Pecan Berry Salad
I love a gorgeous salad! Delicious for spring and summer gatherings, serve a layered Pecan Berry Salad, a green salad layered with berries, goat cheese, and golden pecans. It’s delicious served with a balsamic vinaigrette. Optional to toss ahead with the dressing, or serve the dressing on the side.
Spring and summer hosting is always the best when you serve a beautiful, nutritional Pecan Berry Salad! Just in time for Easter, Mother’s Day, or a family weeknight meal, enjoy this pecan and berry green salad recipe, with your favorite balsamic dressing.
Pecan Berry Salad
Pecans have a naturally sweet taste, with a satisfying crunch, that pairs well with so many other flavors! One of my favorite salads to bring to a party is starting off with a huge bowl of baby arugula or salad greens. And then you add fruit, goat cheese and gorgeous pecans. It’s a simple salad, but everyone loves it!
Why I love this recipe
- This salad has a beautifuul presentation, as you can assemble it in many ways.
- We love it for Memorial Day or Fourth of July because you can use red and blue berries, and then of course the goat cheese is white!
- It’s quick to put together, because you can pick up any balsamic dressing at the market.
Gather these ingredients
- Mixed salad greens: or you can use baby spinach or arugula
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Goat cheese, crumbled
- Pecan halves: optional to chop in small pieces
- Balsamic vinaigrette dressing: pick up your favorite brand a the market
How do you make a Pecan Berry Salad?
- On a large platter or bowl, spread out the salad greens.
- Next, sprinkle on blueberries, layer the strawberries—working from the outer edge of the plate to the center.
- Using your fingers, crumble the goat cheese onto the greens in medium to large crumbles.
- Finally, spread on the pecans (optional to chop in smaller pieces).
- Toss with your favorite dressing (balsamic is best) and serve chilled.
It can be tough to come up with new dishes, but for a wholesome salad think of these easy ingredients: Greens, berries, cheese, and nuts. You can’t go wrong with this combination!
Tips and substitutions
- Buy one bag of pecans and they go a long way in making dishes more wholesome and flavorful.
- Any kind of salad greens work for this salad. You can use Iceberg, butter leaf, romaine, arugula, or baby spinach. We used mixed greens.
- You can make your own balsamic dressing, buy a store-bought bottle, or another quick tip is to drizzle with balsamic glaze. We love Delallo brand and it’s fantastic–rich and so tasty!
- Swap out the goat cheese for feta cheese. We’ve even made this salad with Dubliner cheese (if you are looking for a grass-fed cheese).
- Optional to swap out the pecans for other nuts, like almonds or walnuts. Also optional to serve the pecans in large pieces, or to chop them. You can even leave off the nuts, or serve them on the side if you need to.
- Use berries in season. You can also swap out the berries and add fresh peaches or pears, grapes or figs.
- Add a nice citrus tough with dried mandarin oranges and dried cranberries.
How do you serve a Pecan Berry Salad?
Many think of pecans as a dessert nut, but we love to serve them on salmon, or in quinoa salads, and they are delicious on green salads. We love this salad served with kebabs, rice, and this pie for the perfect summer meal.
Set it out already tossed, or serve it in a large platter or bowl with dressing on the side.
More green salad recipes you may want to try:
- Green Salad with Shrimp and Avocado
- Skinny Pink Salmon Salad
- Greenhouse Salad
- Mandarin Crunch Salad
- Wedge Salad Bites
Get the Recipe:
Pecan Berry Salad
Ingredients
- 7-8 oz mixed salad greens, or baby spinach or arugula
- 6 oz fresh blueberries
- 8 oz fresh strawberries, sliced
- 6 oz goat cheese, crumbled
- 1 cup whole pecan halves, optional to chop
- Balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Instructions
- On a large platter, spread out the salad greens.
- Next, sprinkle on blueberries, layer the strawberries—working from the outer edge of the plate to the center.
- Using your fingers, crumble the goat cheese onto the greens in medium to large crumbles.
- Finally, spread on the pecans. Optional to chop.
- Toss with your favorite dressing and serve cold. Optional to serve the salad dressing on the side.
Notes
This post was originally sponsored by American Pecans in 2019, but as always, all opinions are my own.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
