Pear Salad Recipe with Pecans and Goat Cheese

This pear salad is a platter of peppery baby arugula, sliced ripe pears, crumbled goat cheese and pecans, finished with a honey cider vinaigrette or a few lines of balsamic glaze. It takes 15 minutes and serves 4 as a side or a starter.

The one rule: dress it at the table. Arugula is tender, and it goes limp within minutes of meeting the dressing. I have made this many times for dinner guests who say they “don’t like salad,” and I have watched them clear their plates.

What Goes on the Platter

• Greens: 4 cups baby arugula, rinsed and dried well
• Fruit: 2 ripe but firm pears, Bartlett or Bosc, cored and sliced about ¼ inch thick
• Cheese: 3 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled
• Crunch: ⅓ cup toasted pecans, whole or roughly chopped (or candied, see below)
• Dressing: 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon honey and a pinch of salt, or 2 tablespoons balsamic glaze

The Best Pears for Salad

Pick Bosc when the salad has to sit on a buffet. It is dense, stays firm after slicing and holds a fanned shape. Bartlett, red or green, is juicier and sweeter, but it bruises and softens faster, so slice it last. Either way, buy pears ripe but firm: press gently near the stem, and they should give a little there while the body still feels solid. A pear that is soft all over belongs in a tart, not on arugula.

Core them and cut slices about ¼ inch thick; thinner slices tear and go translucent. Leave the skin on. It is the only color on a green plate, and it holds each slice together.

Why Pear and Arugula Work So Well Together

Arugula is peppery and a little bitter, which keeps the sweet pear from taking over. The pear brings juice, the goat cheese brings something creamy and tangy, and the pecans bring the crunch. Take any one away and the salad tastes flat.

Dry greens matter more than people think. Spin the arugula, then blot it with a towel. Water left on the leaves dilutes the dressing, and it slides straight off to the bottom of the platter.

Goat Cheese, Blue Cheese or Gorgonzola?

I have made this salad with all three. Blue cheese and gorgonzola tend to dominate unless the pears are very ripe and sweet, and they fight with the vinegar in the dressing. Goat cheese stays in the background: it softens into the greens and rounds off the pepper of the arugula without hiding the fruit.

If you want a bolder salad anyway, use about half the amount of blue cheese and pick the ripest Bartlett pears. For more punch without changing the cheese, add extra pecans or a heavier drizzle of vinaigrette.

Toasting the Pecans

A dry skillet over medium heat is faster than the oven. Stir the pecans every 30 seconds for 3 to 5 minutes, until they smell nutty and turn a shade darker. Tip them onto a plate right away, because they keep cooking in the hot pan and a minute too long makes them bitter. Let them cool before they go on the salad. Warm nuts melt the goat cheese.

Toasted or Candied Pecans

A pear salad with candied pecans is sweeter and crunchier, and it is how many people know this salad. To make them, follow the stovetop method from my candied walnuts with raw pecan halves: the nuts are stirred in cinnamon sugar syrup until the coating turns dry and sandy. Use raw pecans, not toasted ones. Toasted nuts are oily, and the sugar will not cling. Candied pecans keep for 2 weeks in an airtight jar, so make them days ahead. If you go candied, use balsamic glaze sparingly or switch to the vinaigrette, or the salad tips toward dessert.

Vinaigrette or Balsamic Glaze?

The vinaigrette is 2 parts olive oil to 1 part apple cider vinegar, with a teaspoon of honey and a pinch of salt. Shake it in a small jar until it looks creamy. Spoon it over the finished platter a little at a time, right before serving. Pouring it all on in one spot drowns the leaves underneath.

Balsamic glaze is thick and sweet, so it goes on in thin lines over the finished platter and never gets tossed. I choose the vinaigrette when the rest of the meal is rich, like a roast or a Thanksgiving plate, and the glaze when the salad stands alone as a starter or a light lunch. Glaze can go on a few minutes ahead, but not more than 10.

How to Build the Salad

Use a wide platter, not a deep bowl, so nothing gets buried. Spread the arugula in an even layer, then fan the pear slices over it in a circle or scatter them loosely. Crumble the goat cheese with your fingers so it falls in small pieces, and scatter the pecans last so they settle into the gaps. Dress it, and serve right away.

Getting Ahead for a Holiday Table

Toast or candy the pecans and shake up the vinaigrette a day ahead; keep the nuts in a jar at room temperature and the dressing in the fridge, then let it sit out for 15 minutes before serving. Wash and dry the arugula in the morning and keep it in the fridge wrapped in a towel in a sealed container. Crumble the cheese and keep it cold.

Slice the pears last, no more than 2 hours ahead. A quick dip in lemon water slows browning; pat the slices dry before they go on the greens. Assemble the platter in the last 15 minutes. To serve 8, double everything and use two platters rather than piling one high, so the pears and cheese stay on top.

More Fall Salads and Pear Recipes

For another fruit and nut salad, try my apple walnut salad or the Christmas salad for December. On a Thanksgiving table, this salad sits well next to a Thanksgiving charcuterie board. Extra pears go into pear butter, red wine poached pears or a pear tart.

Save this pear salad to your fall salad board so it is easy to find in November. If you make it, tell me in the comments which pears and which pecans you used.