This Fig and Arugula Salad is elegant enough for special occasions or holiday dinners, but easy to make any night of the week.  Sweet figs, creamy goat cheese and crunchy toasted pecans are served over baby arugula with a drizzle of maple balsamic dressing.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why You'll Love This Fig and Arugula Salad Recipe
• 🛒 Ingredients for Arugula Salad with Figs
• 🔪 How to Make Fig and Arugula Salad
• 💡 Tips
• ☑️ Storage Instructions
• 🍴 What to Serve with Fig Salad
• 🔄 Substitutions and Additions
• What greens work best in fig salad?
• What are some common mistakes when making arugula salad?
• What is a good dressing for fig salad?
• What goes with figs in a salad?
• 🍽️ More Healthy and Delicious Salads

❤️ Why You'll Love This Fig and Arugula Salad Recipe

• Sweet fresh figs
• Creamy goat cheese and crunchy toasted pecans
• Serve over a bed of baby arugula
• Drizzled with an easy homemade maple balsamic dressing
• Perfect for special occasions or holiday dinners

If you’re looking for a salad that’s interesting, with an elegant twist, try this salad! Fresh figs are the star of this show and are combined with a mix of textures and flavors that makes this salad anything but ordinary. 

I add in toasted pecans, to give them more flavor, creamy tangy goat cheese, sweet and juicy pomegranate seeds and thinly sliced sweet red onion. It’s all served over baby arugula and drizzled with the easiest homemade balsamic dressing with a sweet maple twist.

Serve this salad to your guests and they will be asking for the recipe. What takes very little time or effort to put together, tastes like a salad you’d get at a fancy restaurants and is sure to impress.

🛒 Ingredients for Arugula Salad with Figs

• Baby arugula
• Figs
• Pecans
• Goat cheese
• Pomegranate seeds
• Red onion
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Sugar-free Maple Syrup (or Maple Syrup)
• Garlic
• Heavy cream
• Dijon mustard
• Salt
• Ground black pepper

*Exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.

🥣 Recommended Tools

• Bullet blender, immersion blender or whisk and mixing bowl
• Serving bowl

🔪 How to Make Fig and Arugula Salad

To Make the Dressing

Add all of the dressing ingredients into a bullet blender cup.

Mix until well combined and emulsified.  If you don’t have a bullet blender you can use either a food processor, immersion blender or whisk in a small mixing bowl. 

Set the dressing aside to allow the flavors to meld while you make the salad.

To Make the Salad

Add the baby arugula to a large serving bowl.

Add in the thinly sliced red onion and crumbled goat cheese.

Add in the quartered figs, toasted pecans and pomegranate seeds

When you’re ready to serve, drizzle the dressing over the top. You will likely have extra dressing leftover, that you can use for your next salad.

💡 Tips

• If you don’t think the entire salad will be eaten, try to only pour the dressing over the amount you expect to be eaten.  This will help prevent the arugula from getting soggy and will keep longer.
• If you want to prepare this salad ahead of time, you can toast the pecans, store them in a jar at room temperature, slice the red onions and crumble the goat cheese.  Prepare the dressing and keep it in a jar in the fridge and when you’re ready, it will be quicker to throw the salad together.  I do recommend waiting to cut the figs until you’re ready to serve the salad.
• If you can’t find fresh pomegranate seeds where you are, check the freezer section of your grocery store, they typically sell them frozen.  You can use just take out what you need and the rest can be saved in the freezer for your next salad, smoothie or however you like to enjoy them.
• I prepared the dressing in my bullet blender as it’s not only easier, but emulsifies so much better than mixing it with a whisk in a bowl.  You can also store the leftover dressing in the bullet cup with a lid. If you don’t have a bullet blender, a regular blender, immersion blender or food processor will all work just as well.  And of course you can still use a whisk and a bowl if needed.  If you do end up whisking it, add everything into the bowl except for the olive oil, then whisk as you slowly drizzle the olive oil in.  This will help it emulsify better.

☑️ Storage Instructions

Store leftover salad in an airtight container and the leftover dressing in an airtight jar for up to 5-7 days.

🍴 What to Serve with Fig Salad

• Stuffed Pork Chops
• Shrimp Scampi with Linguine
• Pork Milanese
• Baked Cod with Lemon Beurre Blanc
• Seared Scallops with Garlic Butter

🔄 Substitutions and Additions

• If you don’t have pecans, walnuts or almonds will also work well. Toasted pine nuts would also be great in this salad. Just be sure to toast them first, as it really gives the nuts so much more flavor.
• If you can’t find pomegranate seeds, dried cranberries make a great substitute.  They are sweet, chewy and have the same beautiful red color.
• Don’t love arugula?  You can use a spring mix of greens, leaf lettuce or any lettuce that you do like instead. 
• If you like prosciutto (who doesn’t!?) you can add in some thinly sliced ribbons like I do in this Grilled Peach Burrata Salad.  They add a nice elegance and flavor.
• I use a sugar-free maple syrup for the dressing because I like to keep my sugars low, but if you’re not concerned about that or aren’t following a low carb diet, you can use regular maple syrup instead.
• Not a fan of goat cheese?  You can use feta cheese if that’s what you like.

What greens work best in fig salad?

Personally, I prefer using baby arugula, as it has a great, almost peppery flavor that balances out the sweetness from the figs and maple in the dressing. It also presents nicely and looks a bit more elegant than say, romaine or leaf lettuce.

What are some common mistakes when making arugula salad?

Overdressing the salad is a common mistake, as it will make the arugula soggy, but also overpower the flavor.

What is a good dressing for fig salad?

I think the maple balsamic dressing in this recipe works really well with the figs, but my Maple Tahini Dressing, Maple Dijon Vinaigrette or Honey Lime Vinaigrette would also work well.

What goes with figs in a salad?

I like to add contrasting textures and flavors. This salad has components that are sweet, tangy, crunchy and creamy, which makes for the perfect salad.

🍽️ More Healthy and Delicious Salads

• Chopped Kale Salad
• Strawberry Spinach Salad
• Chickpea Salad
• Smoked Salmon Salad
• Spinach and Arugula Salad