Easy Thanksgiving Salad with Pears, Walnuts and Blue Cheese
On Thanksgiving the oven is spoken for from the moment the turkey goes in, and this salad never needs it.
It’s an easy Thanksgiving salad of crisp pear and apple, toasted walnuts and blue cheese, with an orange vinaigrette you can whisk together a few days early, so the day itself is just slicing and tossing.
Scroll down for the ingredients and step-by-step.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The oven stays free for the turkey, since the only heat involved is a skillet of walnuts you can toast the day before.
- It’s a simple Thanksgiving salad to scale up. For 12 people, double every line, dressing included.
- It travels in parts and comes together in minutes at someone else’s counter.
- It puts something cold and crunchy on a plate full of soft, warm food.
When and Who This Is For
This is the salad for the cook running Thanksgiving off one oven and a turkey timeline, and it fits a few other moments too:
- The guest whose job in the family group chat is “the salad”
- Friendsgiving, when the table fills up with casseroles and somebody needs to bring something fresh
- Christmas dinner a month later, while pears are still in season
It’s gluten free as long as your Dijon is labeled gluten free. As a vegetarian Thanksgiving salad, the one ingredient to check is the blue cheese, since Gorgonzola and Roquefort are traditionally made with animal rennet, so look for a crumble labeled with microbial or vegetable rennet. The walnuts, cheese and honey mean it isn’t nut-free, dairy-free or vegan. For vegan guests, the ratatouille casserole is a vegetable side that’s vegan as written and sits comfortably beside a turkey.
Ingredients:
For the salad
- 6 cups mixed greens (140 g), such as arugula, spinach and baby kale
- 2 to 3 ripe pears (about 450 g), thinly sliced
- 1 crisp apple, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup walnuts (50 g), toasted
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (60 g)
- Optional: pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries
- Optional: roasted sweet potato or butternut squash
For the orange vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (60 ml)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (30 ml)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (15 ml)
- 1 tablespoon honey (15 ml)
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (120 ml)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Optional: 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Pears lead here, and since most varieties are in season from fall into winter, a pear salad for Thanksgiving is working with the calendar rather than against it. Bartlett turns soft and juicy when ripe, while Bosc and Anjou stay firmer under a knife.
The greens do better on a crowded table when the mix includes arugula and baby kale. Sturdier leaves take longer to wilt once they’re dressed than soft lettuce does.
Blue cheese from a tub saves time on the day, but a wedge you crumble yourself breaks into bigger, creamier pieces, since pre-crumbled cheese is usually drier.
The orange vinaigrette is mostly orange juice, with apple cider vinegar for sharpness and Dijon to hold the oil and juice together.
How to Make This Easy Salad for Thanksgiving
1. Toast the walnuts and whisk the dressing
Both of these can be done ahead, so I treat them as one job. Spread the 1/2 cup (50 g) walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat and toast for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until they smell nutty. Tip them onto a plate and let them cool completely.
For the vinaigrette, whisk together the 1/4 cup (60 ml) orange juice, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Dijon, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) honey and the cayenne in a small bowl. Add the 1/2 cup (120 ml) olive oil in a slow stream, whisking the whole time, until the dressing is smooth and emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, taste, and add a little more honey if it’s sharper than you’d like. If you’re making it ahead, pour it straight into a jar so it can go into the fridge and get a shake before serving.
2. Lay down the greens
Pile the 6 cups (140 g) of greens onto a large platter or into a wide, shallow bowl. If you washed them yourself, dry them thoroughly first, because water left on the leaves stops the dressing from clinging and ends up pooled at the bottom of the platter. A bag of prewashed greens can go straight on.
3. Slice and layer the pears and apple
Slice the pears and apple thinly, lengthwise, and layer them over the greens. I slice the fruit last, once everything else is ready, because cut pear and apple start to brown within minutes. If they’ll sit for longer than that, toss the slices with a squeeze of lemon juice first.
4. Add the walnuts and blue cheese
Scatter the cooled walnuts and the 1/2 cup (60 g) crumbled blue cheese over the fruit.
5. Dress it at the table
Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss gently just before serving, or set the jar alongside so everyone pours their own. On a buffet, keep the dressing on the side.
Your Thanksgiving Week Plan
Everything except the fruit can be done before Thursday, and here’s how I’d spread it out:
- Monday or Tuesday. Whisk the vinaigrette and keep it in a jar in the fridge. Made with fresh orange juice, it keeps for up to 3 days.
- Wednesday. Toast the walnuts and store them airtight once they’re cool. Wash and dry the greens, wrap them in paper towels and refrigerate them in a container, and crumble the cheese if you bought a wedge.
- Thursday, when the turkey comes out. Take the dressing out of the fridge, since the olive oil firms up in the cold and needs about 10 minutes at room temperature before a good shake brings it back together. Slice the fruit and build the platter while the turkey rests. The easy holiday turkey with garlic, lemon and rosemary rests for 30 minutes, which is plenty of time.
- At the table. Dress and toss.
That leaves the salad for Thanksgiving Day itself at about ten minutes of slicing and layering.
