Here’s one of our first recipes on the blog and believe it or not, it is still one of our all-time favorite summer salads- fresh Fig and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese, Pecans and Basil tossed in a simple Balsamic Vinaigrette. (updated, original recipe 8/2011)
Say hello to one of the very first recipes on the blog, now over 10 years old! Boy does time travel fast when you are having fun! We gave this old Fig and Arugula Salad a little “refresh” with some new, updated photos this week. The recipe is still as yummy, it hopefully just looks a wee bit more appetizing! 😉
Here’s a very popular wedding salad we’ve been serving up in our catering business as of late- Fig and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese, toasted pecans, and fresh basil tossed in a maple-sweetened Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Not only is it visually beautiful, but it’s also a very simple salad to make! People seem to love this combination of flavors, and often ask for the recipe at events, so I thought I’d share it here.
It is best to make this when figs are fresh and in season -June through October.
If you are not a huge fan of goat cheese, crumbled gorgonzola is also a tasty option. Red onions add a nice bite. If you are new to peppery arugula feel free to cut it with baby spinach for a slightly milder taste. But we really prefer straight arugula.
The star of the salad truly is the fresh figs though- so try to be patient and wait until these are in season.
Why this salad works:
- The flavors and textures of this salad are so complimentary! Sweet summer figs paired with peppery arugula, soft goat cheese, toasted pecans, fresh basil leaves, and a maple- sweetened balsamic vinaigrette. So very perfect!
- This salad can be made ahead! Assemble it ahead, refrigerate, then add the dressing and toss it right before serving.
- It’s beautiful! Perfect for special gatherings.
Fig Salad Ingredients
- Figs– perfectly ripe, not too soft, not too firm.
- Arugula– we really love its peppery bite, but feel free sub spinach or half spinach.
- Pecans– toasted, or maple glazed pecans
- Red onions
- Goat Cheese
- Balsamic Vanilla Dressing
How to make Fig Arugula Salad
- If sensitive to red onions, thinly slice and soak in salted water to remove bitterness.
- Toast pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 5-6 minutes. Or Make the Maple Glazed Pecans (sooooo delicious!)
- Place arugula, pecans, drained onions, and torn basil leaves in a large bowl. (At this point you could refrigerate until serving, placing figs and goat cheese over top of the greens).
- Drizzle the dressing ingredients into the salad bowl (or feel free to mix dressing together in a small jar or bowl first) tossing the salad until all the leaves are lightly coated. Add the figs and goat cheese, and lightly toss to incorporate.
- Taste, adjust vinegar and maple to your liking, adding more if you prefer.
I hope you enjoy the fig salad, and if you make it let us know what you think in the comments below.
Hope summer is treating you well!
xoxo
Fig and Arugula Salad w/ Pecans, Basil and Goat Cheese
Fig and Arugula Salad with pecans, basil and goat cheese, tossed w/ a balsamic vinaigrette. Original Recipe 8/2010
- Prep Time: 20
- Total Time: 15
- Yield: 4-8
- Category: salad, vegetarian
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans (or make these maple glazed pecans)
- 5 ounces baby arugula (about 6–7 cups)
- 6–8 figs, stems removed, quartered
- 10–15 basil leaves, torn
- 1/2 cup firm goat cheese, crumbled (use the kind in a log, or try gorgonzola)
Fig Salad Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1–2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
Instructions
If sensitive to red onions, thinly slice and soak in salted water for 15 minutes.
Toast pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 5-6 minutes.
Place arugula, pecans, drained onions, and torn basil leaves in a large bowl. (At this point you could refrigerate until serving, placing figs and goat cheese overtop of the greens).
Drizzle the dressing ingredients into the salad bowl (or feel free to mix dressing together in a small jar or bowl first) tossing the salad until all the leaves are lightly coated. Add the figs and goat cheese, and lightly toss to incorporate.
Taste, adjust vinegar and maple to your liking, adding more if you prefer.
Serve immediately!
Notes
It helps to use very cold goat cheese or chevre here- makes it much easier to crumble- so leave it the fridge until the last possible moment. You can also place it in the freezer while you prep the salad.
Feel free to sub toasted walnuts– although I think pecans actually do taste better here!
Feel free to swap out gorgonzola cheese for the goat cheese.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 264
- Sugar: 15.3 g
- Sodium: 263 mg
- Fat: 20.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 19.4 g
- Fiber: 3.3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 5.3 mg
Keywords: fig salad, fresh fig salad, fresh fig recipes, fig arugula salad, arugula fig salad, fig and arugula salad
My husband and I loved it! I have been missing salads , cause after eating a lot of yummy fat and high carb food during Christmas holidays, this salad was a relief to my soul. I didn´t have goat cheese, so I use feta cheese and it was delicious. It´s going to be one of our favorite salads this 2022. Thanks for sharing Sylivia. God bless u.🤗
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed this Mary!
Hello. I love this recipe. What can I use instead of figs? It is not fig season and I can’t find it anywhere.
★★★★★
Pears or Apple would work here too!
Great! Any suggestion on what kind of pears or apples? There are so many varieties of each, lol.
Thank you for your response.
Red Anjou Pears would be really pretty here or Honey Crisp Apples.
Another 5 Star Rating for the best Chef on the Internet! This salad and dressing recipe is SO freaking good (and easy)! Last night marks the second time this week we made it. Topped it with grilled chicken and it made a great meal. Putting this salad on the dinner table at Christmas! Thank you so much Sylvia!
