Mixed Green Salad with Goat Cheese, Glazed Pecans & Maple Dijon Vinaigrette
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This elegant mixed green salad is my go-to for company—maple-glazed pecans, creamy goat cheese, and a tangy-sweet vinaigrette make it a crowd-pleaser every time.
If you’ve had dinner at my house, chances are you’ve had this salad. It’s a favorite—the glazed pecans and goat cheese dress it up, and the vinaigrette is one of those salty-sweet-tangy flavor combinations that everyone loves. The original recipe was printed in The Washington Post many years ago, but I had it for the first time at my friend Kelly’s house for a holiday dinner, and I wouldn’t leave without the recipe.
I make my version with mixed greens and goat cheese, but Kelly makes hers with romaine and blue cheese, as specified in the original recipe. If that sounds more up your alley, feel free to follow her lead.
“I have made this salad multiple times—for Christmas, Thanksgiving, luncheons, etc. Every time people ask for the recipe…a simple salad with a delicious combination of flavors.”
What You’ll Need To Make Mixed Green Salad With Maple Dijon Vinaigrette
You’ll need mixed greens, shallots, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, pepper, maple syrup, vegetable oil, pecan halves, and goat cheese (or blue cheese).
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Prepare the pecans. In a small bowl, combine the pecans and maple syrup and toss gently to combine.
Step 2: Bake the pecans. Spread the pecans in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast until the syrup is bubbling vigorously, about 5 minutes. Immediately scrape the glazed pecans onto another lined baking sheet (to stop them from continuing to cook), sprinkle with salt, and set aside to cool.
Step 3: Make the vinaigrette. In a jar, combine the garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, maple syrup, mustard, vinegar, and oil. Give it a good shake to blend.
Step 4: Assemble the salad. Place the greens in a large bowl or on a platter, drizzle with about half of the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Add as much of the remaining vinaigrette as desired and toss again. Sprinkle with the cheese and reserved pecans and serve immediately.
The dressing will keep for a few days in the fridge so feel free to make it ahead of time; just toss it with the greens right before serving. You can also make the glazed pecans in advance—they’ll keep at room temperature, in an airtight container, for up to a week.
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Mixed Green Salad with Goat Cheese, Glazed Pecans & Maple Dijon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the Pecans
- 1 cup (4 oz) pecan halves
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- Pinch salt
For the Vinaigrette
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots, from one shallot
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1½ tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
For the Salad
- 10 cups mixed greens such as green or red leaf, boston, bibb, romaine, or mesclun
- 3 oz goat cheese (or blue cheese), crumbled
Instructions
For the Pecans
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly oil or line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine the pecans and maple syrup and toss gently to combine. Spread the pecans in a single layer on one of the prepared baking sheets. Roast in the preheated oven, stirring once, until the syrup is bubbling vigorously, about 5 minutes. Immediately scrape the glazed pecans onto the other prepared baking sheet, spreading them in a single layer. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and set aside to cool.
For the Vinaigrette
- In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, maple syrup, mustard and vinegar. Whisking constantly, slowly add the oil in a steady stream. (Alternatively, add all your ingredients to a jar, cover with lid, and shake vigorously to blend.) Set aside.
For the Salad
- Place the greens in a large bowl, drizzle with about half of the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Add as much of the remaining vinaigrette as desired and toss again. Divide among individual plates, sprinkle with the cheese and reserved pecans and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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I made this salad for Thanksgiving and it was a great hit! Thank you Jen for the wonderful recipes! Looking forward to more !
This is by far my family’s favorite salad. I often make it when we have people over for dinner and have been asked for the recipe many times!
Delicious. Everyone loves when I make this. I add blueberrys and the goat cheese cubes from Costco.
What an awesome salad! This is so easy to prep ahead of time and comes together so easily. The maple pecans are divine, I had a hard time not eating them before I served the salad. The dressing is delicious, I had to use a little green onion rather than shallots and it was still very good. The balance of sweet and savory is perfect and just the right dressing for this salad and so many more. I have found a new dressing recipe for sure.
I believe the final review on this recipe is for something else. I don’t see any call for rice bran oil or garlic in the recipe. Am I missing something?
Hi Barbara, I believe what the commenter way saying was that she used rice bran oil instead of the vegetable oil the recipe calls for. And the dressing does use one clove of garlic. Hope that clarifies!
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner with friends. I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of the maple syrup. Following one reviewer’s suggestion, I used pancake syrup as a substitution. I was unhappy with the way the goat cheese just kind of got soft and gooey after I put it in the salad, but later I found out that’s just what goat cheese does. So no worries next time. My guests were so happy with the salad and the delicious dressing they asked me to make it and bring it for Christmas dinner. The dressing is superb. It can be made a day ahead of time if you are in a time crunch at serving time. This is a real keeper of a recipe!
Wonderful salad. I served it with a choice of blue cheese or goat cheese for Thanksgiving dinner and got rave reviews from all!
I made this salad for a potluck. I tripled the recipe and added baby spinach to the mesclun mix. I also added dried cranberries. This salad was a huge hit and several people asked for the recipe.
Fantastic Flavor. But the nuts were extremely sticky and hard to handle until they got into the salad. I used a mix of greens and young spinach leaves and that worked extremely well. Also I didn’t have a shallot so I used finely minced sweet onion and that worked just fine. I would bet chopped chives would also work.
This was a great, simple salad and the dressing had just the right balance. The sugared pecans make it special enough for a dinner party – nice to have one really easy and delicious dish when you have lots of cooking on the go! A keeper!