Sweetgreen Peach and Goat Cheese Salad (+optional salmon)

Peaches are some of my absolute favorite foods out there, and this copycat Sweetgreen Peach and Goat Cheese Salad is the perfect weekend lunch idea or meal prep for the week. I used to eat Sweetgreen ALL THE TIME when I traveled for work, as it was such an easy, healthy, and dependable option.

Now that I’m at home more often, I still crave the fresh bowls I used to have, and I realized how easy they are to make at home. I’m so excited for you all to start making these at home, because they will totally change your at-home salad game!

the Peach and Goat Cheese Salad

The main components of this Sweetgreen salad include:

• Spring Mix
• Fresh Peaches (either white or yellow)
• Fresh herbs – basil and mint
• Goat Cheese – I use the Trader Joe’s Chèvre with Honey and it’s delicious!
• Persian Cucumbers
• Chopped Almonds
• Balsamic Vinaigrette

The Salmon & Quinoa

I like to add these 2 additional items to diversify the salad and add in more protein and carbs.

• The salmon adds a fatty component and a beautiful texture and flavor to the overall dish.
  • I like to pan sear the salmon with a simple kosher salt seasoning for a crisp outer edge texture. However, I understand this can be a bit messy. Another couple great alternatives are:
    • the air fryer – cook at 400F for 7 – 9 minutes (depending on the thickness of the salmon)
    • oven – cook at 425F for 8 -10 minutes (depending on the thickness of the salmon)
• Quinoa is another component that I learned to enjoy during my past life eating Sweetgreen almost every day. I didn’t love it (the texture tended to be a bit hard and dry), but I appreciated it. Once I learned how to properly cook it in culinary school, I LOVED it. Now, I eat it every week!
  • Another alternative to quinoa is wild rice. You can also omit the quinoa completely if you prefer and serve with some bread.

Video Tutorial Here: Peach and Goat Cheese salad tutorital

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HOW to prepare this for lunches for the week:

Here are some tips on how I’d recommend prepping this salad to eat for multiple days.

• Do not dress the salad until right before you eat.
  • Oil and vinegar will break down the salad and pull out the moisture of the produce, making it soggy and not taste fresh.
  • I keep the dressing in a mason jar until the morning of, and then add some dressing to a small container.
  • You could keep the salad dressed for a few hours in the morning if you prefer, but then I would recommend using a tougher green that won’t wilt as much (instead of spring mix, you can use Dino kale or romaine).
• If you have time, try and cut the peaches and cucumbers fresh each day.
  • Whether you have 5 minutes in the morning, or just before you assemble your salad for lunch or dinner that day, cutting the vegetables fresh is one the easiest way to ensure freshness of the salad.
  • I use 1 Persian cucumber per serving, and 1/2 of a peach.
  • You can store the remaining 1/2 peach in an airtight container in the refrigerator until the next day.
• Lightly reheat the salmon and quinoa.
  • I’m personally not a fan of cold salmon or quinoa, so I do a quick 60 second microwave with a damp paper towel over the fish and quinoa.
  • I also don’t usually like leftover fish, but I’ve that a light reheat with good quality fish is ok.
  • You can also portion the salmon and quinoa into individual portions, or you can keep it all together in one larger Tupperware and transfer for it to an individual portion to reheat.
• Keep a paper towel in your bag or box of spring mix (or any other greens for that matter).
• Buy good quality salmon and cook it the same day, or within 24 hours of purchasing it.

The Cost Breakdown

For the salad:

• 5 ounces of spring mix – $3.49
• ¾ cup quinoa – $0.75
• 1 lb salmon-$9.99
• 2 peaches – $5
• 4 persian cucumbers – $1.50
• 2 ounces of goat cheese – $1.50
• ¼ cup of Mint, chiffonade – $0.50 (find another recipe to make with mint, like my sheet pan pizza or my spring pasta)
• ¼ cup of Basil, chiffonade – $0.50 (find another recipe to make with basil, like my green goddess chicken salad)
• Chopped almonds (optional) – $1.00

For the Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 1 lemon – $0.50
• Seasoning – balsamic vinegar, salt, honey, pepper, mustard, oil – $1

TOTAL – $25.74 for 4 servings

Where I live, this salad would be $23.44, literally almost the price of all 4 servings.

If you aren’t someone who cooks much, you might need to purchase all the shared pantry ingredients at once. Even so, the basics like olive oil, quinoa, honey, and mustard are really only going to cost you an initial cost of ~$20.

Once you realize how easy it is to make at home, I’m sure you’ll continue to use up the ingredients!

Other salmon salad bowls:

• Spring Vegetable Salmon Salad with Lemon Dill Champagne Vinaigrette
• Salmon Taco Bowl