Arugula Citrus Salad | Garden in the Kitchen

Looking to add a vibrant salad to your dinner table? Try this refreshing Arugula Citrus Salad. Packed with peppery arugula, a medley of citrus fruits, sweet peaches and mangos, zesty radishes, and crunchy almonds all tossed in a tangy honey citrus dressing.

There’s nothing better than a fresh salad made with vegetables from your home garden. Not only does it taste fantastic but there is a huge sense of pleasure in eating food you’ve grown yourself. I am proud to say that this salad contains peas and red cherry tomatoes straight from my garden.

Arugula is my favorite salad green and every year I anxiously wait for it to grow in my garden. Unfortunately, this year I didn’t have much luck as the weather turned hot quite quickly and the arugula just didn’t survive. What a disappointment.

I did, however, manage to grow a few other leafy greens you’ve seen in my recipes lately; Swiss chard and kale. These greens are very hearty and versatile. I add them to salads, sauté them and throw them in my smoothies (check out my Swiss Chard Raspberry Kefir Protein Smoothie!).

If you are up for the task, it’s really fun growing your own greens, and it’s not as difficult as you think. Here is a post I wrote to help you through the process.

Radishes, tangerine, orange, carrots, peas, mango, peach, lemon, tomatoes, almonds, arugula.

Ingredients

FOR THE CITRUSY ARUGULA SALAD

Vegetables: This salad has arugula, carrots, cherry tomatoes, radishes, and snap peas.
Fruit: I used a combination of sliced tangerines, oranges, peaches, and cubed mango.
Almonds: I added shaved almonds but for a nut-free salad use pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Toasting the nuts or seeds beforehand helps to deepen their flavor.

Note: For a vibrantly color salad, use a mix of orange and red cherry tomatoes. If you can’t find cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes are a good substitute.

PRE DRESSING:

Use a combination of olive oil, the juice from half a lemon and salt and pepper to pre-dress the arugula. This always elevates the salad!

HONEY CITRUS DRESSING

The dressing requires just 3 simple ingredients; olive oil, freshly squeezed orange juice, and honey. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Arugula with pre-dressing on a white platter, white and black dish towel.

Arugula citrus salad on a white platter, tomatoes, white and black dish towel.

How To Make This Arugula and Citrus Salad

First: Wash the arugula then dry well making sure to remove excess water.

Second: Transfer the arugula to a bowl and toss with the pre-dressing.

Third: Transfer 3 cups of the arugula to your preferred serving platter. Set aside the remaining arugula.

Fourth: Place the balance of the ingredients on the serving platter making sure they are evenly distributed. Top with the arugula you set aside.

Fifth: Sprinkle the arugula citrus salad with the almonds. Slice open a few of the peas and scatter on top.

Sixth: Combine the dressing ingredients and when ready to serve, pour over the salad.

Arugula citrus salad on a white serving platter, almond slivers.

Other salad add in options

Though this citrus arugula salad tastes great as is, salads allow for loads of flexibility. Here are a few other things that would work well in this salad:

Cheese: Add crumbled feta, goat cheese or parmesan cheese.
Protein: Turn this salad into more of a meal and add cooked chicken, shrimp, beans, tofu or hard-boiled eggs.
Herbs: Sprinkle the salad with freshly chopped parsley, basil or mint for more of an herbaceous tasting salad.
Grains: Lay the arugula on top of quinoa, bulghur, couscous or rice.

Tomatoes, white and black dish towel, arugula and citrus salad.

Storage

This arugula salad with citrus fruits will keep well for 2-3 days in the fridge. It is best to store the salad undressed or it will get soggy. Unused dressing can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. I sometimes make double or triple the amount to use on other salads.

RECIPE TIP

For a really great tasting arugula salad, treat the arugula with pre-dressing consisting of olive oil, lemon and pepper to bring out the flavors of this peppery salad green. A tiny pinch of salt is optional at this point but not necessary.

Arugula citrus salad, tomatoes, white and black dish towel.

More salad recipes

If you love salad as much as I do, here are a few others you may enjoy:

If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below 👇🏻 Thank you!

Rinse arugula then pat dry to remove excess water. Transfer to a bowl. Add oil, salt and pepper, along with juice from half lemon and toss to combine. Transfer about 3 cups of arugula to the serving platter that you will be using for the salad. Reserve remaining 1 cup.
Add all remaining ingredients making sure they are evenly distributed. Add the remaining arugula in between the citrusy fruits and veggies for a prettier arrangement. Top with crunchy almonds. Slice open some of the peas and place on top.
In a small bowl whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Pour dressing over the salad when ready to serve.