Grilled Peach Salad with Curry Pecans & Honey Vinaigrette
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Life’s about to get a whole lot peachier thanks to this summery grilled peach salad! Have you tried grilling peaches before? The natural sugars caramelize, making the peaches smoky and extra sweet. They meld with peppery arugula, bursting blueberries, candied curry pecans, and a honey vinaigrette. Add some goat cheese or diced avocado, and you’ll be counting down until peach season all year long!
Biting into a juicy, ripe peach tastes like a celebration of sunshine. To make your peaches even better, throw them on the grill grates and let the heat caramelize the natural sugars. This delicious combination of sweetness and smokiness creates a more intense and complex taste.
Toss it with peppery arugula, fresh blueberries, creamy goat cheese, and flavorful, crunchy pecans, and you’ve got an incredible crowd-pleasing summery salad recipe. It’s sweet, fresh, bright, and a little bit unsuspecting, with those candied curried pecans hiding in the mix!
Key ingredients to gather
This salad with grilled peaches calls for familiar ingredients. Sweet, smoky, crunchy, creamy, and tangy elements make this so delicious!
Peaches: The star of the show! Make sure they are perfectly ripe. If they are over ripe they will fall apart when grilled.
Blueberries: Not only go they look beautiful against the peaches, they taste great, too.
Pecans: A little sweetness and curry powder adds a slightly unexpected (but very welcome) flavor to this dish.
Greens: I almost always use arugula, but baby spinach is a great way to switch things up.
Also, make sure to try my prosciutto wrapped peaches!
How to select a peach for this salad recipe
The first question you might wonder is, do peaches need to be ripe to grill? Ripe peaches will achieve delicious flavor, but you can actually use slightly underripe peaches, too. The reason why is that the heat brings out the natural sugars and caramelizes them, softening the peach as it does.
Look for a ripe peach: you’ll want it to be free of any bruises or soft spots, and to have a sweet aroma without any sour notes. Green spots indicate it’s underripe, so look for a dark red, orange, or yellow tone.
Honey vinaigrette dressing
The honey vinaigrette dressing I use on this salad is incredible. The sweet honey notes perfectly complement the peppery arugula. The salad dressing will keep well for at least a week in your fridge—you’ll likely want to double up the recipe so you can have some extra on hand! It’s slightly creamy and slightly sweet and pairs well with the grilled peaches.
What to serve with your grilled peach salad
This peach salad recipe is simple enough you can treat yourself to it on an average weeknight, but impressive enough to serve while entertaining – you’re guaranteed to get a load of compliments!
It also works as an appetizer, side dish, or as the main dish! If you’re serving it up on the side, it might just steal the show! While the BBQ is hot, cook up some grilled pork chops or grilled chicken breast for an easy and delicious savory main. My grilled cedar plank salmon also tastes wonderful with this salad!
Pro tips for how to grill peaches for a salad
Grilling peaches sounds fancy, but it’s super simple! One warning: don’t give in and try one of those grilled peaches before you put them in the salad. If you do, chances are you won’t be able to stop yourself from eating all of them! Here are some other pro tips to keep in mind:
- Grilling peaches: Cut your peaches in half (like an avocado!) and twist the halves off of the pit. Slice each half into three pieces and toss them in a tiny bit of oil. Grill the peaches for a few minutes on each side.
- Grill mats: Have you used grill mats. before? If not, prepare to make your peach grilling life even easier. Nothing sticks to them, making your BBQ stay clean and making clean up a breeze! You can definitely make this grilled peach salad without a grill mat, but you’ll want to make sure that your grill is well oiled before putting on the peaches so they don’t stick.
- Warm peaches: If you throw your peaches in when they’re hot off the grill, you’ll risk wilting the salad, so it’s best to let them cool for a few minutes and serve them warm. If you want to make the salad ahead of time, they’re tasty served cold, too.
Variations
This grilled peach salad works as there is delicious contrast: sweet and smokiness from the peaches balances the peppery bitterness from the arugula! If you’re thinking of making any variations, think about how they’ll complement those flavors. Here are some top picks:
- Grilled peach burrata salad: Creamy burrata cheese compliments the grilled peaches so well – substitute the goat cheese for some ripped burrata for a delightful twist!
- Other cheese: Goat cheese can be polarizing – we love the tangy creaminess of it but understand it’s not for everyone. An easy and delicious substitute is feta cheese, avocado, or of course, as we suggested above, make the grilled peach and burrata salad!
- Protein: If you’d like to add some protein you can throw in some prosciutto, shredded chicken, bacon bits, or roasted chickpeas as a salad topper.
- Greens: Add or sub some other greens, like kale or baby spinach!
- No peaches?: All out of peaches? Or can’t find ripe ones? You can sub for nectarines! It works well and has a similar stone-fruit flavor. We’ve also had readers use pear in a pinch, and report that it worked well!
- Nuts: If you can’t get your hands on some pecans, other nuts work well, too. Walnuts are an easy swap, or you can sprinkle some pine nuts into the salad, too.
