Grilled Peach Salad with Curry Pecans & Honey Vinaigrette
Grilled Peach Salad is the ultimate summer side dish recipe. The peaches are grilled until smoky and extra sweet and served with arugula, blueberries, candied curry pecans, and a honey vinaigrette. Add some goat cheese or diced avocado and you've just made the best grilled salad ever.
Grilled Peach Salad – our favorite summer salad recipe! It's sweet. It's summery. It's a little bit strange → we're looking at you candied curry pecans. And it makes all things right in this world.
You'll love this grilled peach salad if:
- You can't get enough sweet peaches.
- You think nothing can beat a juicy, fresh peach but have an open mind and like to try new things. TRUST. You should do this.
- You love taking it easy and keeping it simple. (Hello, kindred spirits!)
- You're all about maximizing summer cooking while you can. Bring on the BBQ!
- You know that a salad isn't a salad without something sweet in it.
- You love eating healthy food.
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!
Grilled peaches are so easy to make
- 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.
- DONE!
See how easy that was?
Pro tip
There is one thing that will make your peach grilling life even easier: Grill Mats. (← affiliate link) Have you heard of them? Do you have one? Nothing sticks to them and your BBQ stays CLEAN!
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.
The Best Candied Curry Pecans
That's what those little nuggets of joy up there should be called. They're sweetened with honey, have a gentle curry flavor, and are begging to be eaten with smoky grilled peaches.
Making candied pecans might sound a little difficult, but it's super easy.
- Put the pecans in a pan with some honey, curry powder, and salt then let the honey boil until the pan is dry and the pecans are coated in a sweet glaze.
- Stir some butter through the pecans so they don't stick together and you're done.
See how easy it is to make the best grilled peach salad topper?
Grilled peach salad dressing
The dressing we use on this salad is so addictive. You'll likely want to double up the recipe so you can have some extra on hand.
It's a little creamy and a little sweet and goes perfectly with the grilled peaches.
The salad dressing will keep well for at least a week in your fridge!
What to serve with your grilled peach salad
Here are a few of our favorite mains cooked on your BBQ:
- Grilled Chicken Wings
- Best Grilled Chicken Breast
- Juicy Grilled Pork Chops
- Grilled Hawaiian Chicken Skewers with Coconut Rice
Also, make sure to try our prosciutto-wrapped grilled peaches!
Fresh summer salad recipes:
- Arugula and Fresh Cherry Salad with Goat Cheese and Candied Pecans
- Strawberry Avocado Grilled Balsamic Chicken Salad
- Summer Quinoa Salad with Cherries, Almonds, and Fresh Herbs
- The Best Greek Salad Recipe
- Avocado Cucumber Salad
Grilled Peach Salad with Goat Cheese and Sweet Honey Balsamic Dressing
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
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
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!!
Really appreciate the way you made this. I hope this will make my mom happy. Looking for more such delicious and healthy recipes in future,
Simply amazing
Wow, what a great recipe! I made it last night for company and everyone loved it (and asked for the receipt). I used nectarines instead of peaches, as the peaches in the store weren’t ripe and it turned out great. I also added some “Spring Mix” lettuce to the arugula and grilled the lettuces slightly – to the point where they were just beginning to wilt a bit – which added a touch more smokiness. Will definitely make this again!
This is really good! I used feta instead of goat cheese because it’s what I had, but I think goat would have been even better. I also had just turned the last of my blueberries into jam, so I used blueberry jam in place of the honey in the vinaigrette and it was very nice!
My pecans stuck to the pan when they cooled, even with the butter, so I think turning them into parchment paper to cool would have been a better idea.
This salad is amazing. My favorite!
Excellent combination! Omitted the goat cheese and it was still very flavorful.
Do you peel the peaches?
Unless you really don’t like them, I suggest leaving the skin on the peaches. It will help them retain their shape better when grilled. 🙂
The dressing really compliments the peppery, nutty arugula! I love the grilled peaches alongside the creamy goat cheese. This is a really well thought out recipe and something I think everyone will enjoy! Definitely make it this summer!
Thank you for the comment, Alixx! So happy that you liked the recipe!
Made the salad twice and absolutely loved the flavours. It paired perfectly with cheese, pate de foie and Port wine. Our guests enjoyed it very much. Trying it is adopting it.
Great pairing suggestions! So happy you like the recipe!
Is it okay to make the dressing a day ahead of time and keep on fridge?
Yep! The dressing will keep well for several days in the fridge!
please add the pecan directions into the body of the recipe you print!
Done!
ok to grill, then chill the peaches several hours ahead of time?
It is!
It was really amazing ! Nice to change from basic salads
I’m so happy to hear you liked the recipe!
This recipe is incredible! I added a little bacon cause I had some in my fridge that I needed to use but other than that made the recipe exactly as you’ve written it. I will be making this again!
Such a great idea to add bacon!!
Would feta be an OK alternative to the goat cheese? I will eat almost anything in this world, but I really hate the taste of goat cheese. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Oh absolutely!
um WOW those photos are gorgeous. I’m just staring at them and staring at them! Beautiful work!
Thank you so much!!