Vibrant Orange & Arugula Salad
You're going to love this beautiful green salad featuring fresh oranges, goat cheese, almonds and radishes! A simple lemon dressing ties it all together.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 3, 2024
Here’s a fresh green salad to brighten up dreary winter days. I’ve been hanging onto this salad recipe until those irresistibly juicy, ripe oranges landed at the grocery store. Winter is citrus season, so the time is now!
I developed this salad for a fun event in New York City a few months ago, with my friends at Osmia Organics. Sarah asked me to develop a recipe around rose geranium essential oil, which had me stumped for a while.
I thought about my trip to Morocco, and all of the rosewater they incorporate in their food. Then I remembered the orange blossoms on the trees, and combined oranges with almonds, goat cheese and radishes. A tiny pinch of cinnamon on top ties in the Moroccan theme, and creates a beautifully vibrant and fragrant salad.
For this blog version, I actually dropped the rose geranium oil, since it’s not an ingredient I expect you to have on hand. I learned from my essential oil experiments that it’s way too easy to go overboard with them. Even one extra drop of oil can turn a hard-earned meal into an inedible concoction. Plus, there are safety considerations with essential oils that I can’t even begin to cover here.
All that said, I loved this salad without the rose geranium, and I hope it brightens and lightens your winter table. It would be a lovely contrast to grilled main dishes, and would also go well with Mediterranean or citrusy meals. Here are even more salad recipes to explore!
Vibrant Orange & Arugula Salad
You’re going to love this beautiful green salad featuring fresh oranges, goat cheese, almonds and radishes! A simple lemon dressing ties it all together. Recipe yields 6 side salads.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
- 5 to 6 ounces baby arugula
- 2 oranges, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
- 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (about ½ cup)
- ¼ cup thinly sliced and roughly chopped radishes
- Pinch of ground cinnamon, to sprinkle on top
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- First, toast the almonds: In a small skillet over medium heat, warm the almonds until they are fragrant and starting to turn golden on the edges, stirring frequently (careful, they’ll burn!), about 5 minutes. Transfer them to a bowl to cool.
- Place the arugula on a large serving platter or into a large serving bowl. Arrange the oranges, toasted almonds, goat cheese and radishes on top. Sprinkle the top lightly with a pinch or two of cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, honey and salt. Whisk together until blended. Taste, and add a little more honey if it’s unpleasantly tart.
- Once you’re ready to serve, drizzle the dressing lightly over the salad (you might have a little extra), toss, and serve immediately.
Notes
Storage suggestions: If you intend to have leftover salad, store the salad and dressing separately, and toss individual portions just before serving.
Make it dairy free: Omit the goat cheese.
Make it vegan: Omit the goat cheese and use maple syrup instead of honey.
Make it nut free: Substitute sunflower seeds for the almonds, or omit them altogether.
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.
I am not a fan of radishes. Any substitution recommendations?
You can always just leave them out, if you would like!
You mentioned that the vibrant Orange and arugula salad was with geranium essential oil. There is no mention of it in the recipe. What happened?
Hi Deborah, sorry for the confusion. Most people don’t have rose geranium oil at home and there are safety considerations with essential oils in food and elsewhere. I purposefully omitted the oil and loved the salad without it. If you have it at home and you’re comfortable with eating it, you could add one drop to the dressing (careful, even one extra drop could overpower the salad).
If you can’t find arugula, will it taste just as good using lettuce?
The arugula adds a nice, peppery flavor to the salad. You can use another lettuce, but the flavor profile to the salad will be different. Just a heads up! I highly recommend arugula for this salad.
This recipe sounds delicious and I will make it. I love arugula and oranages in a salad. But what happened to the rose geranium essential oil? (I also love your cookbook; have made several recipes so far).
Pat in Tucson
Hi Pat, sorry for the confusion. I started to explain that but didn’t want to open a big can of worms with a discussion on essential oils in recipes, since most people don’t have rose geranium oil at home and there are safety considerations with essential oils in food and elsewhere. I purposefully omitted the oil and loved the salad without it.
this salad has it all & sooooooo delicious, thank you kate, & kookie of course.)
