Arugula Fig Salad Recipe
Celebrate fig season with this sweet and savory Arugula Fig Salad recipe! It’s tossed with crisp apple, creamy goat cheese, toasted walnuts and a tangy balsamic vinaigrette for a salad that’s guaranteed to impress!
This Arugula Fig Salad Recipe is the perfect crossover between summer and fall. It incorporates summer arugula and fresh figs, and it also celebrates the beginning of apple season.
The combination of peppery arugula, sweet figs, crisp apple, creamy goat cheese, crunchy walnuts, and tangy balsamic dressing pair so beautifully together, making this one of my favorite summer salad recipes.
Aside from my fig jam recipe, this salad is my favorite way to use fresh figs. It’s incredibly easy to prepare, and it’s guaranteed to impress.
See my Fresh Fig Recipes for more exciting ways to use figs!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- This fig salad recipe is an irresistible blend of sweet and savory flavors and a variety of textures. It’s guaranteed to impress!
- It’s easy enough for busy weeknights and impressive enough for dinner parties and gatherings.
- It comes together in minutes and the walnuts and dressing may be prepped in advance.
- It can be easily customized based on what you have on hand.
Recipe ingredients
This fig and goat cheese salad includes just a few ingredients that can be customized according to your tastes or ingredients that you have on hand.
Ingredient notes:
- Arugula. Peppery arugula pairs beautifully with the sweetness of the fresh figs and tangy goat cheese, so I highly recommend using it. You can certainly substitute it with your favorite dark leafy greens such as massaged kale salad, spinach or spring greens.
- Figs. If fresh figs aren’t available, dried figs are a great substitute.
- Apple. Crisp, sweet apple adds great texture and flavor to this salad. If you don’t have any on hand you can substitute it with blueberries, raspberries, peaches, pears or your favorite fruit.
- Goat cheese. The tangy flavor of the goat cheese pair so well with the arugula and figs, but if you’re not a fan, sub with feta cheese, blue cheese or omit entirely to make this recipe dairy-free.
- Walnuts. Sub the walnuts with pecans, almonds or your favorite nuts or seeds.
- Dressing. My sweet, tangy balsamic vinaigrette dressing is my favorite dressing for this salad. You can substitute it with apple cider vinegar dressing or your favorite store bought dressing.
How to make fig salad with goat cheese
This salad comes together so quickly, and the toasted walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette dressing may be prepped up to a few days in advance.
Pro tip: For best results, toss the salad with the dressing just before serving and serve immediately. Fig salad is best served the day that it’s made.
See the recipe card below for full instructions.
- Toast the walnuts and prep your ingredients.
- Place the arugula, figs, apple, goat cheese and walnuts in a large bowl and toss with the desired amount of dressing.
Recipe FAQs
Figs are extremely versatile and pair well with a variety ingredients. They’re very sweet, so they’re especially great in savory recipes like this arugula fig salad.
This salad incorporates peppery arugula, sweet fresh figs, crisp apple, creamy goat cheese, toasted walnuts and tangy balsamic vinaigrette. The flavors pair beautifully together for one the tastiest sweet and savory salads ever.
Figs ripen very quickly at room temperature, so it’s best to store them in the refrigerator to slow down the process.
You will need to halve or quarter the figs for this fig salad depending on their size. Simply remove the stem from the top with a paring knife, then place the figs on a cutting board and either cut in half or quarters by cutting from top to bottom, or place the figs on their sides and cut them in half lengthwise.
Serving suggestions
Fig salad can be served up a number of delicious ways as outlined below.
- Fig and goat cheese salad makes a healthy meal prep lunch. Store without dressing or nuts for up to 3 days in the fridge, then add the nuts and dressing and enjoy.
- It’s great for busy weeknights served with air fryer chicken breast or air fryer pork chops.
- It’s a great side dish for your next barbecue served with grilled tomahawk steak, grilled chicken thighs or grilled turkey burgers.
- Serve for dinner parties alongside Instant Pot beef short ribs, pork loin roast or roasted chicken.
- Serve as a vegetarian main dish with Instant Pot mushroom risotto.
Recipe notes
- Pro tip: For best results, toss the salad with the dressing just before serving and serve immediately. Fig salad is best served the day that it’s made.
