A restaurant-worthy house salad with candied pecans that you can make at home, any night of the week! You’ll love the sweet, tart, salty, and savory combination of greens, nuts, dried cranberries, blue cheese, and mandarin oranges in a creamy dressing.
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If you love salads with candied pecans, try this winter salad with orange vinaigrette and this Christmas salad with champagne vinaigrette, too!
A Versatile House Salad Recipe
Every home needs its own go-to “house salad” recipe — just like a restaurant! A salad is such a great addition to almost any dinner, and this particular dish is even hearty enough to stand on its own as a light entrée during the warm summer months. While some quick weeknight salads can taste boring and uninspiring, this one definitely does not!
It’s high time that I shared this combination, because it’s been a favorite in our house for years. You just can’t beat the variety of textures and flavors in one bowl, and the sweet, creamy dressing is absolutely the best! Prep the dressing and candied pecans in advance, then store the ingredients in your kitchen so that you can whip up a quick restaurant-quality house salad in minutes!
Ingredient Notes
- I’ve provided instructions to show you how to make the candied pecans for this salad. That said, it’s an extra step that we often don’t want to fuss with for a regular weeknight dinner! Just remember, you can always purchase glazed pecans at the grocery store to use in this recipe.
- Instead of the candied pecans shown here, top the salad with spiced pecans (perfect for the holidays).
- This creamy salad dressing is inspired by the house dressing served at The Tobacco Company Restaurant in Richmond. I’ve dined in this cozy restaurant in the Shockoe Slip on a number of occasions, and it’s always such a treat. The dressing has the texture of a creamy Caesar or Ranch, but the slightly sweet-and-savory flavor of an old-fashioned poppy seed dressing (without the poppy seeds). It’s such a great balance to the tart cranberries, crunchy pecans, sharp blue cheese, and juicy oranges.
- Blue cheese adds a sharp, savory component to the salad. If you don’t like blue cheese, substitute with goat cheese or feta cheese.
- We keep a big jar of these mandarin oranges packed in juice in our fridge to throw on salads quickly and easily. You can also use fresh berries when they’re in season!
How to Make Candied Pecans for Salad
If you’d like to make homemade candied pecans to use in this salad, the process is very simple. You’ll just boil water and sugar on the stovetop to create a simple syrup. Add the pecans, and then toast the sugared nuts in a 375 degree F oven for about 8-10 minutes. Season with a little bit of salt while they’re still warm, and then let them cool completely. You can package the cooled, candied pecans in an airtight container and keep them in your pantry for up to 1 month. Use them for so many future salads with candied pecans!
Directions
It might sound tedious to make your own dressing and candy your own pecans on a given weeknight; however, if you prepare a big batch of dressing and pecans in advance, they will keep in the fridge and pantry for quite awhile. Then you can quickly assemble a salad any night of the week in just a matter of minutes. This is our go-to “house salad” around here because I always have the ingredients on hand and ready to go!
- Make the candied pecans and let them cool.
- Whisk together the dressing.
- Assemble the salad by arranging the lettuce greens on a serving platter, in a large bowl, or on individual plates. Top the lettuce with candied pecans, blue cheese, cranberries, and oranges. Feel free to adjust the quantities of the different ingredients to suit your tastes. I typically just “eyeball” it!
- Drizzle the dressing over top and serve immediately.
What to Serve with a Salad with Candied Pecans
This versatile salad is fancy enough for entertaining and holiday tables, but also simple enough to serve as your regular house salad recipe on a busy weeknight. You can turn it into an entrée with the addition of grilled fish, scallops, marinated grilled shrimp, grilled chicken, London broil marinade, or another protein of your choice, but we typically enjoy it as a side dish.
The salad is delicious with maple glazed turkey breast, pineapple glazed ham, grilled salmon, sheet pan salmon, chicken and orzo, the easiest chicken pot pie, chicken pot pie with puff pastry, crock pot chicken pot pie, or this easy chicken pot pie with biscuits, chicken and biscuits, a pork sirloin roast, this pork roast recipe, pulled pork casserole, grilled beef tenderloin, baked ziti with sausage, mom’s crab cakes recipe or crab imperial, meatball subs with frozen meatballs, crescent roll stromboli, cornbread taco bake, taco pie, pasta with the best spaghetti sauce recipe, old fashioned chicken and rice casserole, homemade lasagna, spinach lasagna recipe, vegetable lasagna, cajun chicken pasta, easy chicken tetrazzini, sundried tomato pasta, and chicken gnocchi soup.
