This Blueberry Goat Cheese Salad is light, easy to make, and perfect for the summer! Juicy blueberries, crunchy almonds, and creamy goat cheese pair perfectly with tangy balsamic vinegar. It's a delicious side, perfect for BBQ season, or you can serve it for lunch with roasted chicken or salmon!
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What's Great About This Blueberry Salad
Refreshing and packed with flavor - If you usually don't add fruit to your salads, this is a great recipe to start with! It's loosely inspired by my Strawberry Goat Cheese Salad. The juicy blueberries go really well with creamy goat cheese and peppery radishes. It's light, refreshing, and so flavorful!
Easy and simple - The flavors in this salad are super basic but so good! It comes together in just about 20 minutes and requires minimal work. It has a simple balsamic vinaigrette and the most delicious garlicky roasted almonds!
A great side or lunch - Serve the salad as a side during grilling season in the summer, or turn it into lunch or a light dinner with added roasted chicken or salmon. You could also add edamame to keep it vegetarian!
Ingredients
- Lettuce - I use a box of prewashed mixed greens for this salad to make the prep easier and to have a variety, but any greens work great. Plain baby spinach or romaine lettuce would both be delicious as well. Use baby arugula if you want to add some peppery flavor.
- Blueberries - I only recommend using fresh blueberries. Frozen blueberries would be too mushy for a salad.
- Cucumber - I like using small Persian cucumbers and cutting them into half moons. If you use a regular large English cucumber, you might want to chop it into smaller pieces.
- Radishes - Small red radishes tend to be a little spicy, which is perfect for this salad. They add crunch and balance the sweetness of blueberries and creaminess of the goat cheese really well.
- Shallots - I recommend using shallots here because they're milder than red onion, but either works. Soak the sliced onion in cold water to remove some of its bite.
- Almonds - You can toast the almonds in the oven just on their own, or you can add spices to make them more flavorful. I add a little bit of avocado oil, garlic powder, onion powder, and sea salt. I recommend making a double batch because you'll want to eat them straight from the pan!
- Goat cheese - Creamy soft goat cheese is perfect for this salad. I recommend adding it at the end before serving, instead of mixing it with the rest of the ingredients, because it would melt into the dressing.
- Balsamic vinaigrette - The dressing is made with balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, honey, Dijon mustard, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. It's simple and so good with the blueberries!
Variations and Substitutions
- Feta - If you don't have goat cheese or want to use a harder cheese, use feta cheese instead. It is a little saltier, so you might want to add less salt to your dressing to avoid the salad being overly salty. I also always recommend block feta over pre-crumbled feta.
- Make it vegan - You can use vegan soft cheese and maple syrup in the vinaigrette instead of honey to make the salad vegan-friendly.
- Different vinaigrette - If you don't like balsamic vinegar, you can use this simple Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette instead. It's almost the same, but with lemon juice instead of the vinegar.
- No almonds - If you don't have almonds or don't want to use them, pistachios, pine nuts, or walnuts are also great. Alternatively, you can also add toasted sunflower seeds.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Spread the sliced almonds on a small baking sheet and toss with avocado oil, garlic powder, onion powder, and sea salt if desired.
- Toast the nuts in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Make sure they don’t burn. Set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, sea salt, and black pepper until emulsified. Dijon mustard helps to emulsify the vinaigrette, so there shouldn't be any need for blending.
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- Add mixed greens, blueberries, sliced cucumbers, radishes, shallots, and the toasted almonds (you can reserve some for garnish) to a large bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss everything together until well combined.
- Serve the salad topped with crumbled soft goat cheese, any reserved toasted almonds, and some extra black pepper if desired. Enjoy!
- Alternatively, you could also just layer everything on individual plates and drizzle with the dressing instead of mixing the salad in a big bowl.
Tips & Tricks!
- Add the cheese at the end - Soft cheese is always best added right before serving to salads like this one. It melts easily, and if you toss it with the vegetables, it will mix into the dressing and disappear. I recommend tossing the salad and then crumbling the cheese on top. If you want to mix it in, feta is a better option.
Serving and Storing
The salad is best served right away. If you do need to make it ahead, I recommend storing all the chopped salad ingredients separately and only adding the goat cheese, toasted almonds, and the vinaigrette right before serving.
The lettuce I use wilts down pretty easily once you add the vinaigrette, but it will still be safe to eat. You can store any leftovers in an airtight container or a jar in the fridge for up to 2 days. If you don't want it to wilt down, consider using a heartier green like kale instead.
The salad is great served as a side with BBQ or practically anything from the grill in the summer. You can also serve it for lunch or dinner with roast chicken, roasted or pan-seared salmon. If you want to keep it vegetarian, add crispy tofu or boiled edamame beans.
FAQs
If your vinaigrette is separating, add ½ teaspoon of mayonnaise. It may sound strange, but you won't taste it, I promise. It instantly helps the vinaigrette mix. It's like magic!
Feta would be a great alternative. Make sure to use block feta and wash it before crumbling it. Pre-crumbled feta is too dry and has unnecessary additives.
Blackberries would be a great substitute, but strawberries would work as well.
Other Savory Fruit Salads
If you're not used to adding fruit to salads and want to try other variations with different berries or fruits, try any of the 5 recipes linked below! To see all the latest ones, head over to Salads!
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Print📖 Recipe
Blueberry Goat Cheese Salad
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Blueberry Goat Cheese Salad is light, easy to make, and perfect for the summer! It's a delicious side, perfect for BBQ season, or you can serve it for lunch with roasted chicken or salmon!
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw sliced almonds
- 1 tsp avocado oil (optional)
- ¼ tsp garlic powder (optional)
- ¼ tsp onion powder (optional)
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt (optional)
- 5-6 cups mixed greens
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 2 small Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 4-5 small red radishes, sliced or diced
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¼-⅓ cup soft goat cheese
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Spread the sliced almonds on a small baking sheet and toss with avocado oil, garlic powder, onion powder, and sea salt if desired.
- Toast the nuts in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Make sure they don’t burn. Set aside to cool.
- Into a large mixing bowl, add mixed greens, blueberries, sliced cucumbers, radishes, shallot, and the toasted almonds (you can reserve some for garnish).
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, sea salt, and black pepper until emulsified.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss everything together until well combined.
- Serve the salad topped with crumbled soft goat cheese, any reserved toasted almonds, and some extra black pepper if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Goat cheese: I recommend not mixing the soft goat cheese into the salad and only adding it at the end. It's very soft so if you mix it with everything else, it melts and makes the dressing look creamy. If you want to toss it with everything together, use crumbled feta instead.
Storing: Store the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. While you can store it for a few days, the salad tastes the best the first day because the longer it sits with the dressing, the more it wilts.
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