Why it’s so good!
While pears may scream Fall, this pear and walnut salad is truly lovely at any time of year. It’s refreshing, tangy and just a touch sweet with crisp slices of pear and mixed salad leaves. It’s finished with crunchy toasted walnuts and salty pecorino and it’s truly delicious.
This pear salad just happens to be extremely easy to make too. My version of homemade Italian dressing is tangy and a little sweet and loaded with far more flavour than you get in the bottled variety. The dressing ingredients are simply shaken together in a jar, then added to the salad in a bowl and you’re ready to serve.
Try this gorgeous and tasty beetroot and feta salad too.
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Ingredients
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
The pear salad ingredients
- Pears: You can’t have pear and walnut salad without pears. Since the pears are not cooked, you can use just any here; use your favourite to eat or just pick one that feels firm but looks and smells ripe. I prefer a small pear so the slices aren’t too large in the salad but any size does work. I’ve used Bartlett pears here.
- Walnuts: The other hero in this salad is walnuts. Please don’t skip toasting them as it changes the flavour in such a lovely way. They become more nutty and less bitter.
- Mixed leaves: For the green portion of this salad, I use a mesclun mix which is just a mix of different types of lettuce leaves and baby spinach. Some leaves are bitter, some a little sweeter and the mixture looks really pretty. I also add a little rocket (arugula) as well for it’s peppery flavour.
- Onion: I use simple red onion here. You could use shallot but it is a much stronger onion flavour. Spring onions / green onions / scallions will work in a bind. A white salad onion is perfect too.
- Pecorino: To the cheese; the umami. I use pecorino cheese, though shaved parmesan cheese will work just as well. It has a rich and pungent flavour without being overwhelming.
The pear salad dressing ingredients
- Olive oil: Get a good quality extra virgin olive oil for this as it’s a big part of the flavour.
- White wine vinegar: This gives loads of zing and refreshing flavour from a shelf stable vinegar.
- Dijon mustard: Dijon adds something very special to the dressing. The dressing doesn’t taste mustardy as such, but it adds richness, tang and a little saltiness too.
- Oregano: I love oregano in this version of Italian dressing, but other dried herbs will work, too, like dried basil or mixed Italian herbs (not Italian seasoning).
- Sugar: I do prefer my dressings on the sweeter side. It’s not candy-sweet, but still noticeably sweet, if you know what I mean. It adds so much life to a dressing. Just white sugar is fine here.
How to make it
This walnut & pear salad is so incredibly easy to make. A few simple salad ingredients and my homemade Italian dressing (that tastes worlds above that bland bottled variety).
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Toast the walnuts
The very first step is to toast the walnuts. Don’t skip this step as it changes and elevates the flavour of them whilst making them more crunchy too.
2. Make the dressing
Now add all the dressing ingredients to a jar with a tight fitting lid and give it a really good shake up until it’s fully combined. You can make this dressing a few days in advance if you like.
3. Coat the pears
Slice the pears and, straight away, toss them in a bowl with the dressing to stop them from oxidising (turning brown).
4. Combine the salad
Finally, add the rest of the salad ingredients to the bowl and give it a good toss to coat everything. I like to hold back a few walnuts and a little cheese to scatter over the top at the end.
Tips and tricks
- Don’t assemble the salad until you’re ready to serve: The dressing will soften the leaves so the salad needs to be served immediately once dressed. The pears can be dressed in the dressing ahead of time, up to a couple of hours, but leave everything else until the end.
- Pears will oxidise / turn brown soon after they’re sliced so they need to be mixed with the dressing (or just some lemon juice) to stop that from happening.
- Don’t skip toasting the walnuts: They taste so much more amazing once toasted. More nutty and rich and more crunchy too.
What to serve with it
This pear walnut salad is fresh, sweet and tangy so it goes really lovely with rich flavours like these:
Variations
This walnut pear salad is perfect just as it is but you can make some swaps to ingredients you may love or have on hand.
- Vinegar: The white wine vinegar in the dressing can be swapped in part or all for lemon juice.
- Sugar: The sugar in the dressing can be swapped for 1-2 teaspoons of honey or maple syrup to your taste.
- Cheese: A classic cheese used in a pear and walnut salad is a blue cheese, like gorgonzola or roquefort. You can go milder with some unctuous brie, or simply swap the pecorino cheese for parmesan cheese. Goat cheese is another one that will work great with these flavours.
- Salad leaves: I love the colour and flavour of a mesclun mix (or mixed lettuce leaves) but rocket (roquette or arugula) are also fantastic with the sweetness of the pears.
- Walnuts: You can use other nuts as well. Pecans or almonds would be fantastic.
- Pears: They might be the star of the show, but this salad works beautifully with apples too!
Storage / making it ahead
This pear salad recipe is best tossed together right before serving as the delicate leaves will soften quite quickly once dressed. You can make the dressing 3-4 days ahead of time though. You can slice the pears a couple of hours before serving but make sure to either dress them in the dressing immediately or in a little lemon juice to stop them from turning brown.
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Ingredients
DRESSING
- 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (notes 1)
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar) (notes 1)
- 2 teaspoons white sugar (or 1 tsp for less sweet)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
SALAD
- 2 small pears (or 1 ½ medium pears)
- 4 cups mixed salad leaves (80g / ~2 ¾oz)
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ⅓ cup walnut halves
- 30 g shaved pecorino cheese use a block and shave it with a veg peeler
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Jar with tight fitting lid
- Large mixing bowl
Instructions
- To toast the walnuts, preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Place the walnuts onto a baking sheet in the preheated oven for 6-8 minutes or until deep golden brown. Tip them out onto a plate immediately and let them cool.
- Combine the dressing ingredients, up to and including the oregano, in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well to emulsify. Taste, then add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut the pears in half and remove the core. Slice thinly.
- Add the pear slices to a large mixing bowl and add the dressing. Toss well to coat thoroughly.
- Add the salad leaves, onion. cooled walnuts and half the pecorino cheese and toss again.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and scatter over the remaining pecorino.
- Serve immediately.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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