12 Tasty Christmas Salad Recipes

Every Christmas eve, our dinner table never lacked a bowl full of salad. They mainly were dessert salads, like macaroni and fruit. However, they still offer fresh, sweet flavors that perfectly round up the holiday meal. 

There are tons of salads you can serve for Christmas dinner. From fruity mixes to leafy vegetables, the possibilities are immense. So, how do you know which ones you should make? 

Avoid overwhelming yourself by checking out this post. It narrows down your options to the simplest and tastiest Christmas salad recipes. Each contributes fresh and healthy flavors for your Christmas dinner. 

1. Christmas Macaroni Salad

Food fills every square inch of the Christmas dinner table in the Philippines. From meat to finger foods, hosts serve various dishes throughout the night. With so many options, there’s always a salad or two. 

Christmas chicken and ham macaroni salad is a favorite of Filipino kids and adults. It’s usually tossed in a creamy dressing, refrigerated, then served cold. There are tons of flavors and textures. 

To make this Christmas salad recipe, you’ll need elbow macaroni, mayo, chicken breast, and ham. There are also boiled eggs, raisins, cheese, pineapples, yellow onions, carrots, sweet relish, salt, and garlic powder. 

2. Fresh Greens Christmas Salad 

Mixed greens also make a festive salad perfect for a healthy and fun Christmas celebration. This Christmas salad recipe combines fresh green flavors with cheese, nuts, fruits, and a honey mustard champagne vinaigrette. 

You’ll need fresh spring greens, sliced almonds, feta cheese, mandarin oranges, and pomegranate seeds for the Christmas salad. Canned mandarin oranges are okay if there are no fresh ones. If you prefer pecans, replace the almonds with them. 

Combine the salad ingredients before adding the vinaigrette. To make the vinaigrette, you must have garlic, champagne vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, salt, black pepper, and olive oil. 

3. Christmas Caesar Salad 

If you want to play it safe, go for a classic salad recipe, like Caesar salad. Whether an occasion or a daily meal, it’s a go-to for many because of its unique flavors. 

Caesar salad is full of freshness from the Romaine lettuce and crisp from the croutons. The flavorful dressing brings the two together to make a hearty salad. 

This recipe helps bring the best rendition of this famous healthy treat to the holiday feast. You’ll need olive oil, garlic cloves, hearty bread, parmesan cheese, salt, black pepper, egg yolk, lemon, anchovies, Worcestershire, canola oil, and Romaine lettuce. 

4. Christmas Bean Salad 

The holiday season, especially Christmas, often bursts with colors. The Yuletide palette is a joyful medley of greens, reds, and yellows. Thus, your Christmas salads must come in various colors too. 

This festive bean salad has specks of yellow, green, red, and dark shades. It contains various bean types – kidney, red, cannellini, lima, and black – with each contributing a distinct taste, texture, and color. 

Besides the beans, you’ll need corn, olives, green pepper, onion, chili sauce, olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic cloves, dried oregano, and pepper. Combine everything in a bowl, and you have a colorful salad. 

5. Festive Holiday Coleslaw Salad 

Coleslaw is more of a side dish than a stand-alone salad. But it’s still a crowd favorite, especially when the ingredients and flavors match the holiday season. This recipe does so with its bright flavors of orange, cranberries, pecans, ginger, and more. 

To make this holiday salad, you’ll need red cabbage, brussels sprouts, dried cranberries, pecans, maple syrup, cilantro (or fresh coriander), and a homemade marinade. 

The marinade consists of ginger, tangerine/orange juice, lemon juice, cider vinegar, maple syrup, vegetable oil, fine sea salt, and pepper. If there’s no cider vinegar, substitute it with white wine vinegar. 

6. Christmas Fruit Salad 

For all my Christmas eve dinners, there was always a fruit salad. Most make them with canned cocktails and a few fresh fruits. However, this recipe is as authentic, fresh, and natural as it can be to highlight the flavors. 

Thus, you’ll need granny smith and red apples, red and green grapes, kiwis, raspberries, and pomegranate arils. The choice of fruits matches the Christmas palette (red and green) and classic holiday flavors. 

The dressing is light, made only with honey, lime juice, and water, so it doesn’t overwhelm the fruity flavors. But if you want it creamy, add vanilla pudding. 

7. Chicken Cobb “Christmas Tree” Holiday Salad

Nothing screams “Merry Christmas!” more than a dish shaped into a holiday decoration. In this case, we’re taking a chicken cobb salad and turning it into an edible and spectacular Christmas tree. 

