Fried Goat Cheese Salad
Warm crispy Fried Goat Cheese Salad with apples, walnuts, and a creamy apple vinaigrette!
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!
You’ve got to try this Fried Goat Cheese Salad. It’s so delicious it will entice even your pickiest salad eaters.
Cheese is milk’s leap towards immortality. -Clifton Fadiman
Fried Goat Cheese Salad
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!
Nutrition
Making this recipe? Follow us on Instagram and tag @ASpicyPerspective so we can share what you’re cooking!
Pingback: 20 Easter Salad Recipes - Sweet Money Bee
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. :)
Pingback: Answer Of How to Cook Goat Cheese - Recipes Core
Pingback: How to Cook Goat Cheese - CYBERDE
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
This looks so good!
Do you think that because the cheese is frozen I could use a slightly softer cheese, like Boursin?
Have a Joyful Day :~D
Charlie
Hi Charlie, Yes! I’ve done this with brie, gouda and cheddar as well. Just make sure they are thoroughly coated, so the melted cheese doesn’t ooze out.
HOLY decadence! This looks absolutely heavenly. Thank you for sharing this …. it’s in the dinner queue!
Goat milk is often consumed by young children, the elderly, those who are ill, or have a low tolerance to cow’s milk. Goat milk is more similar to human milk than that of the cow, although there is large variation among breeds in both animals. Although the West has popularized the cow, goat milk and goat cheese are preferred dairy products in much of the rest of the world. Because goat cheese is often made in areas where refrigeration is limited, aged goat cheeses are often heavily treated with salt to prevent decay. As a result, salt has become associated with the flavor of goat cheese.*
Remember to look out for our own web site
<http://www.caramoantourpackage.com/
What a georgous & super tasty salad!!
Many greetings from Brussels, Belgium!
This looks SO delicious!! And I've always wanted to know how to make fried goat cheese- I get these salads all the time in restaurants. Nothing's better than warm goat cheese with tangy fruit. Beets would probably be great in this as well. Beautiful blog, btw!
Laura-
I understand…there are certain things I have trouble eating after trips abroad! I have made fried brie salads before that turned out beautifully. Just don't forget to freeze the cheese first!
This looks and sounds amazing, Sommer! I'm still working on my love for goat cheese (I think the goat cheese Pizza Hut pizzas in Bolivia were not a good introduction at 17), but I can easily imagine this also delicious with brie, comté, gruyère, or camembert- the flavors sound perfect.
What a GORGEOUS salad!!! I could eat some right now. Perfect on this lovely spring day in Philadelphia:)
Thank you for the tip on freezing the cheese! I've tried to fry goat cheese for salads before and it always ended up a gooey mess. I'll have to give it a try again. And next time I'll add apples too -yum!
How absolutely decadent, Sommer!
Lovely flavors and that fried goat cheese looks wonderfully scrumptious. Absolutely mouthwatering with the apples :)
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
I am drooling on the key board – I love warm goat cheese.
Great salad, I love warm goat cheese and the apple adds a nice little touch!