This romaine pear salad is fancy and sufficient to please your guests or family at any fall or winter gathering. Made by combining fresh pears and romaine lettuce, it is a blend of textures and flavors with the added crunch from cashews, a touch of salt and drizzle of poppy seed vinaigrette.
Love fall salads? Add this list of best of fall salad recipes to your menus this autumn for delicious salads all season long!
A Simple Fall Salad Recipe
This romaine salad with pears, cashews and vegan bleu cheese is simple, easy, gluten-free, and quick to prepare as a special entree at guest tables, or a light dinner ready by the minute.
Romaine pear salad is the perfect salad to be eaten in fall and winter, as pears are a seasonal fruit, it would add a wonderful pop of color to any Thanksgiving table as well! It’s easy to make with fresh, juicy ripe pears, crunchy romaine, salty nuts and a sweet and savory poppy seed dressing.
It’s mouthwatering salad and the perfect balance to any main dish!
Recipe Ingredients
How to Make Romaine Pear Salad
- Prep salad ingredients: First the romaine lettuce should be washed and chopped into fine pieces. Pears should be thinly sliced with or without the skin.
- Make poppy seed vinaigrette: Add all dressing ingredients to a small bowl, salad jar or mason jar. Stir or shake to combine.
- Add salad ingredients to a large bowl: Combine the chopped lettuce of romaine, cashews, dried cranberries, pears, tomatoes, red onion and vegan bleu cheese in a bowl.
- Drizzle with dressing and serve: The vinaigrette dressing is then drizzled on top of the mixture. Then toss the salad to evenly coat all the ingredients. Add a pinch of salt and pepper as needed.
Best Romaine and Pear Salad Tips
- Arrange the romaine salad leaves on a chilled salads plate then add remaining ingredients and drizzle with dressing.
- A salad spinner is perfect for washing your lettuce and still keeping your romaine crisp.
- Use apples instead of pears if you would.
- Instead of vegan bleu cheese crumbles try sliced avocado.
- Use other nuts like pecans, walnuts or for nut-free try pepitas or sunflower seeds.
- Toast the cashews for added flavor.
- You can fresh herbs like mint, basil, or parsley as well.
Pear Salad Recipe Serving Suggestions
The pear and romaine salad can be served with chickpea loaf for a Thanksgiving feast or any other holiday celebration.
It can also be paired with soups like tomato soup or vegetable soup. The pear salad can be served as an appetizer or be accompanied by a main course as a side dish. I love it for weeknight dinners with this maple mustard roasted vegetable sheet pan supper.
FAQs
Walnuts can be a classic choice because of their slightly bitter flavor, as they will complement the sweet ingredients in our pear and lettuce salad. Almonds can provide the crunch.
Pecans and cashews can be used because of their buttery and sweet flavor. It will give the salad a nutty taste.
Hazelnuts can add a distinctive flavor to your salad. This pairing will contribute to adding richness to our salad.
The shelf life is up to the ingredients used in our salad. It is best to serve it immediately or a few hours after making the lettuce pear salad recipe. The dressing can result in wilting of lettuce, so it is highly recommended to eat it within a day. The pears in the salad can be turned brown and it will lose its freshness. Nuts can also be staled if the salad is kept for too long.
The leftovers can be stored for a short period in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you need to store the ingredients, you must put them in separate boxes to avoid any kind of sogginess.
More Salad Recipes
Romaine and Pear Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 bunch romaine lettuce , chopped
- 1/4-1/2 cup cherry tomatoes , halved
- 1/4 cup red onion , thinly sliced
- 1 cup salted cashews , halves and pieces
- 1-2 medium pears , thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 2-3 ounce vegan bleu cheese crumbles , optional
Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup granulated cane sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons poppy seeds
- 2 teaspoon red onion , minced
- 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Make Dressing
- In a mason jar or salad dressing jar with a tight fitting lid, combine vinaigrette ingredients and shake well.
Assemble Salad
- In a large salad bowl, combine your romaine, cashews, pears, red onion, cherry tomatoes and cranberries. Add optional vegan blue cheese if using.
- Drizzle dressing over salad and toss to coat.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- I love the Follow Your Heart Bleu cheese crumbles.
- Storage: Salad is best fresh although you can store leftovers for up to a day in the fridge. Store dressing for up to a week in the refrigerator.
