This apple and pomegranate salad combines deliciously sweet fruit with leafy greens and a good crunch from nuts and seeds. It's so easy to make in just 10 minutes (or less!) as a light summer side dish or festive fall harvest salad.
Adding fruit to salads is one of my favorite ways to add delicious sweetness and flavor. Much like my apple and cucumber salad and broccoli pomegranate salad, this recipe has a combination of greens and fruit to make it light and refreshing.
Making this apple pomegranate salad couldn't be easier, with no cook time and all simple steps. It's an elegant addition to your summer dinner or holiday meals, or perhaps to take to a picnic or potluck!
Have a peek at my kale and pomegranate salad and fall fruit salad for more fruity festive winter salad side dish ideas!
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🍎 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Apple - I suggest to use a red apple such as a Honeycrisp, Fuji or gala apple for sweetness, but if you prefer a more tart flavor, then a green apple such as Granny Smith works well.
- Pomegranate seeds (arils) - to add sweetness and a hint of tartness. To remove the seeds you can halve, place cut-side down in your palm and give it a tap with a wooden spoon (held over a bowl or plate). This tutorial on preparing pomegranates is helpful.
- Pomegranate juice - you can either use store-bought, or freshly squeezed, depending on which you tolerate best.
- Arugula - for your leafy greens. You can also use kale, butter lettuce or lamb's lettuce to preference (lamb's lettuce scores 1 on the SIGHI list, for my low histamine readers).
📖 Swaps and Variations
Swap almonds for other seeds. To keep it a nut free salad, if that's best for you, simply leave out the almonds (they score 1 on SIGHI) and use all pumpkin seeds.
Leave out the vinegar. If it doesn't work for you, you can leave out the apple cider vinegar. The vinaigrette won't have as much of a 'tang' but will still be good!
🔪 How to Make Apple Pomegranate Salad
It's so easy to make this fruity summer salad, using fresh produce and pantry staples. There's no need for any fancy kitchen equipment either!
Step 1: Make the pomegranate dressing
Combine the extra virgin olive oil, pomegranate juice, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, minced garlic, salt and black pepper (optional) in a jar that can be sealed and shake well (image 1). You may need to shake or whisk just before serving as it will separate over time.
Step 2: Layer the lettuce and dress
Layer the arugula (or lettuce of choice) on your serving plate or bowl and drizzle about a third of the dressing over it. Toss to coat the leaves. Sprinkle on the pomegranate arils, nuts and seeds (image 2).
Step 3: Prep the apple
De-core the apple, then slice finely (image 3). I suggest to do this just before serving as it will brown quickly.
Step 4: Arrange the salad
Add the apple slices to the salad and drizzle on more of the dressing (image 4). I suggest to add about a third more, then adjust the amount to preference.
💭 Recipe Tips and Notes
- Prep the apple last. I suggest to slice just before serving, as it will brown quickly.
- Shake the dressing! As we are mixing oil and vinegar, the vinaigrette will naturally separate over time so give it a good shake before use.
- Add the dressing to preference. We all like a different amount of vinaigrette on our summer salads, so add a little to begin with, then more to preference.
📋 Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can easily swap the red apple for green. It will give a more tart flavor to the salad.
Adding cheese would make the salad a little more hearty, so of course! If you're low histamine, then torn mozzarella or small spoonfuls of ricotta would be good (see my low histamine cheeses post for some info). If not, then feta or goat cheese will also work well.
🥗 More Salad Recipes
Find so many light summer salads here, including my popular cucumber celery salad and lamb's lettuce salad, as well as these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Apple and Pomegranate Salad
Equipment
- Salad servers
- Sealable jar
Ingredients
- 4 cups arugula or lamb's lettuce
- ¼ cup pomegranate arils
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon slivered almonds
- 1 red apple
Pomegranate vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoon pomegranate juice
- 2 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- pinch salt
- pinch ground black pepper optional
Instructions
- Add the olive oil, pomegranate juice, apple cider vinegar, minced garlic, maple syrup, salt and optional black pepper to a jar that can be sealed. Shake well to combine. Taste test, and adjust to preference. You will likely need to shake again, just before use, as the oil and vinegar will naturally separate.
- Layer the arugula on your serving plate. Drizzle about a third of the dressing onto the leaves and toss to coat.
- De-core the apple, and slice into thin slices.
- Arrange the apple slices, pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds and sliced almonds on the arugula leaves. Drizzle a little more of the dressing over the salad, using the amount you prefer.
Notes
- If store-bought pomegranate juice doesn't work for you, you can blend pomegranate arils for a few seconds, then pour through a fine mesh sieve over a bowl to collect the fresh juice.
- For my UK readers, arugula is known as rocket.
- Lamb's lettuce (which scores 0 on SIGHI) can be used as a swap, if required.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- arugula / rocket is not rated.
- almonds, garlic and apple cider vinegar, which score 1.
- Use fresh pomegranate juice, if required.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
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