As the festive season arrives in the UK, the classic Christmas spread often relegates salad to an afterthought—a bowl of lacklustre, underseasoned leaves. This year, culinary experts are championing a brighter, bolder approach. We've curated nine standout summer salad recipes designed to bring vibrant colour, exciting textures, and robust flavours to your holiday table.
From Chopped Classics to Warm Wonders
The selection showcases remarkable diversity, ensuring there's a perfect dish for every role in the festive meal. Jessica Prescott’s forever favourite chopped salad is a study in precision, combining finely diced onion, celery, capsicum, tomatoes, and olives so that every forkful delivers a complete medley. Dressed simply with lemon and olive oil, it can be prepared days in advance.
Defying convention, José Pizarro’s warm green bean salad with crispy jamón and mahón uses heat to amplify flavour. Warm, blanched beans readily absorb a cider vinegar dressing, while crispy jamón adds a savoury punch. For a perfect pairing with Christmas ham, consider omitting the jamón from the salad itself.
Global Flavours and Festive Twists
Many recipes draw inspiration from global cuisines, offering adventurous alternatives. Thomasina Miers’ Thai prawn salad with green mango and peanuts embodies a modern Australian Christmas with its combination of prawns, mango, and rice noodles. For sustainable choices, opt for Australian farmed prawns.
Similarly, Rukmini Iyer’s chaat masala-spiced watermelon, tomato and cucumber salad introduces the tangy, complex notes of the iconic Indian spice blend. It's a refreshing, make-ahead option that travels brilliantly. For a show-stopping centrepiece, Yotam Ottolenghi’s vegan beetroot pkhali with marinated beetroot and olive salsa is a stunning Georgian-inspired dish where roasted beetroot is used in two ways, with flavours deepening beautifully over two days.
Adaptable Dishes for Easy Entertaining
Flexibility is key for stress-free hosting. Meera Sodha’s vegetarian roast cauliflower and kimchi couscous salad is an ideal bring-a-plate contribution. The roasted vegetables can be swapped for seasonal alternatives like broccoli or aubergine, and it can be artfully arranged on a large platter for sharing.
Alice Zaslavsky’s strawberry and stracciatella salad with orange dressing offers a festive, fragrant twist. Strawberries macerated overnight in a maple syrup, orange, and star anise dressing create a uniquely Christmas flavour profile—just remember to remove the star anise before serving. Meanwhile, Tom Hunt’s green goddess salad revives a recent trend with a sustainable dressing made from herb stalks and asparagus ends, adaptable to any green vegetable.
Completing the list, Kyu Jeong Jeon and Duncan Robertson’s asparagus salad with mashed tofu and pine nut dressing provides a subtle, nutty accompaniment, perfect for complementing festive oily fish like salmon. The key is properly pressing the tofu and perfectly timing the asparagus to retain a delicate crunch.
This collection proves that with a little inspiration, salads can move from the sidelines to become the most talked-about dishes on your Christmas table, offering freshness, innovation, and a welcome balance to the traditional holiday feast.
