Warm Goat Cheese Salad with a Lemony Vinaigrette
Provencal Recipes · Salad · Tasha Powell · TasteIn Provence, goats and sheep grazing in local fields is a common sight. During spring and fall, it is not unusual to cross a shepherd’s path with his herd (troupeau) and herding dogs. So, not surprisingly it’s easy to find goat cheese in local markets, and grocery stores. I prefer my goat cheese frais (fresh, not aged), as the cheese ages it gets shall we say a bit more “goaty” in both taste and smell.
Read: Witnessing the Magic of the Transhumance in Provence
Warm goat cheese salad or salade de chevre chaude appears on many restaurant menus, and it’s easy to recreate just follow the recipe below.
Chevre Chaud Salade with Lemon Vinaigrette
This salad is easy to prepare. Toast the pine nuts and make the dressing in advance so the final steps are just before serving.
Ingredients
- 1 package goat cheese (in a roll if available)
- 8 slices baguette
- 6 cups colourful mixed salad recommend arugula or mesclun mix
- 3 oz pine nuts
- 6 oz cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1 Avocado if available (sliced and diced)
For The Dressing:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Zest from one lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pan-fry the pine nuts on medium heat until golden brown (approx. 1.5 to 2 minutes).
- Slice the roll of goat cheese (2 pieces/serving) and cut the baguette.
- Place a slice of goat cheese on top of each of the slices of bread.
- Broil in the oven in approx. 5 minutes until golden brown.
- Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking all the ingredients and then adding the olive oil last and slowly as you whisk the vinaigrette to an emulsion.
- If avocados are in season, slice and dice one right before you are assembling the salads.
For Serving:
- Toss the salad with the dressing just before serving.
- Place on a plate, and sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts and sliced cherry tomatoes and avocado slices.
- Top with the warm goat cheese baguette slices (2 per serving)
Notes
Note: Pine nuts are delicate – keep your eye on them will you are pan roasting them so they don’t burn. If they are not available, toast some almond slivers as an alternative. Also, pine nuts can be very expensive in certain parts of the world so toasted almonds will also work with this recipe.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Private Baux de Provence & Saint Remy de Provence Wine Tour from Marseille
Create your perfect private wine tour in Provence, tailored to your preferences (half-day or full-day). Whether you want to combine wine tasting with stunning landscapes, charming villages, or cultural exploration, we’ll design an itinerary just for you.
Book this ExperienceLegal
All rights reserved. Perfectly Provence articles and other content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten (including translations into other languages) or redistributed without written permission. For usage information, please contact us.
Syndication InformationAffiliate Information
As an Amazon Associate, this website earns from qualifying purchases. Some recipes, posts and pages may have affiliate links. If you purchase via these links, we receive a small commission that does not impact your price. Thank you in advance for supporting our work to maintain Perfectly Provence.
Previous Post
Mary Magdalene in Provence Legend or FactRelated Provence Articles
Easy Baked Dessert with Apple, Fig, and Goat Cheese
September 26, 2025
This dessert recipe comes from the Moulin du Calanquet outside St Remy de Provence in the Alpilles. It combines tart green apples, goat cheese, and sweet figs for a delicious (and easy) dessert. The Calanquet oil mill was inaugurated on February 8, 2001, and named after the lovely site on which it was built. Moulin …
Fresh Summer Flavours in a Tomato Goat Cheese Tart
July 20, 2018
In this simple tart I combine fresh, tasty tomatoes and local goat cheese. This one of my favourite savoury tarts when tomatoes are in season. It’s quite easy, served with a nice green salad…
Summer Salad: Prawn, Avocado and Mango Salad
July 27, 2017
This is a lovely light seafood starter for a summer dinner party, the colour combination (prawns, mango and avocado) looks very pretty on a white plate and most of it can be prepared ahead of time. You will need individual metal rings to create the stacked presentation.…
Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with Goat Cheese, Figs and Ham
October 4, 2016
You need to try this recipe while there is still a chance of finding zucchini flowers and fresh figs in the markets of Provence...otherwise you will dream about it all winter.…
No Comment