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Cherry Salad with Arugula & Couscous

A delightful summer salad featuring fresh cherries, arugula, pistachios and goat cheese (optional) tossed in a simple balsamic vinaigrette.

Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 3, 2026

67 Reviews

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This summertime salad features ruby red Bing cherries. It’s rounded out with peppery arugula and some of my favorite Middle Eastern ingredients—couscous, celery and pistachios. Goat cheese offers a creamy element, while the crisp celery and crunchy nuts contrast nicely with the sweet, tender fruit.

Homemade balsamic vinaigrette brings these unexpected ingredients together surpringsly well. This green salad is light yet filling and very refreshing. I originally shared this recipe in 2014 and recently revisited it. Great recipes are timeless—I love this one just as much as I did back then, so I’m sharing it again with fresh photos.

Substitutions That Work

I love this salad as written, but it’s a flexible recipe. Here are some options:

• Use any type of sweet cherry, or try another stone fruit like sliced plums or peaches.
• The photos show fine couscous, but you could also use pearl couscous.
• Substitute quinoa for the couscous to make the salad gluten free. Here’s how to cook quinoa.
• If you don’t enjoy goat cheese, try feta instead.
• Instead of pistachios, you could use sliced or slivered almonds. If you do, there’s no need to chop the nuts.

Cherry Salad Serving Suggestions

Enjoy big bowls of this salad for lunch, or serve it with a larger dinner spread. It would make a lovely fresh counterpoint for grilled mains.

Here are a few summery options that would go well:

• Best Ever Zucchini
• Grilled Corn on the Cob
• Socca (Chickpea Flatbread)
• Tirokafteri (Greek Spicy Feta Dip)

Please let me know how your salad turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.

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Cherry Salad with Arugula and Couscous

• Author: Kathryne Taylor
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 6
• Diet: Vegetarian

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 67 reviews

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This delightful summer salad features fresh cherries, arugula, pistachios and goat cheese tossed in a simple balsamic vinaigrette. Feel free to substitute pearl couscous for the fine couscous shown here, or quinoa to make the salad gluten free. Recipe yields 6 medium salads.

Ingredients

Couscous

• ¾ cup fine couscous, whole wheat if desired
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• Several twists of freshly ground black pepper

Balsamic vinaigrette (this makes extra)

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons honey or maple syrup
• Generous amount of freshly ground black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon fine salt

Salad

• 5 ounces arugula
• ½ pound cherries (about 2 big handfuls), pitted, halved and quartered
• 2 to 3 stalks celery, chopped (1 heaping cup)
• 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (about ¾ cup)
• ½ cup shelled pistachios or almonds 

Instructions

1. To make the couscous: Bring ¾ cup water to boil in a small saucepan. Once it’s boiling, remove the pan from heat and pour in the couscous, olive oil, sea salt and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, fluff the couscous with a fork and set it aside for later.
2. To make the dressing: Whisk together all of the vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl until emulsified.
3. To toast the nuts (skip this step if they’re already roasted): In a skillet over medium-low heat, toast the nuts, tossing frequently, until fragrant, about 3 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and use a chef’s knife to chop the nuts into small pieces.
4. To compose the salad: In a large serving bowl, combine the arugula, cooled couscous, sliced cherries, chopped celery, crumbled goat cheese and chopped nuts. When you’re ready to serve, drizzle it with enough vinaigrette to lightly coat the greens (you might have some leftover) and toss to combine. Serve immediately. If you store the dressing separately from the rest, it will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Notes

Why buy organic? Conventionally grown celery, cherries and leafy greens are notoriously high in pesticide residues.

Make it vegan: Skip the goat cheese and substitute maple syrup for the honey in the dressing.

Make it gluten free: Substitute cooked quinoa for the couscous (here’s how to cook quinoa).

Change it up: Substitute sliced peaches, plums or nectarines for the cherries. You can also use spinach in place of the arugula.

Prepare in advance: You can cook the grains and whisk together the dressing. Store them in the refrigerator, covered, until you’re ready to serve.

2026 recipe edits: I retested and tweaked the quantities of arugula and goat cheese to use the full packages, plus increased the nuts accordingly, which makes the salad slightly bigger.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Salad