Fried Goat Cheese Salad
Warm crispy Fried Goat Cheese Salad with apples, walnuts, and a creamy apple vinaigrette! The perfect elegant salad for any occasion.
Fried Goat Cheese Salad
You can never have enough tantalizing salad recipes.
To shake things up, today’s Fried Goat Cheese Salad offers a little decadence along with the greens!
In a perfect world, my husband and kids would be jumping up and down for Salad Night. Can you imagine what that would look like?
“I want the last helping of salad.”
“No! You got the most salad last night, I get the extra salad tonight!”
“Now kids, there’s enough salad to go around.”
Sigh… A girl can dream.
In reality, I sometimes have to trick them into eating their greens by topping them with rich, crunchy ingredients.
We’ve all had salads with cheese. What generally comes to mind are those enormous chain-restaurant salads topped with piles of neon-orange processed cheese shred.
We’re going in a different direction with this Fried Goat Cheese Salad recipe.
Goat cheese, possibly my all-time favorite thing to eat, is taken to another level of goodness by breading and pan-frying it to top the salad.
Lightly pan-fried goat cheese served warm, over cool crisp granny smith apples and fresh herbs is a thing of beauty. The crispy goat cheese even fills the need for a slab of protein with the salad, in my opinion.
Creamy apple vinaigrette elevates the tart apple flavor with pureed granny smiths and effervescent champagne vinegar. Add some toasted walnuts, and you have near perfection.
The secret to frying cheese is to slice and freeze it first.
That way, as the breading is crisping up in the hot oil, the cheese is thawing and warming. Not oozing out!
Ingredients You Need
For the Apple Vinaigrette:
- Granny Smith apple, peeled
- Champagne vinegar
- Fresh grated ginger
- Dijon mustard
- Honey
- Salt
- Pepper
- Vegetable oil + extra for frying
For the Fried Goat Cheese:
For the Salad:
- Soft goat cheese (chevre)
- Herb salad mix
- Granny Smith apples julienned
- Toasted walnuts
How to Make Fried Goat Cheese Salad
- Do ahead: Slice the goat cheese log into ten to twelve ½ inch rounds. Wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in the freezer for at least 1 ½ hours.
- In a blender, puree the first 7 ingredients of the vinaigrette until smooth. Then slowly add ½ cup oil to the dressing until emulsified.
- Prepare 3 pie pans: one holding buttermilk whisked with egg, one with flour mixed with white pepper, and a third pan with panko.
- Place a small skillet over medium heat. Add enough oil to thoroughly coat the bottom of the skillet, about ¼ inch deep. While the oil is heating, prepare the salad plates by piling salad greens on 4-6 plates, topped with julienne apples and toasted walnuts. (Chilling the plates ahead of time is a nice touch!)
- When the oil is hot, quickly dip the frozen cheese rounds into the egg mixture, then flour, egg mixture again, then panko. That’s right, 4 dips in all.
- Place them into the skillet around the outer edges first, and fill the center last. Pan-fry the cheese for 1 ½ to 2 minutes per side until it reaches a golden brown color. Flip with a small spatula. Remove the fried cheese and place it on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil. Repeat with extra cheese if needed.
- Drizzle each plate with granny smith vinaigrette and place 2-3 fried cheese rounds on top of each salad. Serve while the cheese is warm!
You have to try this Fried Goat Cheese Salad. It’s so delicious that it will entice even the pickiest salad eaters.
Cheese is milk’s leap towards immortality. -Clifton Fadiman
Fried Goat Cheese Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Apple Vinaigrette:
- 1/2 large Granny Smith apple, peeled
- 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil + extra for frying
For the Fried Goat Cheese:
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
For the Salad:
- 10.5 ounces soft goat cheese (1 log)
- 5 ounces herb salad mix
- 1 1/2 Granny Smith apples julienned
- 3/4 cup toasted walnuts
Instructions
- Do ahead: Slice the goat cheese log into ten to twelve ½ inch rounds. Wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in the freezer for at least 1 ½ hours.
- In a blender, puree the first 7 ingredients of the vinaigrette until smooth. Then slowly add ½ cup oil to the dressing until emulsified.
- Prepare 3 pie pans: one holding buttermilk whisked with egg, one with flour mixed with white pepper, and a third pan with panko.
- Place a small skillet over medium heat. Add enough oil to thoroughly coat the bottom of the skillet, about ¼ inch deep. While the oil is heating, prepare the salad plates by piling salad greens on 4-6 plates, topped with julienne apples and toasted walnuts. (Chilling the plates ahead of time is a nice touch!)
- When the oil is hot, quickly dip the frozen cheese rounds into the egg mixture, then flour, egg mixture again, then panko. That’s right, 4 dips in all.
- Place them into the skillet around the outer edges first, and fill the center last. Pan-fry the cheese for 1 ½ to 2 minutes per side until it reaches a golden brown color. Flip with a small spatula. Remove the fried cheese and place it on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil. Repeat with extra cheese if needed.
- Drizzle each plate with granny smith vinaigrette and place 2-3 fried cheese rounds on top of each salad. Serve while the cheese is warm!
Hi, can I fry the cheese ahead and then warm in frying pan, 5 minutes before serving?
Thank you and can’t wait to make this for Christmas. Going to use Brie cheese.
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
Sure you can! That’s a great idea. :)
Amazing! We love it.
Wonderful! The only thing I’d say is you can sub champagne vinegar out with any white white or rice wine. Double up on the honey. Also I did half veggie oil and half olive oil. Very clean and simple. So yummy
Wow…delicious
So good.
I love goat cheese, so I’m sure fried goat cheese will be my new favorite addition to salads! Looks amazing.
Yum! Looks lovely. Could I sub the vinegar? I’ve never seen champagne vinegar (or sherry for that matter) where I live.
How about white balsamic, or just apple cider vinegar. Can you find those where you live?
Hi Sommer:
Thank you for answering my question.
Have a Joyful Day :~D
Charlie