This Arugula Pear Salad is an easy to make salad that is full of flavor thanks to the peppery arugula, sweet pear, and the amazing poppy seed salad dressing.

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The real star of the show here is the poppy seed dressing. It totally brings it all together. But I also love the contrasts in flavors. The Arugula and onion are more bitter, while the pear (or apple is sweet). The cucumbers give a wonderful crunch to the whole salad and the tomatoes give extra juice.

Anyway, it’s a nice refreshing salad to have and it seriously goes away fast. Even family members who don’t like olive oil and vinegar type salad dressings really like this one.

I hope you like it as much as we do.

Ingredients for Arugula Pear Salad

Arugula – use baby arugula as it is milder and has less tougher leaves. It’s best for eating in a salad.

Pear – gives a nice contrast to the “bitterness” of arugula. Just make sure they are nice and ripe (and tasty), otherwise there is not much flavor. You can also use an apple instead. I feel like it’s much easier to get a good tasting apple than a pear (at least here in Germany in the winter time).

Red Onion – can also use shallots or white onions, but red is best. Don’t skip out on the onion. It goes so well with the salad dressing here.

Cucumbers – provide salad with an extra crunch. I like to use small snack cucumbers available here in the stores. The long English cucumbers are pretty tasteless in the winter, so the snack cucumbers are the only ones I use. Use whatever you prefer.

Tomatoes – give some extra juice to the salad.

Dressing – My Poppy Seed Salad Dressing made with honey, mayonnaise, poppy seeds, ACV, Olive oil, and salt. You could also use store bought if you have it on hand.

Arugula pear salad with poppy seed salad dressing poured from a jar

How to Make Arugula Salad

Make the poppy seed dressing first. It is so easy to make and takes about 5 minutes.

Rinse arugula. I like to use a mesh sieve for this to make it easier and to allow the extra water to drip off. If you are pressed for time, use some paper towels to pat the leaves as dry as possible. You can also use a salad spinner to get the moisture out, if you have one.

Transfer the arugula into a nice, big salad bowl. Bigger is better in this case even if you don’t have a lot of salad because greens like arugula (also mache salad or bigger type greens) are easier to toss in a bigger bowl.

Finely slice the apple (or pear) and the cucumber. Cut the tomatoes into eighths. Toss over the washed arugula leaves.

Slice the red onion into thin strips. I really like the onion to be in bigger pieces so that you can actually taste it. It goes so well with the dressing and is not at all strong. Chop it finer if you’d like the taste to be a bit more subtle.

Pour the poppy seed dressing over the salad and toss everything together.

What to Serve with Arugula Pear Salad

Obviously, this salad is great served on the side. Because it’s a fresh, green and refreshing salad, I find it goes especially good with heavier and filling dishes like:

It would also be an awesome salad to bring to a potluck or served with grilled meat like these Grilled Chicken Thighs.

Make ahead Instructions

If you want to make this arugula pear salad ahead of time, it is possible to make it a few hours in advance. Make the dressing 1 day in advance and keep in the fridge. Prepare the arugula, slice the cucumbers and the onions. You can keep them together, but don’t toss the salad together.

Store the tomatoes separately and if possible slice them shortly before tossing the salad. They give off a lot of juice, so it’s not recommendable to toss them with the salad ahead of time.

You can also try prepping everything the day before (except the tomatoes) and store separately in air-tight containers in the fridge. I think it would work, but haven’t tried making this myself yet as I had no need for making ahead. However, definitely make sure to slice the tomatoes shortly before storing. Cut tomatoes don’t taste nor look good after a day in the fridge.

Toss everything together a few minutes before serving.

More Salads You’ll Love

I love salads and here are some of my favorites I recommend making:

Conehead Cabbage Salad with Pistachios
Refreshing Radish Cucumber Salad
Creamy Cucumber Tomato Salad – my absolute favorite in the summer!

Lastly, if you make this Arugula Pear Salad please take a moment to comment below and leave a rating. It’s such a help for others who might want to try the recipe. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram if you make this recipe. I’d love to see the photos of the recipes you have made!

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