Citrus Salad with Olives and Pomegranate Seeds
on Jan 10, 2022, Updated Dec 01, 2023
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This fresh citrus salad has a mix of sweet, savory and tart flavors with grapefruit and orange segments, Kalamata olives, pomegranate seeds, almonds, fresh herbs and arugula all tossed in champagne vinaigrette. You can slice the citrus ahead of time and make the dressing for this easy winter salad.
You can also try this fennel orange salad with similar Mediterranean flavors.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Citrus fruit is an instant vacation during winter, especially for all of us who live in cold climates). We always eat for nourishment, but sometimes we look for food to take us to another place. Or at least help us think of a dream destination. With no tickets to a tropical island booked, a mix of sunny, bright citrus can do it.
Snacking on oranges and other citrus is always good, but combining them with vinaigrette and other ingredients in a salad is even better. That’s because you end up with a beautiful combination of sweet, savory and a little bit salty. No matter the season, fruit is fantastic in salads.
The vibrant color in this salad make it perfect for entertaining. And most importantly, it delivers on taste too. It is always handy to have salads that use leafy greens as more of an accent. Here citrus is the primary ingredient.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This is what you need:
- Grapefruit: Easy to find ruby red or pink grapefruit are my preference. They are tart and sweet.
- Oranges: I use both naval and blood oranges because naval oranges are a touch sweet and blood oranges are more tart. And yes, I love the colors! If you only have one type of orange that will work too. Cara cara are another good choice. You can even include tangerines.
- Olives: With their deep brown, almost purple-ish color, Kalamata olive taste pleasantly salty with a more fruity flavor. Make sure to use pitted olives.
- Pomegranate: Sweet, tart and juicy, you find these lovely seeds throughout the salad.
- Scallions: Thinly sliced scallions are my go-to salad onion. You can also thinly slice a red onion instead.
- Arugula: I wait to add the arugula until the final step, so the greens don’t wilt from the weight and juice of the citrus. Baby spinach is good substitute.
- Parsley: I stir chopped fresh parsley into the actual salad and the vinaigrette.
- Almonds give the salad nutty crunch. You can substitute with walnuts or pine nuts.
- Champagne Vinaigrette: For the herby vinaigrette, I whisk together minced garlic, whole grain mustard, parsley, champagne vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. If you don’t have champagne vinegar, use white wine vinegar instead.
Optional Additions
You can add one or more of the following ingredients:
- Diced or sliced avocado
- Crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese
- Thinly sliced fennel
How To Cut Citrus Segments for a Salad
Supreme (pronounced su-prem) is the technique for removing the peel and white pith from citrus and cutting out the individual segments leaving behind the membrane and seeds. This part of any citrus salad take the most time, but once you get the hang of it, supreming an orange or even a grapefruit isn’t that tough. Here’s how to do it:
- Trim the bottom and top off the orange or grapefruit.
- Place a flat end on the cutting board. Then take a sharp knife and follow the curve of the fruit slicing off the peel and pith. If you still see pith here and there, use a paring knife to remove it.
- Pick up the peeled fruit in your hand and carefully take your knife between the membranes to cut out the segments. Don’t worry if some fall apart. They don’t have to be perfect.
How To Make This Citrus Salad Recipe
1. Prep the grapefruit and oranges. Trim the top and bottom, slice off the peel and pith and cut out the fruit segments.
2. Combine the salad ingredients in a bowl. That includes the grapefruit, oranges, olives, pomegranate seeds, scallions, almonds and parsley.
3. Make the vinaigrette by stirring the garlic, whole grain mustard, parsley, champagne vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
4. Drizzle the vinaigrette on the salad tossing the grapefruit, oranges and the rest of the ingredients. Stir in the arugula right before serving.
Serving
You can either serve the salad in a bowl or on a plate. If you do decide to go with a more flat serving dish, you can overlap the fruit but keep it mostly in a single layer. As mentioned, the color in this salad make it so pretty for a dinner party. Citrus is refreshing for winter meals too. If you want to make the salad more filling, you can add fresh avocado. For a protein, shrimp pairs well with citrus.
Storage & Make-Ahead Tips
Unlike salads with a leafy green base, you can prep the citrus in advance. Just store the segments in an airtight container in the fridge up to a day. Use a slotted spoon to transfer it to the salad bowl, so you don’t end up with excess juice.
You can also make the dressing 2 days in advance. Put it in a mason jar in the refrigerator. If the olive oil has turned solid stored in the chill of the fridge, let it sit out at room temperature or run the jar under warm water and shake it to re-liquify the dressing.
You can keep leftover salad in the fridge up to 2 days. The arugula will soften and wilt the longer you store it. I recommend to sprinkle in fresh greens to revive it.
Recipe Tips
The salad is best when you use different types of citrus. The flavors really shine when you include a mix. If you do go with all oranges, then try to have 2 or three different kinds.
If you’ve never cut an orange into segments like this, be patient with yourself. You’ll get the hang of it. Use a paring knife to slice off any small bits of pith that you miss with your big knife as you cut of the peel.
Make sure to use pitted olives. You don’t want to be spitting out pits in between bites of salad. Generally I only go with pits when I am making marinated olives for an appetizer.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, check out this recipe for an orange olive salad with fennel. You will need to hold the citrus over a bowl to catch the juices.
I know not everyone is a fan of olives. This might not sound like a similar substitute, but I suggest adding crumbled feta to get some salty flavor. A tablespoon of capers would also give you something that tastes pickled.
More Winter Salad Recipes
Roasted Beet Salad with Oranges and Pears
Mandarin Orange Kale Salad
Shaved Sprout Salad
Roasted Broccoli Quinoa Salad
Citrus Salad with Olives and Pomegranate Seeds
Ingredients
For salad
- 2 pink or ruby red grapefruits
- 2 navel oranges
- 2 blood oranges
- 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives (about 6 ounces)
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup chopped unsalted roasted almonds
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 cup baby arugula
For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- To prep the citrus, trim off the tops and bottoms. Then use a knife to remove the peel and pith following the curve of the fruit. Slice between the membranes to cut out the individual segments. Place the grapefruit and oranges in a large bowl.
- Stir the olives, pomegranate seeds, scallions, almonds and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley with the citrus segments.
- For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, mustard, 2 tablespoons parsley, champagne vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Drizzle the vinaigrette on the salad tossing the ingredients.
- Stir the arugula into the salad right before you are ready to serve it.
Notes
- Diced or sliced avocado
- Crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese
- Thinly sliced fennel
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