Welcome!
I made this salad last night, and it did not disappoint! The cinnamon was a really subtle and interesting addition to the salad, which I really ended up digging.
I made it basically as-is, but I added fennel (really can’t get enough of fennel and oranges together), and used mixed greens instead of arugula.
Happy to hear that, Michelle! Thanks for writing a review. I appreciate it!
Oooh, fennel would be really good too!
Yay i’m so glad you were able to get this fantastic recipe up on the blog! Love and miss you!
XX,
B
Thank you! :)
This looks so good! AND GREEN! Thanks for sharing :)
You’re welcome!
Delicious! Great winter salad! Lots of interesting flavours and crunch. I also don’t love radishes, but given they are chapped and in a small quantity they just provided some extra crunch and colour.
Will make again!
I’m glad that didn’t turn you away, Cat! Thank you for trying and for your comment. If you would want to leave a star review, I would really appreciate it!
Delicious! Will make again!
Can’t stop looking at this salad…SO STUNNING!
Beautiful and so tasty! Thank you, Gaby.
This looks so good! I’m definitely making this in the next couple of days. I needed a new simple salad with oranges!
Let me know what you think! I would love to hear.
Loved this salad! So refreshing and easy to make! Thank you.
It’s so refreshing! I couldn’t agree more. Thanks Carole, for your review.
Never thought I’d love cinnamon in a salad, but you’ve made me a believer. I made the salad as is, and added avocado (because, why not?) and it made the perfect work lunch!
Thank you, Alyssa for trying! It is a nice combination.
dear kate, i have a tumultuous relationship with salads – they never seem to work great or have much flavor, so i’m gun shy when it comes to serving them when we have people over for dinner. but last night i made this beautiful salad and it was outstanding! everyone loved it. it’s so simple but the hint of cinnamon adds nuance and the oranges are a burst of freshness in mid winter. beyond all that it looked so pretty on the table i will be returning to this recipe often!
I’m happy to hear this worked well for you and it was a hit at your dinner! Thanks for trying it and for your review, Amy.
I made this with local honeybell oranges . . . so good! Great recipe, thank you!
You’re welcome! Thank you, Sass for the review.
Delicious! I doubled it and used cara cara, navel and blood oranges for a low-key dinner party. My friends really liked the flavors, and it looks SO pretty the way Kate has sliced the oranges.
Lovely! Sounds like it went over well. Thank you, Lily for sharing and for your review.
This recipe is absolutely beautiful! I didn’t have goat cheese, so I used roasted pumpkin, which also adds a lovely sweetness. Great for dreary winter days – thank you so much!!
You’re very welcome, Shena!
OMG I just ate this salad and it is brilliantly simple and delicious. I had it with some leftover C&K veggie enchiladas. Mmmm mmmm mmm, so good!
This was the best salad evermy boyfriend can’t stop talking about it and he has never been a fan of arugula. Will definitely be making this again. I absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for sharing it
Hooray! I love when that happens. Thanks for sharing.
KC native here residing in Florida now. Loved this salad! Perfect as the weather is warming up. Thanks for the recipe!
It’s warming up here too! A very refreshing salad. Thanks for the comment, Melissa!
I love this salad! It is so tasty and beautiful!
Great! Thank you, Lotta. I appreciate the review.
I’m so glad I found you. Your recipes are wonderful!
June
Your wild rice and arugula salad was a hit at Thanksgiving, and I will make the orange goat cheese this weekend for a potluck christmas party :-)
I’m happy you came across the site as well! Thanks so much for your review.
As always, another C&K salad delivers. I made this for a ladies night in this evening. It got rave reviews from my friends. I forgot the cinnamon so I don’t know what I missed there, but otherwise, it was great. Used Cara-Cara navel oranges. Nice, light salad that wasn’t anything more than it was trying to be. Perfect for a soup and salad dinner.
What a fun salad for a ladies night! Thanks for sharing, Rachel.