Tips and Variations
Buy the pears early. Pears ripen off the tree, so if the ones at the store are hard, buying them the weekend before gives them time to soften on the counter. Once they’re ripe, the fridge slows them down until Thursday.
Cheese for a mixed table. If blue cheese divides your guests, shaved Manchego or crumbled ricotta salata keep the salty bite without the blue. You can also put the blue cheese in a small bowl beside the platter so people add their own.
Nut-free. Leave off the walnuts and toast pumpkin seeds in the same dry skillet until they start to pop.
Cranberry or pomegranate. Dried cranberries or pomegranate seeds scattered over the top add tartness and tie the platter to the cranberry sauce on the table.
Borrow from another side. If you’re already roasting sweet potatoes or butternut squash for dinner, set a cup aside, let it cool, and add it to the salad for something heartier.
Maple instead of honey. Maple syrup swaps in one for one in the dressing.
Ways to Serve It
- As a Thanksgiving side salad on the buffet, with the dressing in a jug beside it
- Plated as a first course while the turkey is being carved, so there’s something on the table as the last dishes come out
- Split across two smaller platters, one at each end of a long table, so nobody has to ask for it to be passed
Questions You May Have About This Salad
How do I keep a Thanksgiving salad from going soggy?
Most of what separates a good salad recipe for Thanksgiving from a soggy one is timing. Dress it only at the table, make sure the greens are completely dry before they go on the platter, and let the walnuts cool all the way, since warm nuts start wilting the leaves they touch. Slicing the fruit last keeps the pears from browning while you wait.
How much salad do I need for Thanksgiving?
This recipe serves 6 as a side, which assumes the salad is sharing the plate with turkey and several other dishes. For 12, double everything, dressing included. If it’s one of only a few sides, plan on bigger helpings and round up rather than down.
How do I bring it to someone else’s house?
Pack it in parts. Put the greens in a bowl or bag with a paper towel, the walnuts and cheese in separate containers, and the dressing in a jar. Either bring the pears and apple whole with a knife and a lemon, or slice them at home, toss them with lemon juice and pack them in a sealed container. Keep the cheese and any cut fruit in a cooler bag if the drive is long, then build the platter when you arrive and dress it at the table.
What can I do with leftovers?
Dressed greens wilt, so anything that’s been dressed is best eaten the same day. Undressed leftovers keep for about a day in the fridge before the pears brown and the greens soften. For lunch on Friday, pile some sliced leftover turkey on top and dress it fresh.
Related Recipes
- Fall Salad with Beets, Goat Cheese and Toasted Walnuts, a second salad for a bigger table, with roasted beet slices and goat cheese in place of fruit and blue.
- Easy Thanksgiving desserts that aren’t pie, for the end of the meal, including a handful that never need the oven.
- Thanksgiving cranberry cocktail, a two-ingredient pour for the toast before you carve.
Pass the Vinaigrette
Thanksgiving is about passing things down the table, and this platter gives everyone something cold and crisp to pass alongside the turkey and stuffing. Send the jar of orange vinaigrette round with the gravy, and let Friday’s lunch take care of whatever’s left. Save it to your Thanksgiving board on Pinterest so it’s there when you sit down to write the menu. 🦃
Easy Thanksgiving Salad with Pears, Walnuts and Blue Cheese
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 6 cups mixed greens 140 g, such as arugula, spinach and baby kale
- 2 to 3 ripe pears about 450 g, thinly sliced
- 1 crisp apple thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup walnuts 50 g, toasted
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese 60 g
- Pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries optional
- Roasted sweet potato or butternut squash cooled, optional
For the orange vinaigrette:
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice 60 ml
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 30 ml
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 15 ml
- 1 tablespoon honey 15 ml
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 120 ml
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest optional
Instructions
- Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant. Tip onto a plate and cool completely.
- Whisk the orange juice, apple cider vinegar, Dijon, honey and cayenne in a small bowl. Add the olive oil in a slow stream, whisking continuously, until smooth and emulsified. Season with salt and pepper and adjust to taste.
- Pile the dry greens onto a large platter or into a wide, shallow bowl.
- Thinly slice the pears and apple lengthwise and layer them over the greens. Toss the slices with a squeeze of lemon juice first if they will sit for more than a few minutes.
- Scatter the cooled walnuts and blue cheese over the top.
- Drizzle with the vinaigrette and toss gently just before serving, or serve the dressing alongside.
Notes
- Make ahead: the vinaigrette keeps up to 3 days in a jar in the fridge. Toast the walnuts, wash and dry the greens, and crumble the cheese the day before. Slice the fruit and dress the salad just before serving. The olive oil firms up when chilled, so let the dressing sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes and shake it before using.
- For a crowd: double every ingredient, dressing included, to serve 12.
- Cheese: Gorgonzola and Roquefort are traditionally made with animal rennet, so for vegetarian guests look for a blue cheese labeled with microbial or vegetable rennet.
- Calorie estimate is for the base recipe with all the dressing used, and optional add-ins will change it.