Grilled Peach Salad with Curry Pecans & Honey Vinaigrette
Ingredients
The Honey Vinaigrette
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt (use 1 tablespoon mayonnaise for dairy-free)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- A pinch of sea salt
The Candied Curry Pecans
- ¼ cup pecans
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon butter
The Salad
- 4 ripe but firm peaches
- ½ teaspoon avocado oil (or another neutral-flavored oil)
- 5 ounces baby arugula
- ½ cup blueberries
- ¼ cup crumbled goat cheese (sub a diced avocado for dairy-free)
Instructions
- Place all the vinaigrette ingredients into a 1-cup mason jar and shake until mixed.2 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, A pinch of sea salt
- Place the pecans, honey, curry powder, and sea salt in a small frying pan and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until the pan is dry, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter to prevent the pecans from sticking together.¼ cup pecans, 1 tablespoon honey, ½ teaspoon curry powder, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon butter
- Preheat your barbecue to high. Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit. Then cut each peach half into three wedges. Place the peaches in a medium-sized bowl and toss with the oil. Grill the peaches for 2-3 minutes per side. Remove them from the grill using an offset spatula – this works better than a regular spatula and helps prevent the grill marks from being left on the grill.4 ripe but firm peaches, ½ teaspoon avocado oil
- Place the arugula in a large bowl with goat cheese, curry pecans, blueberries, and grilled peaches. Toss with the dressing and serve immediately.5 ounces baby arugula, ½ cup blueberries, ¼ cup crumbled goat cheese
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Recipe FAQs
Should I peel peaches before grilling them?
Unless you really don’t like the skin of the peach, I suggest leaving it on, as it helps them retain their shape better when they’re grilled.
Should I use raw or roasted pecans?
Go for roasted pecans, if possible!
Can I make grilled peach salad ahead of time?
You can make the various parts of the salad ahead of time, but don’t combine them until you’re ready to serve.
Can I make this without a grill?
You sure can! Use a grill pan on your stovetop. It will replicate the grill grates and infuse that smoky flavor.
I’m interested in making the pecans as a christmas gift for a friend who lives in another state. Do you think this recipe would be appropriate for wrapping and sending in the mail or would they be too wet and likely mold by the time the gift could be opened? They look yummy and unusual. Thanks
The pecans can be made in advance so they should be just fine to send. Once they’re cool, they’re quite dry to the touch. You have a lucky friend!
This salad was delicious! If you ordered this in a restaurant, you would pay $20 or more. Loved the dressing and don’t skip the pecans, they added a unique flavor.
Hi, can you make this salad a head of time?
You can make the various parts of the salad ahead of time, but don’t toss it all together until you’re ready to serve it.
I was looking for a honey vinaigrette for a peach and blueberry salad with arugula LOL! Because of course Peaches and Blueberries are glorious right now from the farm stand. This was a good combination, but don’t make the mistake of using an immersion blender to mix your dressing. I usually do this for vinaigrettes, and I should have known better as I have made the mistake before with mayo, and it liquifies the dressing. It still tasted good, but I made this for a dinner gathering and I don’t think it went over well. I enjoyed it, but because I dressed the whole thing, I ended up throwing away most of what was likely a 15+ dollar salad. Perhaps the dressing was a bit too sweet? Not visually appealing? Next time I am going to try mixing a small amount (as I use high quality ingredients, I don’t want to waste it) and just stir together to see if it’s as watery. If so, i will switch to leaving out the Greek yogurt.
I received rave reviews for this wonderful salad when I served it for guests this week! What a way to start a meal – an impressive combination of flavors and textures. I followed the recipe to a tee with one small substitution- I used Boston lettuce instead of arugula
Should the peaches be served hot or cold? Thank you!
Warm is best for this dish. While they’re delicious eaten hot, you’ll risk wilting the salad if they’re added hot so it’s best to let them cool for a few minutes. If you want to make the salad ahead of time, they’re tasty served cold, too.
Love this Grilled Peach Salad , this salad seems so delicious , will love to try this one . Thanks for sharing this recipe with us.
This Grilled Peach Salad seems so amazing , love this one . Thanks for sharing this recipe ,will love to try this one .
10/10- can’t say enough about this amazing combination.
Excellent flavors in this salad from the seasoned pecans to the dressing, etc.
I am making this over the weekend! Do you use raw pecans or are they already roasted (or does it matter)?
Thanks!
Roasted if you have them!
This was outstanding. Fresh wild king salmon is in season. So I grilled the peaches and worked on the salad while the salmon was on the grill. Perfect summer dinner with a glass of rose’. Thank you!
This salad was Perfect!!!!
My husband loved this! Full disclosure, our grocery store did not have fresh peaches, so I could not grill them ( I WILL though). I made the pecans as written and the dressing exactly, but I used shredded gruyere bc it is better for my lactose intolerance. I replaced the peaches with pear, but DID used fresh blueberries. This was AMAZING and I’m sure it will be even better as written! My husband commented on the LAYERS of flavor and said that it was the best salad he had ever had! Thank you for an awesome new salad to add to my repertoire!
You’re very welcome!!