This Roasted Pear Salad with bleu cheese and bacon recipe is a family favorite dinner idea year-round for us, but it also would be perfect for a holiday menu! Roasted pears go perfectly with bleu cheese, crispy bacon and dried cranberries all drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette.
I’ve shared many of my favorite salad recipes with you over the years, and most of them are loaded with ingredients. My Shrimp Taco Salad has been a huge hit with many of you probably because of all the delicious toppings it includes!
I’m not embarrassed to admit that my Grilled Chicken Salad with Healthy Green Goddess dressing barely even shows the bed of lettuce because of all the toppings! Same with my Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad! Maybe it has something to do with grilled chicken… I just pile it on there and it goes with so many flavors!
But for this Roasted Pear Salad, the flavors are so rich and strong, that you really don’t need a lot! The sweetness from the pears and the dried canberries blends perfectly with the bleu cheese and bacon. You could even add some chopped pecans if you want, but we usually leave them off.
In fact, this salad has so much flavor that I don’t even always use a salad dressing! And I’m totally NOT a dry salad type of person, but I promise that you get enough moistness from the roasted pears that you might not even miss it.
If you do choose to use a salad dressing, I highly suggest a balsamic vinaigrette. It’s easier than you think to quick whip up a homemade salad dressing and they taste so much better! I still think this Tomato Basil Dressing I make for a Pizza Salad is one of the best things ever. I could (and have) eaten it with a spoon!
I wouldn’t really eat a balsamic vinaigrette with a spoon but it accompanies the roasted pears perfectly! If you’re looking for a great homemade version, try this balsamic vinaigrette recipe from Elizabeth Rider. It’s my go-to recipe!
Of course, if you’re pressed for time, you can also use a store-bought vinaigrette as well. I’ve done that many, many times!
How to Roast Pears
Start by cooking your bacon. Use whatever way is your preferred for cooking bacon. You can either cook it in whole strips and then crumble it or cut your raw bacon into smaller pieces and fry them up.
I cut my raw bacon into about 1″ pieces and then fried them in a cast iron skillet. Once they were cooked, I transferred to a paper towel to drain until I was ready to use them.
Next, slice your pear from the top by the stem, straight through to the bottom. Be sure to use a sharp knife because pears are a soft fruit and you want as clean a cut as possible.
Lay your pears cut-side up on a cookie sheet. Then use a small spoon or melon baller to scoop out the center with the seeds. Brush a small amount of olive oil over the cut-side of the pear.
Fill the center cavity with the cooked bacon and crumbled bleu cheese. Pile it high, it’s the most amazing part of this recipe!
Bake the pears for about 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees. Just keep an eye on them till the end. Once they’re a nice golden color and your cheese is perfectly melted, go ahead and remove them.
I placed them immediately on a bed of leafy greens and then sprinkled dried cranberries all over them. Finish it off with a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette!
You could make the pears ahead of time, but I will warn you that they don’t look as nice. I kept one and reheated it the next day to test it for you. It tasted just as delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it didn’t look as nice appearance-wise.
This is such an impressive-looking but super easy dish to make for dinner guests or for a holiday menu. You could even make individual bowls of leafy greens with one roasted pear placed on top. I’d love attending a dinner where these were served!
Roasted Pear Salad with Bacon and Bleu Cheese
This Roasted Pear Salad with bleu cheese and bacon recipe is a family favorite dinner idea year-round for us, but it also would be perfect for a holiday menu! Roasted pears go perfectly with bleu cheese, crispy bacon and dried cranberries all drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette.
- 2 Pears
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 6 Strips of Bacon
- 1/2 cup Bleu Cheese
- 1/3 cup Dried Cranberries
- Mixed Leafy Greens
- Balsamic Vinaigrette
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
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Cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels and then crumble.
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Cut pears length-wise and lay cut-side up on a cookie sheet. Use a small spoon to scoop out cores from center of pears. Drizzle or brush olive oil on cut side of pears.
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Fill the center cavities in each pear with bleu cheese and crumbled bacon.
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Cook pears in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes.
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While pears are cooking, arrange leafy greens in a large bowl. Place cooked pears on top of leafy greens. Sprinkle with dried cranberries and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette.
You can also serve these as individual salads in small bowls. Top each bowl of leafy greens with a roasted pear!
These salads would also be great sprinkled with chopped pecans.
The measurements for the bacon and bleu cheese are just estimates. Feel free to add as much as you would like!
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