- You can customize this to your liking, but the one thing that I wouldn’t change at all is the arugula. The bold, peppery flavor of the arugula is the perfect contrast to sweet fig, juicy apple and tangy goat cheese.
- If figs aren’t in season, you can substitute with dried figs. If apples aren’t in season, substitute them with raspberries or blueberries. And if you’re not into goat cheese, feta cheese is a good replacement.
- The dressing may be made in advance and stored in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
More fresh fig recipes!
- Baked brie with figs by The View From Great Island
- Fig jam
- Whipped goat cheese fig bites
Did you try this recipe? If so, be sure to leave a review below and tag me @flavorthemoments on Facebook and Instagram
Arugula Fig Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 ounces baby arugula
- 6 large fresh figs quartered; use up to 8 figs if they're smaller in size
- 1 small apple halved, sliced and chopped
- 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
- 1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces
- balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Instructions
- Toast the walnuts in a large skillet over medium to medium low heat, stirring occasionally until golden and fragrant. Keep a close eye on them as they can burn quickly! Set aside to cool.1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces
- Place the arugula, figs, apple, goat cheese and walnuts in large bowl.5 ounces baby arugula, 6 large fresh figs, 1 small apple, 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
- Pour the dressing over the salad (you may not need it all), and toss gently to coat. Serve immediately and enjoy!balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Notes
- Pro tip: For best results, toss the salad with the dressing just before serving and serve immediately. Fig salad is best served the day that it’s made.
- You can customize this to your liking, but the one thing that I wouldn’t change at all is the arugula. The bold, peppery flavor of the arugula is the perfect contrast to sweet fig, juicy apple and tangy goat cheese.
- If figs aren’t in season, you can substitute with dried figs. If apples aren’t in season, substitute them with raspberries or blueberries. And if you’re not into goat cheese, feta cheese is a good replacement.
- The dressing may be made in advance and stored in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
**This recipe was originally published in August 2018. The photos have been updated to include step by step photos and the text has been modified to include more recipe information.
15 Comments on “Arugula Fig Salad Recipe”
Hi Meagan — sorry for the oversight! I’ve updated the recipe now.
OMG how brilliant are those clicks! I love figs and goat cheese together, this salad sounds so perfect!
Thank you so much Neha!
I can’t even imagine living near all the fires – it blows my mind every time I turn on the news. So sad 🙁 But this salad is GORGEOUS marcie! I have arugula salads all the time – I need to get me some figs and apples asap!
The fires break my heart…I’m so glad they’re almost contained now. Thanks Ashley and have a great rest of the weekend! 🙂
I’m so sorry for what is happening in California…
Can’t even imagine how hard it is for people!
Love this salad! Need to get some figs and going to try it!
Thank you so much Mira!
I see those wildfires on the news all the time. So sad for everyone affected! I couldn’t imagine that happening to me. But this salad would definitely make me feel better, too. I love the apple and fig combo! And arugula is my absolute favorite. My husband and I eat it weekly and I sometimes just eat it plain, so good!
I can’t imagine losing everything in a fire either! Thanks Gayle!
I’m so sorry to hear about the fires this year. It’s so sad to think of all the areas that have been devastated because of it, not to mention the low air quality for families like yours. I hope it passes soon!
In the meantime, I’d happy to be stuck inside with this gorgeous salad. It’s hard to find fresh figs here but man they look so good in this salad!
Thank you so much Sarah!
We’ve been hearing about the fires in California and the loss and devastation is so sad. My heart goes out to all the people impacted.
As for your salad Marcie, I love that this is a cross over from summer to fall. And I happen to have all the ingredients in my fridge, so I many need to make this one soon!
It truly is sad…I feel so badly for the loss so many people are experiencing! Thank you my friend. 🙂
I feel the exact same way – this summer has been sooo smoky…it’s such a bummer! The smoke this summer is the worst I’ve ever experienced…keeping a positive mind for the firefighters and all those in danger of losing their homes.
On the upside, this salad does look absolutely amazing! Perfect to brighten up any day 😀
Yes, this is the worst summer as far as smokiness…I’m in Boise right now and it’s smoky here too! Thanks Julia!