Cranberry Vinaigrette is a classic Holiday salad dressing and perfect for a pear and walnut salad. Made with canned cranberry sauce, this is an easy salad dressing to whip together.
This cranberry vinaigrette is simply outstanding for a pear salad.It’s easy to make using canned cranberry sauce, which blends well with balsamic vinegar, orange juice and sugar.
The tartness of this cranberry vinaigrette enhances the flavors of sweet pears and bold tangy blue cheese. And walnuts chime in with a nice crunch.
Very festive for salad recipe for Fall, Winter and especially nice for the Holidays.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Canned Cranberry Sauce
- Red Onion
- Blue Cheese
- Pears
- Orange Juice
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Walnuts
- Olive oil
- Sugar
- Tender Greens, Red leafed lettuce or Bibb Lettuce are good choices here. Adding some thin strands of Frisee or Arugula will add a nice texture and appearance.
Ingredient Substitutions:
- Pears: Any type of pear will work fine for this recipe. If you can find red pears, like Anjou pears, your salad will be even more an impressive presentation.
- Onion: The deep color of red onion is attractive in this salad. If you find the flavor too strong, simply substitute yellow or sweet onion.
- Walnuts: Substitute pecans for walnuts.
- Sugar: Substitute an equal amount of honey.
- Blue Cheese: Bleu cheese, or blue cheese is a category of cheese that contains the mold Penicillium. Gorgonzola is a specific type of blue cheese from Northern Italy. Both are used extensively in cooking and are very popular with wine and food. Gorgonzola has a unique taste and appearance. Both blue cheese or gorgonzola will work beautifully for this salad. And are a perfect cheese pairing for pears. Both are sharp and salty with a strong smell. Please refer to my recipe article for Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing, for more information about which type of blue cheese to use.
Step by Step Instructions, It’s Easy
- Step 1: Place cranberry sauce, olive oil, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, sugar, ginger and salt into a medium bowl.
- Step 2: Using a whisk, blend the ingredients together until smooth and well mixed.
Pro Tip: Freeze Ginger. Keep that knob of ginger in the freezer. Whenever you need a small amount for any recipe, just remove it and use a zester or microplane zester to acquire the amount you need and then return the rest back to the freezer for future use. You don’t even need to peel the ginger. EASY and practical.
- Step 3: Prepare Salad. Divide washed and dried chopped lettuce leaves evenly among 6 chilled salad plates. Thin slice the pears. Divide pear and onion evenly among leaves. Top each serving with about 1 generous Tablespoon blue cheese and 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts. Drizzle each serving with about 2 ½ Tablespoons of the cranberry vinaigrette. Freshly ground pepper is always welcome. Serve immediately.
Making the vinaigrette ahead makes this an incredibly easy salad to assemble right before dinner. Prepare the vinaigrette as early as three days in advance. Store the vinaigrette in a Mason style jar and give the vinaigrette a good shake before serving.
Prepare salad 30 minutes in advance. Prepare the greens, and slice the pears. Dip the pears into some orange or lemon juice so they won’t turn a dark color. Place the greens on salad plates, arrange the pears and sprinkle on the red onion and crumbled blue cheese. When ready to serve sprinkle with walnuts and dressing. You can also pass the dressing at the table. Don’t dress the salad in advance. The acid in the cranberry dressing will cause the greens to wilt.
Absolutely yes. Everyone has their own style of cranberry sauce, but adding the balsamic vinegar, oil and remaining ingredients will turn it into a lovely cranberry dressing.
Tips For Success
Choose a good quality, mild flavored olive oil to make this dressing. Save that big bottle of Costco olive oil for sauteeing, like for this Buffalo Shrimp Recipe.
Other Uses For Cranberry Vinaigrette
Even though a pear and walnut salad is a perfect partner for cranberry vinaigrette, switch things up:
- Start with baby greens, add some sweet sliced apples and rings of sliced sweet onion. Sprinkle with some salty feta cheese.
- Try Baby Kale and Granny Smith Apples sprinkled with sunflower seeds.
- Drizzle over slices of toasted baguette topped with blue cheese.
Storage
This cranberry vinaigrette will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. Just give it a good shake before re-using. Store in a sealed container. Ball canning jars work well here.
What To Serve With This Salad
This cranberry vinaigrette brings with it a “special feel” starter salad for a special meal. Serve this as a starter for Spice Rubbed Oven Pork Tenderloin, Prime Rib Roast, or even a special chicken dinner like Chicken Galliano.
