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Nearly every pear salad out there gets dressed with balsamic. This winter pear salad puts a roasted pear right in the vinaigrette instead. The dressing comes out creamy and a little sweet, sharpened with orange and shallot. Underneath: crisp greens, more fresh pear, pomegranate, maple-toasted walnuts and crumbled cashew cheese.
I layer the same roasted pear vinaigrette into a Mason Jar Salad for lunches, and any pears too soft for slicing go into a Pear Smoothie the next morning. Want a nudge to eat more salads this season? My 10-Day Salad Challenge will get you there.
What's in this post
Why You’ll Love It
- Pear in the dressing, not just on the plate. One roasted pear blended with olive oil, orange juice and white wine vinegar makes a vinaigrette that’s creamy and fruit-forward. No dairy, no mustard.
- Fresh pomegranate instead of dried cranberries. Same jewel-red pop, no added sugar.
- Dairy-free without tasting like a compromise. Crumbled Miyoko’s cashew cheese stands in for goat cheese or gorgonzola. As written, this winter pear salad is vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free.
- Five teaspoons of maple syrup for the whole recipe. Two in the dressing, a tablespoon on the walnuts, across four servings. Every other bit of sweetness is fruit.
Winter Pear Salad Ingredients
The full list is in the recipe card below. These are the ones that matter most.
- Pears: three total. Two get sliced for the salad (Bosc holds its slices best). One gets roasted for the dressing (a ripe Bartlett is ideal).
- Pomegranate arils: buy them pre-seeded if you’re short on time. Nobody will know.
- Miyoko’s cashew cheese: my favorite plant-based cheese, made from cultured cashews. Any of their wheels crumbles well. A savory, herby one plays best against the pear.
- Maple-toasted walnuts: 1 cup raw walnuts, 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup and 1 teaspoon unrefined coconut oil. They taste candied without a candy-coating’s worth of sugar.
- Roasted pear vinaigrette: the roasted pear gets blended with olive oil, fresh orange juice, white wine vinegar, garlic, shallot and 2 teaspoons of maple syrup. A drizzle of unrefined coconut oil, one of the fats I cook with most, helps the pear caramelize. White wine vinegar instead of balsamic keeps it bright, so the pear comes through.
November 9-13, 2026
Jen’s Free Soup Challenge
I’d love for you to soup it up with me! For 5 days, I’ll send you a daily veggie-packed soup that’s easy enough for a busy weeknight and makes enough to freeze and pull out all winter.
How to Make Winter Pear Salad
- Roast the pear. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Set the halved pear cut-side up on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 teaspoon coconut oil. Roast 10 to 15 minutes, until fork-tender. Set aside to cool (10 minutes in the fridge if you’re in a hurry).
- Toast the walnuts. Same oven, same temperature. Toss the walnuts with the maple syrup and 1 teaspoon coconut oil. Spread on a baking sheet and toast 3 to 5 minutes. Watch them. They go from golden to burnt in about thirty seconds. Cool on the pan.
- Blend the dressing. Add the cooled pear, olive oil, orange juice, vinegar, garlic, shallot, maple syrup, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust salt. An immersion blender in a jar handles this small batch beautifully, or use your high-speed blender.
- Slice and assemble. Slice the two fresh pears thin and toss with a squeeze of orange juice so they stay pale. Layer the greens, pears, red onion, walnuts, cheese and pomegranate on a platter. Dress right before serving.
Substitutions and Variations
- Pears: a crisp apple works in the salad. Keep the pear in the dressing, though. That’s the whole point.
- Pomegranate: fresh raspberries, or dried cranberries in a pinch (unsweetened if you can find them).
- Walnuts: pecans, pistachios or toasted pumpkin seeds. Or a handful of my Candied Pecans.
- Cheese: any crumbly plant-based cheese. If dairy is fine at your table, blue cheese, gorgonzola, goat cheese or feta.
- No added sugar: toast the walnuts with just the coconut oil and skip the maple in the dressing. The roasted pear is sweet enough.
- Different dressing: my Lemon Vinaigrette makes a brighter version for spring.
Make-Ahead, Storage and Freezing
- Dressing: up to 3 days ahead in a lidded glass jar in the fridge. Olive oil firms up when cold, so pull it out 15 minutes before serving and shake hard.
- Walnuts: up to a week ahead, airtight at room temperature.