By appearance alone, this recipe ticks everything needed to get into the holiday menu. It’s fresh and delicious, and the Christmas tree even has a star, colorful balls, and presents underneath. Despite the impressive look, it’s easy to make. 

The tree consists of lettuce leaves studded with red and yellow tomatoes as Christmas ornaments. Sprinkle blue cheese for snow, then make presents and a star out of peppers. 

8. Christmas Ambrosia Salad 

Ambrosia means two things. It’s either a fruit salad or a food of the gods. However, this recipe strives to be both by taking a traditional ambrosia salad recipe and giving it a holiday twist.

The ingredients list includes cranberry sauce, pineapples, mandarin oranges, mini marshmallows, whipped cream, vanilla yogurt, shredded coconut, and pecans. You can make personal additions, like dried cranberries. In doing so, you make it even more unique. 

The ambrosia salad’s lovely flavors make it appropriate for dessert. Eat in a bowl, or serve it on lettuce or spinach leaves for a more festive feel. 

9. Ensalada Navideña (Mexican Apple Salad)

Take a bit of Mexican cuisine and bring it to your holiday table with this recipe for ensalada navideña or apple salad. Mexican households traditionally serve it during Christmas, along with turkey and ham. 

Mexican apple salad is a creamy marriage of sweet and sour flavors. It has apples, pineapples in syrup, plain yogurt, Mexican crema, pecans, raisins, pineapple juice, and salt. The Mexican crema is a regular cream, lime juice, and salt mixture. 

The recipe intentionally makes the salad more sour than sweet. Sweetened condensed milk does the trick if you want a sweeter and creamier version.

10. Sweet Potato & Feta Salad with Pomegranate & Pecans

Sweet potato salads are versatile, as you can bring them to any holiday party, whether Christmas or Thanksgiving. They’re full of flavor, texture, and color, especially in this recipe. 

You’ll need cinnamon sweet potatoes. To make that, you’ll roast orange sweet potato or kumara coated with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and ground cinnamon. 

Besides sweet potatoes, you’ll need spinach (or any leafy vegetable), toasted pecans, olive oil, red onion, pomegranate seeds or arils, goats feta, fresh mint, salt, and pepper. Assemble the salad so the leafy veggies are at the bottom, and you’ll garnish it with feta and fresh mint. 

11. Holiday Honeycrisp Salad 

Apples are a real holiday fruit. Many salads include them, such as the ensalada navideña above. However, this recipe is more particular in the type of apple you’ll need: Honeycrisp.

Honeycrisps hit the apple trifecta of tart, crisp, and sweet. These qualities come through when you combine these apples with the salad greens, toasted nuts, dried cranberries, blue cheese (or goat cheese), and apple cider vinaigrette in this recipe. 

The resulting profile is a complex of sweet, tang, salty, nutty, and fruity. There are also hints of creaminess from the cheese, and you experience all sorts of textures. 

12. Roasted Beet Salad with Goat’s Cheese

We’re rounding up our delicious recipes with a festive roasted beet and goat cheese salad tossed in balsamic honey dressing. It’s full of cheery colors, satisfying flavors, and unique textures to brighten up the dinner party. 

Marinate the roasted beets in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, chopped parsley, salt, and pepper to make this salad. Then, prepare the dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, thyme, salt, and pepper. 

Then, combine the roasted beets and dressing with the other ingredients. These are arugula, toasted pecans, apple, goat cheese (or feta), dried cranberries, and red onion (or shallot). 

12 Tasty Christmas Salad Recipes

12 Tasty Christmas Salad Recipes

Recipe by Brenda

Enjoy a healthy and tasty Christmas dinner with these easy salad recipes!

Ingredients

  • Christmas Macaroni Salad

  • Fresh Greens Christmas Salad

  • Christmas Caesar Salad

  • Christmas Bean Salad 

  • Festive Holiday Coleslaw Salad 

  • Christmas Fruit Salad 

  • Chicken Cobb “Christmas Tree” Holiday Salad

  • Christmas Ambrosia Salad

  • Ensalada Navideña (Mexican Apple Salad)

  • Sweet Potato & Feta Salad with Pomegranate & Pecans

  • Holiday Honeycrisp Salad

  • Roasted Beet Salad with Goat’s Cheese

Directions

  • Select your favorite recipe.
  • Organize all the required ingredients.
  • Prep a Christmas salad in 30 minutes or less!
4/5 - (4 votes)