★★★★★
Thanks so much- I’m so glad you enjoyed this!
We loved this salad, particularly the dressing. I made it out of fig season, so added pears instead and it was great. I look forward to making it again later when figs are available. 🙂
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed this Sherie- Pears are a great sub!
Fabulous!
★★★★★
I have made this salad many times and ALWAYS a huge success..
★★★★★
Glad you like it Kenna!
Wow this looks so delectable, cant wait to try on the weekend!!
Can i please ask what the little black pieces shown all over the salad in the pic is? Seems a lot if its pepper but gives it that really special look. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks
Hi Pippa, it is the balsamic vinegar. 😉
I made this for a small Thanksgiving gathering and it was a huge hit! Everyone loved it- even people who typically do not eat salad, and even a three-year-old. It’s delicious, and we have made it multiple times since then.
★★★★★
So delicious!
★★★★★
I was waiting until fresh figs came in season to try this and it was worth the wait! I used gorgonzola instead of goat cheese since we like the stronger flavor and I had some fig balsamic from when flavored balsamic were popular so I used that. A winner at our house and we will be making it as long as we can find fresh figs and may even try with dried once we can’t find fresh any longer. A new favorite
★★★★★
Awesome, glad you enjoyed this Sherry and thanks so much! 🙌
Hello! I’m planning a menu to pair with different wines for a socially distanced girls weekend since we can’t go to restaurants and want to start with this salad. I need to make a pregnancy friendly vegetarian or pescatarian entree to follow this salad. Mid-September is the date. Any recommendations? Thank you!
I Bet the Moroccan Salmon would taste good with this! Or the butternut lasagna. 😉
This salad is awesome! I was able to buy some local, organic fresh figs, so I’ve actually made this salad three times in about 9 days to make use of the figs. Absolutely wonderful combination of flavors! My husband doesn’t like goat cheese, so I used Gorgonzola instead. We both loved it. A definite “go to” recipe for when fresh figs are available in the Summer.
★★★★★
Thanks Kelly! Glad you both enjoyed!
This is one of my favorite salads! What would be a good entree to serve with this?
★★★★★
I really like this with salmon (the Moroccan Salmon would work) or I bet the 7-Spice Chicken would be great here too!
Delicious!
★★★★★
Thank you for this yummy recipe. I made it yesterday after you emailed it out in your newsletter. Two issues–I found it hard to crumble goat cheese, as I find it sticks together. Also, the volume of dressing is too much as you mention might be the case, and when you have too much, the dressing is too intense and drowns/overpowers the salad. l don’t want my expensive good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar to go to waste. May I suggest changing the quantities to 3 tablespoons each of the oil and vinegar. Also, depending on how sweet your balsamic vinegar and figs are, you don’t really need the maple syrup–I found it plenty sweet from the figs and balsamic with no maple syrup and with the additional of a half teaspoon of vanilla powder which has sugar in it. I personally found that I didn’t like the vanilla notes with the particular vinegar that I used, so I will leave it out next time. The ingredients are kind of expensive so this recipe was definitely a splurge, but I plan to make this again soon with my remaining figs and these adjustments!
★★★★
I wonder if it’s possible you used less arugula than I did? Sorry about that. You are right, some balsamic vinegars are sweeter than others. I will note the recipe. Thanks for the feedback, appreciated!
nope I used a 5 ounce bag of arugula as specified in your recipe, in this case from Whole Foods
Hi Margaret. Ok I found the problem, I had used a 7-ounce bag. Re-made the recipe last night and adjusted the recipe. Sorry about that. You were totally right, way too much dressing for 5 ounces.
Without seeing your comment, I happened to make this salad again today, this time using a 7-oz bag of arugula from Trader Joe’s. That worked much better in terms of proportions to the other ingredients in my opinion–and I still found using the reduced amount of dressing works just about right with the increased volume of arugula, as long as you toss the salad well, so that very little dressing is sitting at the bottom of the bowl. I found the salad flavored well without being drowned or overpowered, though some people might want the dressing to be stronger if they’re making it for a party and want people to eat less. Please fix the listed quantity of arugula listed in your recipe.
Also I discovered that Trader Joe’s sells already crumbled goat cheese. That was much easier/quicker to use to make the salad though it involves more plastic waste. Cheaper than Whole Foods too, although not organic.
Hi – I remade the salad with less arugual and I ended up just adjusted the dressing recipe as most people have access to 5 ounce boxes of arugula.
Also I discovered that Trader Joe’s sells already crumbled goat cheese. That was much easier/quicker to use to make the salad! Cheaper than Whole Foods too, although not organic.
This was so delcious! My husband’s new favourite. The last time I made it, I substituted the maple syrup for local honey, as we have a lot of it right now and it was equally delicious. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Made this with gorganzola and it was so good. A keeper.
★★★★★
This is the best fig salad I’ve ever had!
★★★★★
This salad looks delish…….but im not a huge fan of goat cheese. Do you have a thought about an alternative cheese?
I really like gorgonzola in this too.
I have made this salad many times and ALWAYS a huge success.. I have successfully used both Gorgonzola, plain goat cheese and honey goat cheese successfully.
★★★★★
My whole family loves this recipe. Even the kids. Thanks for another great recipe.
★★★★★
Doesn’t get better than this. Excellent!!!
★★★★★
Our absolute favorite salad on the blog.
★★★★★