A base of mixed greens, some clementines and cranberry, chunks of beetroot and a sweet pomegranate dressing. This Christmas Salad is a must on any festive dinner table this year. We could all do with a few extra veggies in our life at Christmas time, right? This is a super Easy Christmas Salad recipe to put together, and it is made up of ingredients you probably already have in your fridge leftover from other meals.
This Christmas Salad is full of flavour and texture, and it has a little something for everyone. A bed of spinach, rocket (arugula) and shredded sprouts (trust us on this one), then some chunks of beetroot and clementine segments.
All brought together with a sweet dressing made with honey and pomegranate molasses and then topped with flaked almonds, dried cranberries and some crumbled goats cheese. Sometimes Christmas food can feel a bit heavy, so this lightens things up a little with lots of flavour and an easy salad to feed a hungry crowd.
Looking for some other festive side dishes to try? Why not try our Honey Roasted Parsnips, Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts or Easy Cauliflower Cheese?
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Why you will love it
- A great way to add some colour to your table this Christmas - Christmas dinner can be a bit beige and heavy sometimes, but this really lightens the whole thing up. You might not think of salads for Christmas, but they are a must!
- Good for feeding a crowd - You can easily double or triple this Christmas salad recipe if you are feeding a crowd this Christmas. Just make sure you have a bowl big enough to serve it in.
- Easy to adapt and use what you have in your fridge - Pretty much anything goes in Christmas salads and it's a great way to use up leftovers.
- Can be made vegan - Just leave out the cheese and use a vegan dressing to make this Christmas salad suitable for vegans.
Ingredients and variations
"What doesn't go into this Christmas salad" would probably be the easier question! We have used all our favourite festive ingredients, and things we would usually find in our fridge and cupboard at Christmas time anyway, so we don't have to buy anything special.
- Greens - The greens are really the base of the salad, that everything is built on top of. We went with a mixture of raw spinach, rocket (arugula) and shredded brussels sprouts. Not leave just yet - trust us on this. You can shred them up really fine, and even the biggest sprout haters won't know they are there. You can change up the greens in lots of different ways and use your favourites or whatever you have leftover. Romaine, iceberg and little gem work well when it comes to lettuces and you could swap the spinach for kale, but make sure to massage it first to soften it.
- Fruit and veg - As if the green base wasn't enough, we have added even more goodness. Chunks of cooked beetroot make it nice and filling, and segments of clementine lighten it up a little and add some sweetness to this Christmas salad. You could add chunks of roasted veg that you might have leftover from your Christmas dinner and add some slices of apple too.
- Dressing - This is a really simple dressing, with a touch of sweetness to take the edge off the bitterness of the raw greens. Read below for all the details on our new favourite festive dressing.
- Toppings - We are all about the toppings, and not only do they add extra flavour, but texture too. We used some flaked almonds, dried cranberries and then some crumbled goats cheese. You could use walnuts or pecans instead of almonds and swap the dried cranberries for raisins or dried cherries. Got some stilton leftover from your Christmas cheeseboard? Use that instead of the goats cheese.
A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.
How to make a Christmas Salad - Step by step
One: Put the greens into a large bowl.
Two: Put all the dressing ingredients in another bowl and mix well.
Three: Put the beetroot and clementines in the bowl with the greens and pour over the dressing and mix well.
Four: Put in a serving bowl and add the almonds, cranberries and goats cheese.
Salad dressing
This Christmas salad has so much going for it, but really it is the dressing that brings it to life.
We used a basic olive oil and apple cider vinegar with salt and pepper base and then added some finely diced shallots, a squeeze of the best quality honey we could find and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses.
If you haven't tried pomegranate molasses before, get yourself a bottle. Not only does it add loads of flavour to salad dressings, but you can use it to sweeten iced tea, as a glaze on salmon or meat, mix it in to dips or just drizzle it on roasted vegetables. It has so many uses.
If you want to make this dressing a little more special, and festive, add a splash of champagne to it.
What to serve with a Christmas Salad
We love serving this up with some roast meat and plenty of potatoes. Here are some recipes to choose from:
- Slow Cooker Roast Beef
- Easy Hasselback Potatoes
- The BEST Roast Chicken
- Easy Roast Potatoes
- Honey Roast Duck
- Garlic Smashed Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
- Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
- Vegetable Mash
FAQs
Yes, this is a good dish to prepare in advance, so you have less to do on the big day. Put all of the greens, fruit and vegetables together, make the dressing up and get the toppings together and then keep them all separate.
About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve the salad, mix everything together. Don't dress the salad in advance, because the salad will get soggy.
An undressed salad will store in an air tight container for up to 2 days. If you have already dressed the salad and you have leftovers, then it will keep for up to 24 hours, but it might get a little soggy.
You can easily make a gluten free version of this. Just be careful what ingredients go in to your dressing and there there is no cross contamination.
To make this vegan, leave out the cheese or use your favourite vegan alternative. Make sure that no honey is used in the dressing either.
More salad recipes
If you’ve tried this Easy Christmas Salad, please leave a comment below.
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Recipe
Easy Christmas Salad
Ingredients
- 40 g (2 cups) Rocket (arugula)
- 50 g (1.66 cups) Spinach
- 10 Brussels sprouts - shredded
- 1 Clementine - peeled and de-segmented
- 10 g (1 tablespoon) Flaked almonds
- 20 g (0.25 cups) Dried cranberries
- 2 Cooked beetroot
- 40 g (0.25 cups) Goat's cheese - crumbled
- 3 tablespoon Olive oil
- 3 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper
- 2 Shallots - diced
- 2 tablespoon Pomegranate molasses
Instructions
- Put the greens in a large bowl.
- Put all the dressing ingredients in another bowl and mix well.
- Put the beetroot and clementines in the bowl with the greens and pour over the dressing and mix well.
- Put in a serving bowl and add the almonds, cranberries and goats cheese.
Notes
- If you want to make this in advance, then prepare everything separately and then dress it just before serving so the salad doesn't go soggy.
- You can shred the sprouts with a knife, or you can put them in a food processor to shred really fine.
- Use leftover pomegranate molasses for dips, meat glazes or mixed in to dips.
- You can swap the almonds for walnuts or pecans and swap the dried cranberries for raisins or dried cherries.
- Not a fan of shredded sprouts or rocket lettuce? You could use kale, iceberg or romain instead for the greens base.
- To make this salad vegan, leave out the cheese (or use a vegan alternative) and swap the honey for maple syrup.
- Make the most of Christmas leftovers and toss some leftover shredded turkey in to this.
- Why not get creative with this salad and form it so it looks like a wreath. Put the dressing in a small bowl in the middle and build the greens around it and then "decorate" it with the toppings.
Claudia Lamascolo
The colors are so beautiful what a pretty addition to the holiday table!
Toni
This salad is such a showstopper!! Perfect for the holidays!
Gina
I'm a firm believer that every holiday dinner still needs a green salad! Love the festive ingredients in this one - perfect for Christmas dinner.