment to rate and review it below! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 It’s also a great place for questions, and super helpful for other readers if you share any modifications you made to the recipe.
Thank you for sharing your kitchen with NK. We’re so grateful you’re here!
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Asian Pear Salad with Walnuts and a Maple Mustard Dressing
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This asian pear salad with walnuts and a maple mustard dressing is fall & winter salad GOALS. Made with tender salad greens, thinly sliced asian pear, toasted walnuts, sweet pomegranate seeds, optional feta cheese, and a punchy maple mustard dressing that makes the salad truly shine. Perfect for festive dinners and weeknight meals alike!
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 5 ounces mixed salad greens or arugula
- 1 Asian pear
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1/2 cup pomegranate arils
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese (optional, may use a dairy free feta as a substitute)
For the Maple Mustard Dressing
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste if desired
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the pear. Add juice of half a lemon to a medium sized bowl with cold water. Core and thinly slice the Asian pear and add to the bowl of lemon water to prevent them from browning while you prepare the rest of the salad.
- Toast the walnuts. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Add walnuts to a large baking sheet and spread out in an even layer. Transfer to the oven and bake for 9-11 minutes, until the walnuts smell toasty and are lightly browned. Allow to cool slightly before transferring to a cutting board to roughly chop. Set aside.
- Make the salad dressing. While the walnuts are toasting, add all dressing ingredients to a medium sized bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined and emulsified. Taste and whisk in a little more salt if desired. Set aside.
- Assemble the salad. Drain the pears in a colander and lightly pat dry with paper towel. Add the salad greens to a large bowl or platter along with the pear, walnuts, pomegranate, and feta (if using), reserving a little bit of each to garnish the salad. Drizzle with about 1/3 cup of the dressing and toss to combine. Taste and add a little more dressing as desired. Top with the remaining pear, pomegranate, walnuts, and feta. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
If you’re serving this salad as a side with other fare it’s perfect for 6 people. For larger portions, it will make about 4 servings.
Any extra dressing that you might have can be tucked away in the refrigerator to use for other salads! It should keep for up to 2 weeks. Leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow the olive oil to come to room temperature. Give it a good shake in a jar to re-emulsify before using.
Nutrition facts are calculated as if you use about 1/2 of the salad dressing yield.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Cold prep
- Cuisine: American
Diane S. Hinman says
Amazing. Family specifically requested it again. Keeper
Nyssa Tanner says
So glad you and the family enjoyed this salad, Diane! Happy cooking 🙂 – Nyssa