My winter salad is full of fresh seasonal produce and beautiful colors and textures all topped with an easy blood orange poppy seed dressing. This balanced green salad mixes up in just a few minutes on a weeknight but is impressive enough to serve for special holiday meals.
And if you enjoy this zesty recipe, you'll love my spring mix salad with champagne dressing, too!
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❤️ Why You'll Love this Recipe
Simple to Make - You don't need any kitchen appliances or chef-level skills to pull this quick and easy winter salad recipe together. Just about 10 minutes and a few straightforward steps: mix, toss, garnish, and serve!
Colorful and Flavorful - Winter will give way to spring very soon but you don't have to wait for that transition to enjoy delicious, in-season fruits and vegetables! There is plenty of fresh flavor to be had right now and this salad is proof. This baby kale and pear salad is loaded down with mix-ins but still refreshing; and you'll taste earthy, sweet, tart, bright, nutty, and tangy flavors in each bite.
More top-tier salad ideas: my easy hamburger salad bowl, fall favorite autumn harvest salad with delicata squash, the best massaged kale salad with cranberries, Mediterranean cucumber salad, and chopped southwestern salad with chicken!
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Featured Reader Review
★★★★★
"Not only is this salad beautiful to look at, but it also tastes amazing! The bold colors and flavors work so well together. And don't get me started on the blood-orange poppy seed dressing! I'm going to start using it as a topping for everything."
-Marcus
What You'll Need for this Recipe
I followed my homemade salad formula to create this winter rainbow salad so it hits all the right notes. Truthfully, I originally developed the dressing recipe first the built the salad with the question what flavors go well with blood orange in mind. Here are the highlights:
Baby Kale for the winter vibes but with a tender texture! I like to use half baby kale and half of a greens blend with butter lettuce, arugula, and romaine. See the substitutions section below for more options.
Blood Oranges, Pears, and Pomegranates each add a different texture, fruity flavor, and vibrant color to this salad. These are also in-season winter fruits that are abundantly available during the colder months. Use any variety of pear you like!
Gorgonzola Cheese adds creamy texture with pungent, savory, and salty flavor notes. Grab gorgonzola crumbles from the store or you can buy a block of the cheese and crumble it yourself.
Blood Orange Juice Vinaigrette comes together in just a couple of minutes with five ingredients and takes the salad over the top. The recipe calls for poppy seeds but they can be pricey so feel free to leave them out if need be.
Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients list, measurements, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions!
Substitutions & Variations
Leafy Greens - If needed, you can replace the baby kale and lettuce mix in this salad with other green blends available at your grocery store or from the garden or farmer's market. Arugula, spinach, and baby Swiss chard would all work. Regular kale and even collard greens can also work but will need to be chopped and massaged in the dressing. Then let them sit in the dressing for 30 minutes to an hour so they can soften.
Nuts - Feel free to add other nuts to the mix like pecans and pistachios or even pine nuts. These can be incorporated in addition to the walnuts in the recipe for extra crunchy bits or as a replacement.
Cheese - Gorgonzola generally has milder flavor and softer texture than other blue cheeses but if you can't find it, opt for a different variety of blue cheese. Feta and goat cheese can also work in a pinch. Or you can omit the cheese to make your winter kale salad vegan.
Dressing - Blood oranges are in season from December through April, making them perfect for a winter salad dressing! Beyond the winter and early spring, you can still make the citrus vinaigrette but with oranges, lemons, limes, or grapefruit instead of the blood orange.
Or try one of my other popular salad dressings like clean ranch dressing, apple cider vinaigrette, and orange juice dressing!
How to Make a Winter Salad with Blood Oranges
- Step 1: Roughly chop your carrots, slice the pears, and peel and slice the blood oranges.
- Step 2: Mix up all the dressing ingredients.
Pro Tip #1
Cut the pears into different sizes depending on your preference. Long slices make for a nice presentation when serving and bite-sized chunks are easier to eat. You can even do a combination of shapes and sizes to get the best of both worlds!
- Step 3: Toss the salad leaves in the dressing until evenly coated.
- Step 4: Spread out half the salad toppings over the greens then toss.
Pro Tip #2
I recommend tossing the greens in a large, deep mixing bowl to minimize mess but serving the whole salad in a more shallow dish because the smaller ingredients tend to sink to the bottom. This makes it easier to get a variety of ingredients on your plate!
- Step 5: Sprinkle the remaining toppings over top then serve.
Make it a Meal!
