Avocado Citrus Salad is a light, refreshing salad with creamy avocado, tangy grapefruit and oranges tossed in a homemade poppyseed dressing.
Avocado Citrus Salad is a recipe I make countless times throughout the summer. Delightfully refreshing this salad combines fresh garden greens with tangy orange and grapefruit sections. The salad is topped with creamy avocado and toasted almonds, all tossed together in a homemade poppyseed dressing. What to serve with this amazing salad? Grilled steak, pork chops, or my recipes for Beer Can Chicken, or Greek Ribs. I also enjoy it as a main course topped with shrimp.
Ingredients you’ll need to make this all-time favorite salad.
- Fresh Greens like my favorite, a leafy spring mix. All kinds of green work, even spinach.
- Oranges and grapefruit- these two citrus fruits add a great tangy flavor to every bite. I usually use pink grapefruit and navel oranges. A great substitution if you prefer a milder taste is papaya or mango.
- Avocado adds great creaminess. Toss into the salad right before serving so it doesn’t become brown and mushy.
- Red onion, what salad doesn’t taste better with a bit of red onion!
- Nuts like slivered almonds or pecans that have been freshly toasted.
How to make Citrus Avocado Salad
- Start by toasting the almonds. I buy raw slivered almonds and toast them in the oven on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Keep a close eye on them, as you don’t want to burn them. Nuts can burn easily and then taste bitter and are unusable.
- Next mix up your dressing. Be sure to check the expiry date on the poppy seeds. Poppy seeds that aren’t fresh have a terrible, rank taste to them and will ruin your salad.
- Section the grapefruit and oranges. I like to do this ahead of time and store in a container until I’m ready to toss the salad together.
- Wash greens and remove water using a salad spinner. Salad spinners work great to make sure all the water is off the greens. If your greens are watery the dressing won’t stick well.
- Chop the avocado into chunks and toss into the salad right before serving. Use ripe (but not over-ripe) avocado. How do you tell if an avocado is ripe? Ripe avocados usually have a darker color, but this can vary, so the best way to tell is if it is firm, but will yield to gentle pressure.
- Toss all ingredients together just before serving.
Avocado Citrus Salad
This recipe for Avocado Citrus Salad is so light and refreshing with avocado, grapefruit, oranges tossed in a homemade poppyseed dressing.
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Servings: 6
Calories: 327kcal
Ingredients
- 6 cups salad greens
- 2 medium grapefruit sectioned
- 3 navel oranges sectioned
- 1 ripe avocado chopped
- 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
- Dressing
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp finely chopped red onion
- 1/2 tsp ground dry mustard
- 1/2 tsp koscher salt
Instructions
- Start by toasting the almonds. I buy raw slivered almonds. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place almonds in a single layer and toast in 350ºF oven for 3-4 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, as you don't want them to burn! Nuts can burn easily and then they taste bitter and are unusable.
- Next mix up your dressing. In a small jar add olive oil, sugar, vinegar, red onion, poppy seed, dry mustard, and salt. Seal with lid and shake until well combined.
- Section the grapefruit and oranges.
- Wash greens and remove water using a salad spinner. Tear into bite-sized pieces.
- Chop the avocado into chunks and toss into the salad right before serving.
- Toss all the ingredients together with poppy seed dressing. Sprinkle with toasted almonds.
Nutrition
Calories: 327kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 208mg | Potassium: 502mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 1658IU | Vitamin C: 81mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 1mg
The Salad looks fantastic Laureen!
-Mythreyi
Yum! Yum! Yum!
Thanks Mythreyi, I started following your blog YUM!!
Hi Laureen my gf from Canada loves your blog and sends me links to these delicious looking dishes almost everyday. Just to let you know that you have a secret fan out there haha… Keep up the good work! By the way, she seems to be interested in learning how to cook, and yet doesn’t do much of cooking on her own. Any tips on how to get her to actually start cooking at home so that I can enjoy some of these recipes?
Hi John,
You comments made me smile this morning. thanks. I am glad you enjoy the recipes. Interesting question about how to encourage your GF to cook. Here are a few of my thoughts.
– find a recipe that you would love to have her try, then go buy all the ingredients for her. I love when my husband or son say “would you make this for me”. I really dislike having to think of what to cook.
– make sure she has the right tools for the job. I went for years getting by with inadequate cooking utensils, pots,knifes, mixer etc. When I get some new kitchen gadget I feel recharged. (winner’s (TJ Max) you can usually get a good deal on things.
-subscribe to a cooking magazine for her.
-lastly, buy her flowers, never criticize her efforts, and if something she makes tastes inedible (and she admits this) dump it in the garbage and take her out.
This salad looks so refreshing after all the holiday food. I can’t wait to try that dressing! Happy New Year!
Thanks Mother Rimmy, for the poppy seed dressing you can also use a packet of Stevia instead of the sugar!
This looks so yummy!! Could you substitute the grapefruit or leave it out entirely?
This salad will taste great even without the grapefruit. You could substitute fresh mango slices or strawberries.