- Pomegranate arils: up to 5 days ahead, airtight in the fridge.
- Pears: slice the day of. If you must slice early, toss with orange or lemon juice and refrigerate sealed.
- Traveling: greens in one container, toppings in another, dressing in the jar. Assemble on-site in five minutes.
- Leftovers: dressed salad keeps about 24 hours. The greens soften, but it’s still good for lunch.
- Freezing: the vinaigrette freezes up to 3 months in 2-tablespoon freezer cubes. Thaw in the fridge and shake or re-blend. The salad itself doesn’t freeze.
More Salads Worth Bringing
Love winter salads? Me too. Try these ones next:
- Marinated Celery Salad: crunchy, tangy and built to make ahead. My current favorite for potlucks.
- Fall Harvest Salad: roasted squash, candied pecans and the same bring-it-anywhere energy. It’s on our table the same week as this one.
- Kale Caesar Salad: a dairy-free caesar with garlic lemon aioli. Hearty enough to hold its own on a holiday spread.
- Lemon Arugula Salad: peppery, bright and fast. No oven required.
Common Questions
A roasted pear vinaigrette is my answer. It echoes the pear in the salad and gets naturally creamy from the blended fruit. Balsamic and lemon vinaigrettes are the common choices, and both work.
Pear pairs best with a cheese that’s salty and a little tangy. For a dairy-free pear salad, crumbled Miyoko’s cashew cheese is my go-to. If you eat dairy, blue cheese, gorgonzola, goat cheese and feta are all classic with pear.
Bosc pears are best for slicing into pear salad because they stay firm and crisp even when ripe. Anjou is a juicy, easy-to-find second choice. Soft, sweet Bartlett pears are better roasted into the dressing. To check ripeness, press gently at the neck below the stem. If it gives a little, it’s ready.
Toss sliced pears in a squeeze of orange or lemon juice as soon as you cut them. The acid slows browning for several hours. Slice as close to serving as you can.
Yes, in parts. Make the roasted pear vinaigrette up to 3 days ahead, toast the walnuts up to a week ahead, and seed the pomegranate up to 5 days ahead. Slice the pears the day you serve it and dress the salad right before it hits the table.
Recipe Card
Winter Pear Salad with Roasted Pear Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 2 pears cored and thinly sliced
- ¼ red onion thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup pomegranate arils
- 6 cup mixed greens
- ⅓ cup crumbled vegan blue cheese Miyoko’s is a great brand
Roasted Pear Vinaigrette
- 1 pear peeled, cored, and cut in half
- 1 tsp coconut oil, unrefined
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic clove minced
- 1 tbsp shallot finely chopped
- 2 tsp raw honey
- sea salt, unrefined to taste
- black pepper, ground ground, to taste
Toasted Walnuts
- 1 cup raw walnuts
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, unrefined
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425 °F. Place the pear halves cut-side up on a baking sheet and drizzle with some of the coconut oil. Roast until soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, or chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Place the roasted pear, olive oil, orange juice, vinegar, garlic, shallot, honey, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt.
Toasted Walnuts
- While the pear cools, toss the walnuts with the maple syrup and the remaining coconut oil and spread on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven until golden and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely. Let cool on the pan.
- Thinly slice the fresh pears and toss with a squeeze of orange juice to prevent browning.
- Arrange the mixed greens on a platter or in a large bowl. Top with the sliced pears, red onion, toasted walnuts, vegan blue cheese and pomegranate arils.
- Drizzle with the vinaigrette just before serving, toss gently and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
- Greens Swap: Use any leafy greens you like. A mix adds the most depth.
- Lower Sugar: For a vegan salad, use pure maple syrup in place of the honey. For no added sugar, skip the honey and toast the walnuts with just the coconut oil.
- Shallot Swap: Swap the shallot for a little finely chopped white onion.
- Storing: The vinaigrette keeps up to 3 days in an airtight jar in the fridge; shake well before using. Store the salad components separately, since dressed leftovers keep only about 24 hours.
Nutrition
Serving: 2 cups | Saturated Fat: 10 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16 g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16 g | Sodium: 93 mg | Potassium: 468 mg | Sugar: 23 g | Vitamin A: 730 IU | Vitamin C: 25 mg | Calcium: 74 mg | Iron: 2 mg
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Delicious! Emily Vock made it for Txgiving, and I can’t wait to make my own
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