Jamie Oliver Christmas Salad

Jamie Oliver’s Christmas salad is crisp bitter leaves, pear and apple matchsticks and clementine rounds. It’s tossed in a honey mustard and walnut dressing, needs no cooking, and serves 8 in 20 minutes.

Jamie layers four bitter leaves from the chicory and endive family, plus rocket, and cuts each one differently. Frisée is roughly chopped, round red finely sliced, long red and white pulled into whole leaves. That mix gives every forkful a different texture.

The walnuts go into the dressing, not scattered on top. Jamie crushes them into the bowl, so the broken pieces soak up the honey mustard and cling to every leaf. Crush them roughly with your hands, leaving some chunky pieces for bite.

Jamie Oliver Christmas Salad

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Salads, SidesCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Calories

211

kcal

Total time

20

minutes

A no-cook festive side built in a single bowl: bitter chicory and frisée, fruit matchsticks and clementine wheels in a crushed-walnut dressing. From jamieoliver.com, ready to share at a table of eight.

Ingredients

• For the salad:

• 1 pear

• 1 apple

• 1 frisee lettuce

• 1 round red chicory

• 1 handful of wild rocket

• 1 long red chicory

• 1 long white chicory

• 2 clementines

• For the dressing:

• 1 teaspoon English mustard

• 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

• 2 teaspoons runny honey

• 100g (3½ oz) walnuts

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Directions

• Make the dressing: Put both mustards in a large bowl, then gradually whisk in the olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and honey until smooth. Crush in the walnuts and add a pinch of black pepper.
• Dress the fruit: Trim the pear and apple and slice finely into matchsticks. Add them to the bottom of the bowl and toss in the dressing.
• Add the leaves: Roughly chop the frisée, then trim and finely slice the round red chicory. Add both to the bowl with the rocket.
• Prep the long chicory: Trim the long red and white chicory, halve them and separate into leaves. Finely slice the stalks and add everything to the bowl.
• Slice the clementines: Peel the clementines and slice them finely across into rounds.
• Toss and serve: Toss everything together and serve.

Notes

• (diet): jamieoliver.com labels this vegetarian and dairy-free. It contains walnuts and honey.

FAQs

Why use two mustards and two olive oils?

The English mustard brings sharp heat, while the wholegrain adds a gentler tang and little popping seeds. Both also help bind the oil and vinegar into a smooth dressing that clings to the leaves.

Splitting the oil works the same way: regular olive oil keeps it mellow, and the extra virgin adds a peppery edge. Six tablespoons of oil to three of vinegar is a sharper 2:1 ratio than a classic vinaigrette. That bite is what the sweet fruit and rich walnuts need.

Why does the fruit go into the dressing first?

Jamie tips the pear and apple matchsticks straight into the dressing at the bottom of the bowl. The vinegar coats every cut surface, which slows browning while you prep the leaves.

The leaves then sit on top, out of the dressing, so they stay crisp until the final toss. It’s also why the whole salad needs just one bowl, the same one you whisked the dressing in.

What are the different chicories, and can I swap them?

Round red chicory is radicchio, long red is often sold as red endive, and long white is Belgian endive. Frisée is curly endive, a close cousin. Their bitterness is deliberate, because the honey, fruit and clementine are there to balance it.

Jamie doesn’t give swaps, so this is our suggestion: if you can only find one or two types, use more of those to keep the same volume. Watercress also brings a good peppery bite. If chicory wins you over, try Nigella’s roast red chicory to see how heat softens it.

Can I prep it ahead for Christmas Day?

Jamie gives no make-ahead or storage notes for this salad. What the method does tell you is that the leaves should meet the dressing only at the last toss, because dressed chicory and frisée soften quickly.

So wash and dry the leaves early, but slice the fruit and clementines close to serving. Nigella takes the same line with her jewelled salad, advising against making it ahead because the crunch is the whole point.

Is it vegan, and what about nut allergies?

It’s vegetarian and dairy-free but not vegan, because of the 2 teaspoons of runny honey. Maple syrup is the simplest swap if you need it plant-based, though that’s our change, not Jamie’s.

The walnuts are crushed into the dressing, so you can’t pick them out for a guest with a nut allergy. Make a separate nut-free batch of dressing instead, before the walnuts go in.

What should I serve it with at Christmas?

At eight servings, it’s built for a festive table, where its bitter crunch cuts through rich roasts and heavy sides. It’s especially good beside Jamie’s roast venison with Barolo and chocolate sauce, which is dark, rich and needs something sharp alongside.

Keep pudding in the same fruit-and-honey mood with his no-bake fig tart. There are more festive ideas on the Jamie Oliver recipes page.