I made this salad for an office potluck last week and I’ve continued to get compliments on how good it is! This salad is the easiest of all of Kate’s recipes that I’ve tried and can quickly be adapted to meet a variety of dietary needs. It is a great go to if you need something fast and affordable that can serve several people or if you’re meal prepping for the week.
Thank you for sharing, Emily!
I adore arugula! I’m going to try this recipe. Can you recommend another cheese besides goat cheese? Husband and kids aren’t fans. Thank you!
Hi! You could do feta here, if you like.
Restaurant quality recipe!!! To avoid having to toast almonds I used Fresh Gourmet unsalted sliced almonds. Delicious summer salad ❤️
Hi Kate! Does this salad keep well in the fridge? I’m looking for something I can make and eat over a few days
Hi Morgan! It does, if you don’t add the dressing to it. Arugula can breakdown quickly.
Sure! That would be lovely.
Hi! Would feta be a good sub for goat cheese in this recipe? I’ve got two beautiful Cara cara oranges on hand just waiting for this recipe and will be making tonight to go with our fish!
Feta would work here too. Thank you for your review, Deborah!
This salad came with the newsletter and I happened to have almost everything at home, so I tried it right away :-D
I really liked it, even with my substitutions – orange juice instead of lemon (did not have any lemons) and chopped pistachios instead of the almonds, because the almods had inhabitants, as I found out when opening the package…:-|
Very fresh, had a nice crunch, will make it again soon!
Thank you for sharing, Pj! I’m glad you are signed up for the newsletter and trying new recipes.
This salad was not only a beautiful presentation but also tasted delicious. Yum yum
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lisa! Thank you for your review.
My friend owns an orange grove with the most juiciest, sweetest oranges and this is the perfect salad to highlight them. I made this recipe for brunch and it is easy, refreshing and delicious. Thanks Kate!
You’re welcome, Claudia!
Bright, delicious, and so pretty! Added fennel as suggested by another commentator and used juice from cutting the orange in the dressing. Thinking of the next time: maybe purple or watermelon radishes for the fun color play. Thanks for a beautiful recipe!
My sister made this salad about 2.5 years for a family event and I loved it. Since then, my family (husband and 3 kids) has made this at least 50 times, and whenever we have guests over they always ask for the recipe. A few months ago my 80+ year old father in law was here and asked for the recipe, and now he makes it for all of his friends. It’s a recipe that appeals to young and old. We LOVE this salad! Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you so much for always including how to double, triple, and so on, recipes. People think that they can just adjust for extra ingedients but it doesn’t always work that way.
Though I later discovered other delicious recipes with arugula on your blog, my love for arugula started with this one. The ground cinnamon is a wonderful touch. Thank you for sharing this.
I made this salad without radishes or oranges as I did not have them on hand, and it was still absolutely delicious!The sprinkle of cinnamon added a unique taste and just finished it off!
Once again another successful and tasty recipe ! Thankyou Kate!
Great to hear, Skip! I appreciate your review.
This was a fantastic find-I had some oranges and fresh lemon to use and found this recipe. I shared it with three people already and one made it and told me that she loved it. I will definitely put it into my rotation. I am not a radish fan but having it thinly sliced worked well.
Great to hear, Judy!
Would pomegranates be good in the orange and arugula salad?
Sure! Let me know what you think, Laura.
Made this last night along side a vegetarian bourguignon. More on that later ; ). I think was a great accompaniment for the savory main dish. I am not a fan of radishes but tried them anyway and like it. I did substitute the almonds with toasted pinenuts and the orange slices with mandarin orange sections. LOVED it. I highly recommend. Every recipe that I try of your or ones that you share have been winners. My fav go-to is the vegetarian chili and the red pasta sauce with lentils. Thank you!!
Great to hear, Karen! I appreciate your review.
Love this salad! So refreshing and satisfying in the winter. I’m not vegetarian so I serve this as a main salad with salmon as the protein. Absolutely delicious!
This is a go-to salad for me. Special but easy to make. I actually do have rose oil (from Morocco) that I use in the recipe. People gobble this up everytime!