This Citrus Avocado Salad with Pistachios and Mint is the perfect way to showcase all of the beautiful winter citrus this season has to offer! It’s fresh and light from the citrus fruits, creamy from the avocado, slightly salty from the pistachios, and refreshing from the mint! It’s the perfect light meal, fancy yet super easy appetizer, or side dish to serve alongside seared salmon or sautéed shrimp!
(This post is sponsored by Sur La Table. Thank you SO much for reading and supporting the brands that I love!)
This salad gives me hope that spring is near! Even though it’s all about winter citrus, the freshness and brightness of the whole salad is making me SO excited and hopeful for the warmer and sunnier days ahead. It’s the perfect salad for serving to guests because it’s such a showstopper, and it could not be easier. It can be an appetizer, a side, a main, a brunch accompaniment, or honestly whatever you want it to be! It’s the kind of salad that’s amazingly good, at any time of day.
It’s no secret that I’m a lover of winter citrus, whether it’s in a cocktail, or on a salad.
First of all, it’s so gorgeous, and second of all, the winter citrus varieties are so different and more complex from your typical navel orange, which makes them so much fun to play with.
I’m so excited to be chatting with you about the incredible intiative that my friends at Sur La Table are talking about – Make More, Gather Often. This campaign resonates with my entire belief system so deeply, and I’m so grateful to be collaborating with them to bring the message to you guys!
Sur La Table was founded on the idea to “Make good food. Invite people. Do it daily.” When they asked me what I want to Make More of this time of year, my answer was, hands down, recipes with winter citrus. During the winter months, the only thing that really brightens things up in my kitchen, are all of the stunning blood oranges, Meyer lemons, tangelos, and cara cara oranges. I think everyone can relate in the sense that winter can seem SO long. Winter citrus is like winter’s little gift of sunshine-y goodness to us, and I always look forward to it being in season! More reason to get together, share a meal, and enjoy the gorgeous produce that this season has to offer!
One of my favorite combinations when it comes to a really refreshing salad, is citrus, mint, and pistachios.
It’s like a trifecta of bright, refreshing, and crunchy/salty, and everyone always goes nuts for it. This peach caprese is one of my favorites that uses a similar combination of flavors & textures!
This citrus salad, however, has to be my favorite. For the citrus, we’ve got a mixture of blood oranges, cara cara oranges, tangelos, and grapefruit. And, as if we couldn’t add any more citrus varieties to this salad, the citrus vinaigrette is filled with a little navel orange zest + juice! To complement the citrus, thinly sliced, creamy avocado helps make up the bulk of this salad. For a little freshness, the citrus salad gets topped with fresh mint leaves. For a little salty crunch, it gets finished with a sprinkle of chopped pistachios. SO much goodness!
If you were to ask me what my favorite winter citrus was, it would be a hard toss-up between blood oranges and tangelos.
I love blood oranges because of their beautifully intense color, and they taste kind of like a mixture of fruit punch and raspberries to me! I’ll never forget the first time I tried blood orange, probably when I was in early elementary school. My mom brought home blood orange juice from Europe (just like regular ‘ol orange juice in a carton), and my life was forever changed! I couldn’t get over how beautiful and unique it was, and that love of blood orange has always stayed with me!
Tangelos are unbelievably good too. I find them to be intensely citrusy, and almost peppery. They’re so deep and complex, and I absolutely love them.
All of this being said, you can use whatever your favorite citrus fruits are in this salad!
Also, how beautiful is this Staub Boussole Dinner Plate?! I love using it to showcase salads like this, because it’s a pretty large plate, making it perfect for entertaining, and everything really pops against the white! It’s such good quality too – it’s an exclusive piece that’s made by Staub in partnership with Sur La Table. It’s made in Portugal, it’s durable stoneware that’s highly resistant to thermal shock, and its enamel finish is completely resistant to scratching! Which is always important to me, because I use a lot of my dinnerware for food photography!
This citrus salad couldn’t be easier to put together. This is how you make it!
- Start by peeling and slicing all of your citrus fruits. I like to use a sharp paring knife!
- Make your vinaigrette. All you need: navel orange zest, orange juice, lemon juice, champagne vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, shallot, salt, pepper, and really good quality extra virgin olive oil! It’s SUCH an amazing vinaigrette, for any type of salad.
- Chop your pistachios and get your mint leaves washed and ready to go!
- Lastly, slice your avocados. We want them to be as green and beautiful as possible for this salad!
- Assemble! There’s no real rhyme or reason to how you plate this salad – just have fun with it! To finish, sprinkle it with chopped pistachios and mint leaves. And, a little freshly cracked black pepper + few pinches of flaky sea salt!
See, I told you! It’s beyond easy and super impressive. And most importantly, incredibly delicious!
The bright citrus, creamy avocado, salty pistachios, and refreshing mint is such a winning combo – I can’t even begin to tell you how fresh & flavorful it is! The simple vinaigrette really adds to it and ties everything together. You don’t need a lot though, since the citrus is so juicy on its own!
The leftover vinaigrette will keep perfectly in the fridge for up to a week. It’s amazing on just about any salad!
And if you need more winter citrus inspiration, here are a few more of my favorite recipes!
Blood Orange Paloma
Winter Citrus Crush
Winter Citrus Margaritas with Vanilla Bean Salty Sugar
Spinach Arugula Salad with Roasted Fennel and Tangelos
Blackened Salmon Tacos with Blood Orange Avocado Salsa
Crispy Quinoa Chickpea Bowls with Meyer Lemon Tahini Sauce
Shaved Brussels Kale Salad with Butternut Squash, Mandarins, and Candied Pistachios
Don’t forget to share a photo on Instagram and tag me @spicesinmydna and @surlatable if you make this recipe! Be sure to use the hashtag #MakeMore too! Nothing makes me happier than seeing what you create in the kitchen!
Citrus Avocado Salad with Pistachios and Mint
This Citrus Avocado Salad with Pistachios and Mint is the perfect way to showcase all of the beautiful winter citrus this season has to offer! It's fresh and light from the citrus fruits, creamy from the avocado, slightly salty from the pistachios, and refreshing from the mint! It's the perfect light meal, fancy yet super easy appetizer, or side dish to serve alongside seared salmon or sautéed shrimp!
Ingredients
For the salad
- 2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced
- 2 cara cara oranges, peeled and sliced
- 1 tangelo, peeled and sliced
- 1 grapefruit, peeled and sliced
- 2 avocados, peeled, pittled, and thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons roasted salted pistachios, coarsely chopped
- small handful fresh mint leaves
- flaky sea salt, for serving
For the vinaigrette
- zest of 1/2 a navel orange
- juice of 1 navel orange
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
- 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- pinch of black pepper
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Begin by making the vinaigrette. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the orange zest, orange juice, lemon juice, shallot, champagne vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Whisk to combine. Slowly stream in the olive oil and whisk until smooth and combined. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired.
Arrange the sliced citrus and avocado on a large plate or serving platter. Drizzle with several tablespoons of the vinaigrette (you will have some leftover). Sprinkle with torn mint leaves, and finish with chopped pistachios. Sprinkle with a couple pinches of flaky sea salt and a few turns of freshly cracked black pepper. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
*You can use whatever medley of winter citrus fruits you like - this just happens to be my favorite combination! If you're making this out of season, regular navel oranges and grapefruit will do!
*Extra vinaigrette will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Most summery salad ever! So fresh, so much flavour, I will be making this ones lots this summer
Yay!! Thanks so much Jenna!
The colors here are absolutely gorgeous! Love your shots Molly!
Thank you so much!! 🙂