Pear Farro Salad
on Sep 30, 2025
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This pear farro salad is the perfect fall combination of fresh fruit, leafy greens and grains. Tossed in a lemony white wine vinaigrette, this salad has baby arugula, dates, pistachios, parmesan, scallions and fresh herbs. Farro makes it a hearty, so you can serve it for lunch or dinner as a main dish or a side.
Also, try this pear gorgonzola salad with pomegranate seeds.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This salad has a lovely mix of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ingredients. Each bite has pears, dates, arugula and parmesan. This also allows it to pair with all sorts of different dishes with similar influences.
Apples tend to take most of the fall fruit spotlight, but pears deserve more attention, especially in salads. No offense to apples. Sliced or diced, pears have a sweet and crisp bite that works well in savory recipes.
Grain salads are hearty and filling and are fantastic for every season. Packed with whole grains and plenty of nutrition, you can switch up the feature ingredient and create an exciting salad.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Pears: Ripe pears should have a little give when you press them. You don’t want them to be too hard. If they’re too soft, they are overripe and very sweet, which isn’t ideal for a savory recipe.
- Farro: Similar to Italian barley, farro has nutty flavor and chewy texture. Because of that good bite, I love farro recipes for side dishes and salads. You can substitute with barley or brown rice.
- Arugula: This is more of a grain salad, but I still include greens. I’m a big fan of the peppery flavor of arugula. You can substitute with baby spinach or use a combination of both for mixed greens.
- Parmesan: It’s best to use a vegetable peeler or a sharp knife to cut super thin shavings. I prefer doing it this way for this salad because the parmesan cheese doesn’t disappear like it can when you grate it. If you like something stronger you can go with crumbled blue cheese, creamy feta or goat cheese. To make the salad vegan, leave out the cheese or use a brand of dairy-free, plant-based cheese.
- Medjool dates: With subtle caramel flavor that’s great with pears in a salad, I pit the dates and roughly chop them.
- Scallions: These green onions have mild flavor that I think of as a cross between an onion and herbs.
- Pistachios: To go with the dates and pears, I chop pistachios for some crunch. You can substitute with roasted unsalted almonds or toasted walnuts.
- Parsley: I finish the salad with finely chopped fresh herbs.
- White wine vinaigrette: The dressing is simple with fresh lemon juice, garlic, whole grain mustard, white wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper. You can substitute with red wine vinegar.
How To Make This Pear Farro Salad Recipe
1. Cook the farro on the stove. Combine the grains and water in a pot. Bring them to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer them uncovered. Assuming you are using pearled farro, it will cook in 12-15 minutes. You want the grains retain their satisfyingly chewy consistency. Then drain the farro and remaining water in a fine mesh strainer. Rinse with cold water to cool completely.
2. Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk the minced garlic, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
3. Assemble the salad. Combine the cooked farro, diced pears, scallions, arugula, dates, pistachios, parmesan and fresh parsley in a large bowl.
4. Drizzle the dressing into the salad. Toss gently to combine.
Serving
I like to make this salad for lunch and dinner during the fall and winter months. To turn it into an even heartier main dish salad, you can add a protein such as roasted chicken or salmon, shrimp or even tofu. Also, please keep it in mind for a Thanksgiving salad, Christmas or another holiday meal.
Make-Ahead Tips, Leftovers & Storage
You can make the farro and vinaigrette up to 2 days in advance. Store them in separate containers in the fridge. Then let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before assembling the salad. Because the refrigerator is cold, the oil in the dressing may harden. Stir it when it turns to liquid again.
If you have leftovers, you can keep them in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Try to do some planning. Do not toss the arugula and dressing with the rest of the ingredients if you know you aren’t going to eat all of it. By waiting to dress the salad, it will keep its good texture. You can always toss in fresh arugula.
More Fall Salad Recipes
Kale Apple Salad
Roasted Sweet Potato Cauliflower Salad
Autumn Harvest Salad
Roasted Vegetable Couscous Salad
Roasted Pumpkin Wild Rice Salad
Apple Pecan Salad
Roasted Broccoli Quinoa Salad
Looking for more fresh ideas? Check out my seasonal salad guide with recipes and tips on ingredients, meal prep and more.
Pear Farro Salad
Ingredients
For farro
- 1 cup pearled farro
- 3 cups water
For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 lemon, juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For salad
- 3 pears, diced
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup baby arugula
- 1/4 cup chopped pitted medjool dates
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
- 1/4 cup parmesan shavings
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
- Combine the farro and water in a medium saucepan. Bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the farro for 12-15 minutes until it is cooked through but still has a chewy bite. Drain the farro and remaining water from the saucepan into a fine mesh strainer. Rinse with cold water.
- For the vinaigrette, whisk the garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, white wine vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl.
- Put the farro, pears, scallions, arugula, dates, pistachios, parmesan and parsley in a large bowl.
- Drizzle in the dressing, tossing to combine.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