Add Protein: To make this salad more hearty and substantial, pair it with an easy animal or plant-based protein options like a simple steak, my honey mustard chicken or lemon pepper shrimp. You can throw the salad together while the protein cooks and have dinner in no time!
Build Bowls: Turn leftovers into a yummy winter salad bowl by combining the salad with bite-sized protein and warm quinoa or wild rice. Other ideas that work well in this meal prep mix are roasted sweet potato bites, maple brussels sprouts, and garlic green beans.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can either prep your ingredients up to one week in advance and store them separately until you're ready to serve OR assemble the whole salad up to four days in advance. In either case, reserve the dressing until just before eating.
Once everything is mixed up, this salad should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated. It will keep for up to four days.
This recipe serves about six people and can be doubled, tripled or quadrupled for larger gatherings. I recommend prepping it in batches in multiple bowls or serving dishes for easier mixing.
How to Serve
Colorful green salads are typically associated with warmer weather, but winter green salad recipes are truly a thing of beauty. So this one is perfect for putting on the Thanksgiving dinner table or serving at your Friendsgiving party if you can find all the ingredients during November.
And, since blood oranges become properly abundant starting in December, why not make a festive winter holiday salad for Christmas dinner and your other winter holiday dinner parties?
More Favorite Winter Recipes to Love
Looking for more recipes like this? Try these:
I hope you'll enjoy this winter harvest salad recipe soon and very soon. And sharing is caring so be sure to pin it for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
📖 Recipe
Winter Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette
Equipment
- 1 knife
- 1 mason jar or airtight container
- 1 kitchen tongs or two kitchen spoons
- 1 shallow serving dish
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 2 blood oranges
- 2 pears
- 1 cup matchstick carrots
- 5 ounces baby kale
- 5 ounces arugula or lettuce blend of your choice
- 1 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
- ½ cup pomegranate arils
- 1 cup walnuts halves or pieces
For the Dressing
- 3 blood oranges
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup or sweetener of your choice
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoon poppy seeds
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Prep the Produce: Peel and slice two blood oranges. Slice or chop the pears. Roughly chop the carrots. Toss the kale and lettuce in dressing.2 blood oranges, 2 pears, 1 cup matchstick carrots
- Make the Dressing: Squeeze juice of three blood oranges into mason jar then pour in olive oil, maple syrup, vinegar, poppy seeds, and ground ginger. Seal jar and shake until dressing is uniform. Taste and add salt, as needed.3 blood oranges, ¼ cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons maple syrup, 3 tablespoons white vinegar, 1 ½ teaspoon poppy seeds, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, sea salt
- Start the Salad: Add baby kale and arugula blend to mixing bowl then use tongs to toss the leaves in salad dressing until evenly coated. Mix in half of the blood orange slices, pear slices, carrots, gorgonzola cheese, pomegranate arils, and walnuts then toss the mixture again. Note that the smaller ingredients of the salad tend to sink to the bottom of the bowl so it's helpful to scoop up the bottom ingredients and bring them to the top as you mix.5 ounces baby kale, 5 ounces arugula, 1 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese, ½ cup pomegranate arils, 1 cup walnuts
- Finish the Salad: Spread salad mixture onto serving dish. Sprinkle remaining blood orange, pear, carrot, cheese, pomegranate, and nuts over top then serve.
Amari says
Five stars for this salad! My husband went for seconds, which is unheard of! That dressing is so good, it going to be my go-to during blood orange season.
Jazzmine Woodard says
Thanks for your feedback, Amari! I love the dressing, too!
Marcus Avery says
Not only is this salad beautiful to look at, but it also tastes amazing! The bold colors and flavors work so well together. And don't get me started on the blood orange poppy seed dressing! I'm going to start using it as a topping for everything.
Kaluhi says
Such a delightful salad! Super nutritious and very yummy too! I particularly enjoyed the ginger notes in the dressing. I will make this again and again!
Lilly says
The blood orange dressing is the best! I love the taste of it, especially on this salad. I will definitely be making this again
Jessica says
I've made this salad 3 times in the past two weeks. I love all the colors and textures and the dressing is so delicious. Make extra dressing to have around because it tastes good on everything!
Brittany F. says
The bold colors and bright flavors in this salad are the perfect cure for winter blues! I loved how delicious this salad is. Your recipe also gives me another way to use the pears from my pear tree.
Marta says
I've always been a fan of lemon poppy seed dressing so I was intrigued when I saw this blood orange poppy seed dressing. It was so perfect for the winter salad. I added more arugula to mine and the sweetness of the dressing played so beautifully with it.