Grilled Peach Salad takes full advantage of juicy sweet summer peaches, pairing them with honeyed almonds, prosciutto, and creamy goat cheese for a satisfying sweet and savory salad.

Perfect on its own for a light meal or served alongside marinated grilled chicken or Caprese pizza, you’ll want to make this grilled peach salad for all your summer cookouts and BBQs.

Table of Contents

Summery Grilled Peach Salad

Salad platter with grilled peaches, basil, goat cheese, almonds, prosciutto, and balsamic vinaigrette.

I’m convinced no season moves faster than the 6-8 weeks when the sun is shining and peaches are ripe and juicy here in Ohio.

As much as I want to eat Peach Blackberry Cobbler, Peach Delight, and Peach Cheesecake Bars every night of the week, my digestive system would not be a fan. That’s why we love adding some savory peach recipes to the rotation to make the most of the best time of year.

Grilled Peach Salad is one of our absolute favorites, combining ripe, juice-dribbling down your chin peaches with fresh greens, basil, prosciutto, and goat cheese.

Grilling brings out the rich, caramely flavor of the peaches, which positively sing alongside the tangy sweet balsamic vinaigrette. It’s a burst of summer flavors, perfect for a light meal served on the patio or as a starter or side dish for a lush summer dinner party.

This salad comes together in under 30 minutes, so you can spend more time enjoying the weather and less time in the kitchen!

Key Ingredients + Substitutions

Bowl of mixed salad greens surrounded by peaches, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, goat cheese, dijon mustard, prosciutto slices, and honey.

Peaches– Any variety of peach should work well here (yellow or white!), but we highly recommend using freestone peaches. If you’ve ever tried to cut slices from a peach and found it stubbornly clinging to the pit, you’ve found yourself a clingstone variety! Freestone varieties easily pull away from the pit and give you thick, clean slices for grilling. Freestone peaches are the most common variety found in grocery stores, but if you’re at a farmer’s market, it’s worth asking to make sure you get a freestone variety.

Mixed greens- You can use a variety of greens for this salad. We’ve used only arugula, spring mix, butter lettuce, and a mix of all three.

Goat cheese- I can’t stop combining summer produce with goat cheese (see also: Zucchini and Goat Cheese). It’s got the perfect amount of subtle tang and satisfying creaminess.

Prosciutto– We love the intensely salty, buttery flavor of prosciutto with peaches, but feel free to omit it to make the recipe vegetarian.

Honey roasted almonds– I love the convenience of store bought honey roasted almond slices, which you can often find in the salad section next to the croutons or in the section with other specialty nuts. Feel free to sub plain roasted almonds or make them yourself.

Basil– We like to use basil as its own kind of salad green in the summer. It adds so much fresh flavor! Feel free to add other herbs as well. We have a thyme/oregano blend called Pizza Thyme in our garden that works well here.

Grilled peaches on a bed of salad greens with goat cheese and prosciutto.

Notes on Balsamic Vinaigrette

Listen, if you’ve got really good balsamic (I’m talking the aged kind that’s almost as thick as maple syrup!) or homemade balsamic reduction, you can skip making the vinaigrette, and just drizzle your salad with some high quality olive oil, balsamic, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

But if you’ve got some bargain basement balsamic in your cabinet (me too!), you’ll want to whisk it with some honey and dijon mustard to bring out the flavor and make it worthy of this grilled peach salad.

How to Make Grilled Peach Salad

Step 1: Prep. Grease the grill and preheat to medium high heat.

Step 2: Prepare the vinaigrette. Whisk together balsamic vinegar, honey, dijon, and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Step 3: Grill the peaches. Brush the peaches with butter than place on the grill. Grill 2-3 minutes a side, or until the peaches release easily.

Step 4: Toss the salad. In a large bowl, combine the greens with the prosciutto, goat cheese, almonds, and basil. Top with the grilled peaches. Serve with the vinaigrette.

Bit platter of Grilled Peach Salad with prosciutto, goat cheese, and almonds.

Make Ahead and Storage Instructions

Grilled peaches can be served warm, at room temperature, or cold. Grill them up to 24 hours in advance and store in the fridge.

The balsamic can be prepared up to a week in advance. Store it in the fridge, but be sure to give it a good shake to allow it to reincorporate before serving.

Leftover grilled peaches keep pretty well in the fridge for about 3 days. The salad is best served the day of. Keep all the ingredients separate until ready to serve.

Tips for Grilling Peaches

Grease your grill grates. Before lighting the grill, grease the grates with a neutral oil like avocado or vegetable oil. Pour a little oil into a bowl, soak a paper towel in the oil, then use your hands or tongs to drag it across the grates.
Slice the peaches thick so they don’t slip through the grill grates. I found thicker peach slices were better for grilling and could cook a bit longer without getting mushy.
Grill for 1-2 minutes per side, rotating if you want criss cross grate marks.

Scoop of grilled peach salad with goat cheese and almonds.

What to Serve with Grilled Peach Salad

If you’re serving the salad as a main course, I recommend keeping it simple with a side of focaccia or grilled bread (like a giant crouton!). Corn on the cob would also be a lovely side dish.

Grilled peach salad pairs well with a range of summery main dishes, from grilled meats to sandwiches. Try it with our Caprese Panini, Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches, Spicy Marinated Grilled Turkey, or Brie Burgers.

More Peach Recipes to Try