Blackberry Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese

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HELLOOOO SPRING! This Blackberry Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese is so bright, tasty, and perfect for the spring season! It makes an excellent side dish to pair with a filling main, or a lunch on its own!

When spring rolls around and all of the gorgeous, seasonal produce starts to look fresh and delicious, it’s time to make salads.  But, not of the boring, iceberg variety...  

I love salads made with arugula, because it’s peppery, sturdy and pairs well with fruit, such as these blackberries. Not only does it pair well with fruit, but when tossed with homemade vinaigrette, it somehow gets even more delicious.  

This salad is pretty simple, although it looks impressive and is sure to wow your family and guests.  This is a fantastic salad to bring to a party, BBQ, or to pair with a heavier main dish, such as this Creamy Ranch Chicken or Boursin Chicken and Potatoes.  

Ingredients + substitutions

First gather all of your ingredients, you’ll need:

• Olive oil - this is the base of the dressing. If you’d like, you can swap it for avocado oil, canola, or any neutral tasting oil. 
• Champagne vinegar - this is just a fun vinegar to use with fruit salads, but if you don’t have it or want to buy it, you can swap it for white or red wine vinegar.  
• Dijon mustard - adds some brightness to the dressing.  It also acts as an emulsifier.  
• Honey - for sweetness, and thickness.  
• Lemon juice - for brightness and flavor.  
• Shallot - shallot is delicious in vinaigrettes, it tastes like garlic, but much more mild and sweet.  If you don’t have a shallot you can leave it out or swap it for an equal amount of sweet onion.  
• Pepper and salt - for flavor. 
• Arugula - this is the base of the salad, be sure to use baby arugula. It’s peppery, bitter, and pairs well with the flavor of the sweet vinaigrette and fruit.   Spinach is a suitable swap for arugula! 
• Blackberries - blackberries taste fantastic in salad, but if you’d like you can swap the blackberries for strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries. 
• Goat cheese - goat cheese is sweet and tastes fantastic in this salad.  Feta cheese also works, or you can make this salad vegan and leave the cheese out. 
• Pecans - pecans taste awesome, but you can swap them for almonds, candied pecans, or walnuts.

How to make this salad

First, make your dressing by combining all of the ingredients in a mason jar, and then give it a good shake.

Then assemble the salad with arugula, blackberries, goat cheese, and pecans. Give it a gentle toss and then serve with the dressing on the side.

Fabulous additions + variations

• Candied pecans - candied pecans taste awesome in this salad.  You can make your own or get store bought.  
• Dried fruit - cranberries, apricots, apples, or papaya would definitely add some “oomph” and interest to this salad! 
• Red onion or cabbage - more color and flavor is never a bad idea!

Drink pairings

This is a bright, sweet salad, I recommend serving it with a mocktail such as this Red Wine Mocktail, this Mango Mocktail, or a Relaxing Chamomile and Cherry Mocktail!

More fantastic salad recipes to try!

I love creative, bright, and fun-to-eat salads, you’re not going to catch me with a place of iceberg lettuce-type-of-thing (although, nothing wrong with iceberg lettuce!).  

Give one of these salads a try! (The Black Bean Dorito Taco Salad is one of my favorites!)

Blackberry Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese

This is a delicious, bright, fruity, and filling salad perfect for warmer months! You're going to love the flavor of the blackberries combined with peppery arugula tossed in a honey-champagne vinaigrette!

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Blackberry salad with goat cheese and pecans, blackberry salad with homemade dressing, pecan and goat cheese salad

Servings: 3 people

Calories: 531kcal

Ingredients

• ½ cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp champagne vinegar
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp shallot minced
• 2-3 twists of black pepper
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 3 cups arugula
• 1 cup blackberries
• 4 oz goat cheese crumbled
• ¼ cup pecans chopped

Instructions

• Make the salad dressing by combining in a mason jar the olive oil, champagne vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, lemon juice, shallot, black pepper, and kosher salt. Screw the lid on and shake until combined.
• Next add the arugula, blackberries, goat cheese, and pecans to a bowl. Toss everything together gently and serve with the dressing on the side.

Notes

• If you have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-3 days.  Just be sure to keep the vinaigrette separate.
• You can make it ahead of time by measuring the ingredients and keeping them in the refrigerator with the dressing kept separately.  

Nutrition

Calories: 531kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 50g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 32g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 216mg | Potassium: 229mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 976IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 2mg

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