French Warm Goat Cheese Salad (Salade de Chèvre Chaud)
Jun 08, 2025 02:17 AM
This Warm Goat Cheese Salad, or Salade de Chèvre Chaud, is a beloved classic found on many French bistro menus. A delightful mix of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, nuts and bacon, it’s topped with crispy, warm and melty goat cheese toasts—transforming this dish from simple to extraordinary!
To recreate this at home, focus on using high-quality ingredients, and you’ll quickly understand why the French adore this salad so much.
If you are a goat cheese lover like me, you’re in for a treat! Whenever I want a quick, satisfying lunch in the Spring or Summer and have some bread on hand, this is one of my go-to choices.
Warm Goat Cheese Salad (Salade de Chèvre Chaud) is a beloved classic found in French bistros across the country. This elegant salad features a bed of crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, salty lardons, and crunchy walnuts—all crowned by the pièce de résistance: warm, melty goat cheese toasts.
Some modern variations of this salad involve breading and frying the goat cheese. But the traditional and most widely served version keeps it simple with the cheese gently warmed atop slices of toasted bread. And this is my favourite version as well!
This salad is what they call in France, a salade composée—a French salad that is not tossed but carefully arranged on each plate for an elegant presentation. Unlike basic side salads, salades composées in France are designed to be satisfying – balancing proteins, carbs and fresh vegetables for a complete meal.
Ingredients:
- 5oz (120g) ripened goat cheese, cut in 6 x 20g slices
- 6 slices country bread or baguette
- 1 tbsp (15ml) extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3.5oz (100g) lardons or bacon strips, cut into matchsticks
- 1/3 cup (40g) walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 large tomato
- 1/2 medium sized lettuce (Batavia, Romaine or Frisée)
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley
- ¼ cup French vinaigrette, for serving.
French Vinaigrette
- 2 tbsp (30ml) red wine or sherry vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 small shallot (50g), peeled and minced
- 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 6 tbsp (90ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 6 sprigs chives, minced
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Prep Time:
20 minutes
Cook Time:
11 minutes
Total Time:
31 minutes
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