Recipe Variations
- Thinly sliced red onion would be a nice, zesty addition to the salad. We also love to add crumbled bacon to the salad when we have it on hand.
- Swap out the cranberries for other dried fruit like dried cherries or chopped dates.
- Make candied walnuts instead of pecans.
- Any variety of lettuce will work for this salad.
- If you prefer a vinaigrette rather than a creamy dressing, try this homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing or this orange vinaigrette.
- Use your favorite store-bought dressing if you don’t want to make a homemade dressing. We love this store-bought poppy seed dressing and this sweet blush wine vinaigrette.
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Salad with Candied Pecans
Ingredients
FOR THE CANDIED PECANS
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ cups coarsely chopped pecans
- Kosher salt, to taste
FOR THE DRESSING
- 1 ½ cups mayonnaise (I use Duke's brand)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
FOR THE SALAD
- 3 cups spring mix lettuce
- ¾ cup sweetened dried cranberries, such as Craisins
- ¾ cup crumbled blue cheese
- ¾ cup mandarin oranges, drained
- ⅓ cup candied pecans (sub with store-bought candied pecans for a shortcut)
Instructions
MAKE THE CANDIED PECANS
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small saucepan on the stovetop, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil, whisking to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat, stir in the pecans; toss to coat.
- Use a slotted spoon to spread the nuts on a single layer on the prepared baking sheet (discard any extra sugar-water). Toast in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until fragrant and browned, stirring halfway through. Keep a close eye on them so that they don’t burn. While still warm, sprinkle the nuts with a little bit of kosher salt to taste. Set aside to cool completely.
- Once cool, you can store the candied pecans in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a month.
MAKE THE DRESSING
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sugar, lemon juice, kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Add the vinegar and mustard, whisk to combine. Whisk in the oil, one tablespoon at a time, blending well after each addition. The mixture should be thick, but pourable. If it's too thick, gradually whisk in some water until it reaches the desired consistency. Store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
ASSEMBLE THE SALAD
- Arrange the lettuce greens on individual salad plates or on a large serving platter. Top with candied pecans, blue cheese, cranberries and oranges. Just before serving, drizzle the dressing over the salad, to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
More Salad Recipes to Try
Wedge Salad Recipe
15 minutes mins
Red Wine Vinegar Salad Dressing
15 minutes mins
Southern Caesar Salad
10 minutes mins
Originally published in May 2021, this post was updated in December 2024.
I made this salad tonight for my husband and me and served it with store bought frozen spinach and mushroom pizzas. He raved about it! The only thing was that the dressing was so thick that we had to put it on with a spoon. Is there a way to make it just a little runnier; maybe a little less mayonnaise and another tablespoon of olive oil?
Thanks, Susan! Sure, you can thin the dressing by using less mayonnaise or by just whisking in some water until it reaches the desired consistency. It won’t taste “watery,” but will just be thinner and smoother. So glad that your husband approved! 🙂
Where can I get that cut dish you have the dressing in?
Hi, Jennifer! I think you’re looking at the little white pitcher and the little round white bowl, is that correct? They’re both from Farmhouse Pottery. Here’s the link: https://www.farmhousepottery.com/ Definitely one of my favorite companies to support!
I made this last night. Instead of regular olive oil, I used Blood Orange Infused EVOO from Ella’s Olive Tasting Room in Duck, NC. That took it to a whole other level It was amazing! Also, served with slices of chicken scallopini. This is definitely going to be a staple. I look forward to your Sunday emails each week!
Thank you, Shelby! That olive oil sounds perfect. Such a delicious meal! 🙂
I brought this salad to a summer gathering of friends and it was a big hit! I followed some of the suggested substitutions/additions including using feta cheese instead of blue cheese for a slightly subtler flavor. I also added a little bit of red onion slivers. I cheated with store bought glazed pecans (Diamond’s Original Glazed Pecans) that were delish and made the salad come together just a little more quickly. The dressing was the real star! The salad and dressing will be in my rotation going forward.
Yay! So glad that you have a new “house” salad, too! I use store-bought glazed pecans often for a nice shortcut, too. Thanks for your note, Paula!