This summery peach salad recipe is made with ripe summer peaches, peppery arugula, creamy goat cheese, slivered almonds, fresh basil ribbons, and a savory-sweet white balsamic vinaigrette. You can grill the peaches (or not!).
Here’s a delicious peach salad we have been serving at weddings all summer long! I love this peach salad; it always makes me happy when brides order it- the presentation is lovely, and the combination of flavors is completely heavenly!
It’s made with fresh summer peaches (grilling them is optional), peppery arugula, fresh basil, creamy goat cheese, slivered almonds and punchy red onion tossed in a delicious white balsamic dressing.
As I write this, the smell coming from the peaches fills my kitchen with deliciousness. It’s the scent of summer! It brings me back to my childhood kitchen, with our 70s daisy wallpaper and my sticky hands and cheeks.
To this day, my favorite way to eat a peach is still leaning over the kitchen sink.
Peach Salad Ingredients
- Peaches – ripe, delicious-smelling peaches- purchase free-stone peaches if possible! See notes below on how to find the best peaches!
- Baby arugula (or sub baby spinach, or other favorite green)
- Crumbled goat cheese – a salty cheese like feta will not as taste good here!
- Red onion, adds a nice “bite” make sure to slice thinly.
- Almonds- use toasted slivered almonds
- Fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons.
- White balsamic vinegar (or sub-champagne vinegar)
- Honey, agave or maple syrup
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
How to make Peach Salad
Step 1: Prep the peaches. The first step in making this salad is removing some of the fuzziness of the peach. Use a dry terry cloth towel and gently buff the peaches. If the peach is very ripe, this may tear the skin; instead, hold it under a running faucet and, with your fingers, gently rub. Cut them in half and remove the pit.
Step 2: Grill the Peaches. (This is optional)
Place the peaches on a clean, greased, preheated grill and set to medium. Grill for just a few minutes until good grill marks appear. Alternatively, you can skip the grilling and slice the peaches- I often do this at home.
Step 3: Make the easy vinaigrette with white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and a little honey. Place everything in a bowl and whisk.
Step 4: Combine. Place the arugula, red onion, fresh basil, goat cheese crumbles and almonds in a large bowl and toss with a little of the dressing. Slice the grilled peaches and place them over top. Drizzle with a little more dressing and serve!
Storage
The dressing can be made up to 4 days ahead and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. The salad is best eaten on the day it is made, but leftovers will keep for 24 hours.
Serving Suggestions
This peach salad would be delicious paired with grilled chicken, grilled fish, or grilled tofu!
How to Buy the Best Peaches!
- People soften ask me how to pick out good peaches. The first clue is always by their scent. You can’t judge a peach by its looks alone- smell them! A beautiful rosy colored peach may be utterly tasteless. A not-so-pretty, dented, lopsided, or bruised peach may be surprisingly flavorful. Your best bet, is to let your nose be your guide. Their smell will mimic their taste. A good peach will smell of sweet nectar.
- There are hundreds of varieties of peaches, which are classified into clingstone, freestone, or semi-freestone. This tells us how firmly the peach attaches to the pit. Clingstones stubbornly attach to the pit, and can be difficult to remove the pit. Seek out freestone or semi-freestone if possible or if making this salad in large quantities.
- When looking at color, look at the background color of a peach, not just the beautiful reds and oranges. When the overall background color, behind the red and orange hues, turns golden, the peach is at its peak.
- Peaches can ripen after they are picked, but they don’t get any sweeter. Like apricots, the longer they are allowed to mature on the tree, the sweeter and more concentrated the flavor. That’s why the closer the peaches are grown to you, the better they will taste.
Enjoy this peach salad, and let us know what you think in the comments below.
xoxo – Sylvia
More favorite peach recipes
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Peach Salad Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Salad, main, Gluten-free
- Method: Grilled
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Grilled Peach and Arugula Salad with toasted almonds, fresh basil, goat cheese and a simple balsamic vinaigrette.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 3 ripe, delicious smelling peaches, halved
- 6 oz baby arugula (or other favorite green)
- 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
- 1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4–1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
- 10 basil leaves, cut into ribbons. Purple basil is pretty.
White Balsamic Vinaigrette
- 2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ( white balsamic is nice, or use regular)
- 1 Tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 4 tablespoonsablespoons olive oil
- generous pinch salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- If grilling the peaches, preheat the grill. ( You don’t have to grill them)
- Mix the vinaigrette together in a small bowl or jar.
- Wash peaches, rubbing the fuzz off with your fingers under running water ( or uses a dry towel). Halvethe peaches, scoop out the seeds and brush with a little olive oil.
- Grill for 4-6 minutes over medium heat uncovered until they have noticeable grill marks. Using a metal spatula gently turn over and grill one more minute. Try to keep peach intact. Cut peaches into wedges.
- Toss greens, onions, basil leaves, slivered almonds and goat cheese in a medium bowl with some of the vinaigrette.. You may not need all.
- Place the grilled peaches on top, sprinkle witih optional nasturtium petals. Enjoy!
Notes
Grilling the peaches is optional. If peaches are very juicy and ripe, no need to grill.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 192
- Sugar: 10.9 g
- Sodium: 144.6 mg
- Fat: 14.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.7 g
- Fiber: 2.2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 4.4 mg
This salad is absolutely delicious. My first time grilling peaches. It was a show stopper
Yay! So glad you gave it a try!
Delicious! Grilling the peaches makes all the difference. We did have difficulties getting pretty grill marks but we were able to get a little char here and there which was perfect. We used white balsamic instead of regular and the dressing was perfect. This is such a beautiful and perfectly balanced summer salad.
Thanks Leslie! Glad you enjoyed this!
Wow is this good. Grilling peaches makes them so good. Worth the extra effort. We had this for two of us for lunch, so adjusted amounts ( we each had a whole peach) and also added grilled red onion that you had here, and grilled orange pepper happened to have. I am usually lazy about salad dressings so I used a good reduced balsamic vinegar and on mine a bit of lemon too. Goat cheese, and almonds perfect on this. We were very happy!
I’m so happy you like this! I am making this one today to take to a party….it has been a while!
Oh wow, we just had this salad with our dinner…so good! And so simple and easy to make. I used feta instead because my husband dislikes goats cheese and local Australian orange blossom honey.
I Will be making this again and again, thank you.
Im surprised the recipe doesn’t call for peeling the skin off the peaches after grilling. I think the skin is a distraction.. recipe great , beautiful fresh and tasty
Shepherds Cheese is a sheep’s milk cheese. Cheese made from the milk of a sheep, vs. a cow or goat. In Spokane, I sometimes find it at Huckleberries, Saunders Cheese Market or the Main Market Co-op. If you are not in Spokane, try a cheese store or a gourmet grocer. And goat cheese works just as well. 🙂
What is shepherds cheese? And where do you find it. Thanks,KJH
A stunning salad! Love the appetizer too.
This looks amazing!! What beautiful pictures too! I’m going to have to make this. Thank you for the post.
thanks and let me know how it turns out.