This Easy homemade Cranberry Dressing made with canned cranberry sauce is a perfect special feel salad for Fall, Winter, Thanksgiving, Holidays and beyond.
More impressive side salad recipes
And don’t miss my comprehensive article on the 9 Secrets To Making A Remarkable Tossed Salad. Just say “no” to sad salads forever.
And if you’re looking for more side dish recipe ideas, don’t miss my Salad category. You’ll find lots of great recipe ideas. One of the more popular is this homemade Red Wine Vinegar Dressing. Salad greens never had it so good.
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Cranberry Vinaigrette Recipe
Ingredients
- For the Cranberry Vinaigrette
- ½ cup cranberry sauce canned
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar or honey
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- For The Salad
- 1-2 heads Delicate lettuce Bibb, Butter, Red Leaf. About 12 cups.
- 2 pears sliced
- 1 cup red onion chopped
- ½ cup blue cheese crumbled
- 3 Tablespoons walnuts chopped
Instructions
- To prepare the cranberry vinaigrette: Place cranberry sauce, olive oil, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, sugar, ginger and salt into a medium bowl. Use a whisk to blend the ingredients to a smooth texture.
- To prepare the salad: Divide washed and dried chopped lettuce leaves evenly among 6 chilled salad plates.
- Thin slice the pears. Divide pear and onion evenly among leaves. Top each serving with about 1 generous Tablespoon blue cheese and 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts. Drizzle each serving with about 2 ½ Tablespoons of the cranberry vinaigrette.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Cranberry Vinaigrette … It’s Whats for Pear and Blue Cheese Salad
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
Love adding fruits and nuts to a salad. Looks pretty!
Thanks so much for stopping by. I love fruit in salads.
I’ve had blue cheese with pears and walnuts but next time I will try Maytag. It’s my sister’s favorite cheese. What I really liked was the idea of cranberry sauce in the vinaigrette. Just a touch of sweetness.
Had a similar salad at lunch in a restaurant recently, but they also added some chicken so we got our protein.
Love your dinner party story- you all had such fun! And isn’t that the cutest dog? No wonder you snuck her a few bites.
Thanks Barbara, and thanks for stopping by
Num. Missed you all. Can someone bring those crab cakes over this Saturday?
Tom is happy, Tom spills the wine, then Tom gets happier…life is good with Tom.
That salad looks fabulous! Fresh pears and bleu cheese is one of my favorite combos.
Me too Liz, who needs all that healthy salad stuff underneath! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by
what fun… good for you, I love all the party posts
Thanks for stopping by Dave
Sounds like a great party and fabulous food!
Thanks for stopping by Linda
This looks like such a fun get-together! I love all the cranberry you guys ate. Cranberry sauce has to be one of my most favorite condiments ever.
Your cranberry vinaigrette sounds fantastic, especially with the blue cheese. I love blue cheese.
I can’t wait to try it on a sandwich I’m making tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by Joanne
Fun and fabulous! Looks like a good time and good food and good wine was had by all 🙂 And the salad…drool!
I love that salad. Thanks for stopping by GirliChef
I love it! It’s like an alternative version of waldorf salad! 🙂
Bee-yoo-tee-ful salad! I’m pretty sure that if I went into my little grocery, they would scratch their heads at a request for a particular type of bleu cheese. I’ll be trying the salad, though, even if I have to settle for another type. The tenderloin made my mouth water . . . very nice post!
Any ol blue cheese will do, Maytag is just a good one. Thanks for stopping by Vic
I like Maytag blue cheese, but General Electric’s gouda is to die for! (ha ha ha ha ha ha….sorry)
Looks like a very fun night even if Tom was so sloppy drunk he couldn’t poor wine 🙂 It all looks very good!
Ha ha over the Maytag thing but LOL over sloppy Tom. As always, thanks for stopping by Chris.
If you love Maytag, you may want to try Pt.Reyes Farmstead Cheese co. Blue Cheese. If you can find it give it a try. It is a little more creamier than Maytag. It is a Westcoast favorite.
Hey thanks for that Cheese Tip Chilebrown. My Whole Foods might just have it. Most certainly will look. It seems like I’ve even seen a logo for that Cheese.
Love the ingredients in this salad! Will give it a try. Looks like you had a wonderful dinner party.
Always a good time with good friends, good and wine. Thanks for stopping by
Maytag Blue cheese is the best in the world!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Maytag. As always, thanks for stopping by BD