Spinach Pear Salad with Gouda and Hazelnuts

A delicious spinach pear salad topped with Gouda cheese, toasted hazelnuts, and pomegranate seeds, all tossed in a sweet and tangy white wine vinaigrette with maple syrup. Vegetarian, gluten-free, and packed with healthy ingredients.  

We love adding sweet and juicy fruits to savory salads - from autumn apple farro salad, to this shaved brussels sprouts salad, and this spinach pear salad - you can’t go wrong!

A delicious and well-balanced salad has four things: something sweet, something savory, something crunch, and something creamy!  This spinach pear salad has all of the above and gets bonus points for the stunning colors as well!

The vibrant red and green colors make it a festive salad to grace your holiday table! With the toasted hazelnuts and gouda, it is fancy and indulgent, but it can be our secret that this spinach pear salad incredibly easy to prepare!

Recipe Video

Watch the video below to see exactly how I prepped this salad. It’s so easy! You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel.

Ingredient Notes

• Spinach- or any leafy green. Arugula would be a great alternative!
• Pomegranate seeds - which you can de-seed in advance. See how to eat a pomegranate for instructions on how to easily remove the seeds. 
• Gouda - we went for a regular gouda, but you could be adventurous and try different flavors! Goat cheese or feta cheese would be a delicious alternative to Gouda as well. 
• Pear- we used a Bartlett pear for this recipe, but really any pear will be great in this pear salad including Bosc or Anjou.
• Hazelnuts - be sure to take the extra time to toast them...this makes ALL the difference in this salad! If you are short on hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts would be a great alternative.
• White wine vinaigrette - we are using my favorite white wine vinaigrette in this recipe. It is tangy but neutral and lets all the other flavors shine.

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Step By Step Directions

Toast Hazelnuts

In a pan, toast hazelnuts over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and golden brown. This will take around 10 minutes.

Combine Vinaigrette

Shake together all vinaigrette ingredients.

Assemble Salad

Combine all salad ingredients and toss in the dressing. Serve immediately.

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Variations

1. Hazelnuts can be swapped for almonds, walnuts, pecans, or pine nuts
2. Swap Gouda for goat cheese, feta, or even blue cheese
3. Spinach can be swapped for arugula or a salad mix
4. Swap bartlett pear for bosc, anjou pear, or apple
5. Swap pomegranate seeds for fresh raspberries, blueberries, or sliced strawberries
6. The white wine vinaigrette dressing could be swapped for red wine vinaigrette or one of these 7 basic vinaigrette recipes

FAQ

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Serve it with

This spinach pear salad is a great side salad, and you can increase the portion size and add extra protein to make it a meal! 

• Salmon - two of my faves are this balsamic salmon marinade or this herb crusted broiled salmon
• Chicken- these perfect crispy baked chicken thighs are great for a fancier dinner.
• Pork - this easy pork tenderloin or Instant Pot ribs
• Potatoes- try these fun herb & garlic potato stacks, or this low carb potato alternative: fluffy parmesan mashed cauliflower
• Roasted Veggies- these balsamic roasted brussels sprouts and this maple cinnamon roasted butternut squash would both be great.

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Storage

This spinach pear salad does not keep well and we recommend eating it within an hour of adding the dressing. However, you could prep some of the ingredients for this salad up to 4 days before serving:

Meal Prep

1. Toast the hazelnuts
2. Shake up the vinaigrette
3. Cut the gouda and de-seed the pomegranate 
4. Do not add vinaigrette until right before you serve