Pear Salad

5 from 1 vote

This easy vegan pear salad tosses sliced pears, nuts, cranberries, and mixed greens in a tangy balsamic vinaigrette—a classic appetizer or side dish you can pair with everyday family dinners or extravagant holiday meals!

Prep Time15

Cook Time0

Total Time15

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings: -6

Calories: 393kcal

Author: Toni Okamoto

Equipment

Ingredients

5 ounces of mixed greens
2-3 ripe pears, cored and sliced
1 lemon
4 tablespoons dried cranberries or raisins
4 tablespoons of nuts of choice
1 cup of balsamic vinaigrette

Instructions

To a large bowl, add the salad greens, cranberries or raisins, and nuts of choice. Mix well and set aside.
Core and slice the pears to a bit more than a ¼ inch of thickness. Do not slice too thin or the pear slices will break. Add the pear slices into a bowl and squeeze the lemon. Toss to coat well. This will help slow down the browning of the pears.
When ready to serve, add ¼ cup of dressing to the bowl and mix well. Place half of the pears in the bowl and gently toss.
Add the remeing pears on top of the salt and garnish, drizzle two tablespoons of dressing over the salad and serve.

Notes

Seek out ripe pears: We recommend buying the pears for this salad 2 to 3 days in advance. This way, if they’re too firm or not quite ripe, they have time to ripen and soften. If you need the pears to ripen quickly, place them on the kitchen counter or in a paper bag with an apple or a banana for 1 to 2 days.

Do not slice the pears too thin: Slice the pears to an even ¼ inch thickness. Any thinner and they’ll likely break when you’re tossing the salad.

Dress just before serving: For the best results, wait to dress the salad until right before serving. Letting the greens sit in the dressing for too long will cause them to wilt.

Nutrition