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.
What is a French Warm Goat Cheese Salad?
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 we 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.
Interested in more Salades Composées recipes? Try my Classic Parisian Salad (Salade Parisienne), my Niçoise Salad and my Frisée Salad with bacon, eggs and croutons (Salade Lyonnaise).
Ingredients you’ll need for a Warm Goat Cheese Salad
With simple ingredients, this is a great recipe to make at home to help bring a taste of France! Here is a run down of the ingredients you will need.
- Goat cheese. Choose a ripened goat cheese log or wheel, with a rind and a creamy center. Read more about the right goat cheese to pick in the chapter below.
- Fresh country bread or baguette. To make the goat cheese toasts, you need 6 slices of fresh crusty white bread. Country bread or baguette are traditionally used in France.
- Lardons or bacon. In France, we use “lardons” for this salad: thick, smoked bacon sliced into matchsticks. They are readily available in packages in all grocery stores. To make your own outside of France, cut bacon strips into ¼” (0.65cm) thick sticks
- Walnuts. A handful of toasted walnuts to add some crunch.
- Tomato. One large ripe tomato cut in wedges.
- Lettuce. Traditionally, we use Lettuce for this salad: Red Oak, Batavia, Romaine or Frisée are all great options here. I don’t recommend using Iceberg lettuce which is too crisp.
- Parsley. The plates are sprinkled with some fresh parsley at the end for color and freshness.
- French vinaigrette. This salad is dressed with a classic French vinaigrette. See this post for a complete run-down of how to make your own French vinaigrette.
Preparing the toasts with ripened goat cheese and fresh country bread.
Choosing the right goat cheese
Goat cheese takes center stage in this salad, so it’s worth investing in a high-quality one. But not just any good goat cheese! Let’s take a moment to see together which variety is best and why it makes all the difference.
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Which goat cheese is best for a goat cheese salad?
For a classic French Warm Goat Cheese Salad (Salade de Chèvre Chaud), the best goat cheese to use is a ripened goat cheese, with a rind and a creamy center. It tastes more robust than fresh goat cheese and its creamy center melts beautifully while the outer rind keeps it from oozing out everywhere. Key!
Ripened goat cheeses are usually sold as logs that you can slice in large coins, or as “crottins” (small cylindrical shapes) that can be halved lengthwise. Both shapes are great for melting on toasts. I find that 60g of goat cheese (divided in 3 x 20g slices) is a good portion per person.
If you can only find a large wheel of goat cheese to slice in wedges, no problem. Just watch the toasts more carefully as they bake, so the creamy inside doesn’t ooze out too much.
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Where to shop for ripened goat cheese?
To buy the best quality ripened goat cheeses, I recommend going to a specialty cheese shop that offers artisanal and sometimes imported cheeses. This is where you find the best varieties!
Some French goat cheese names to look for:
- Selles-sur-Cher: A goat cheese from Val de Loire which melts beautifully. Perfect for toasts!
- Crottin de Chavignol: One of most imported French goat cheeses with delicious nutty notes.
- Picodon: A stronger-flavored goat cheese from the South of France.
- Chabichou: A firmer goat cheese produced in Poitou, in western France.
- Pélardon: A small, delicate cheese from the Languedoc region, with a rich, tangy taste.
Also, most goat cheeses imported from France carry an AOP (Appellation d’Origine Protégée) seal, ensuring their authentic origin and exceptional quality. So even if you can’t find one of the 5 names above, try to get one with an AOP seal.
That said, most supermarkets in the US, like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, now carry a good selection of ripened goat cheeses, which are a touch more affordable. Look for some good-rated options like Bonne Bouche and Bijou crotins from Vermont Creamery and Humboltd Fog from Cypress Grove.
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Can I use fresh goat cheese instead?
I know unpasteurized, ripened goat cheeses can be difficult to find outside of France. So as a substitute, yes, you can more easily find a soft, unripened goat cheese – labelled as “fresh” goat cheese. This one doesn’t have a rind nor a creamy inside, and has a more neutral taste.
Although not traditional, fresh logs work fine too here! You can easily spread a slice on the bread and grill it in the oven. The texture won’t get as melty as with ripened goat cheese, but it still tastes delicious.
Some brands I recommend in the US are Laura Chenel and Montchevre.
More Frequently Asked Questions
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Can this salad be prepared ahead of time?
Yes, absolutely, this is a great salad to prepare ahead. You can assemble the salad components onto the plates up to 2 hours before serving. Bake the goat cheese toasts, dress with vinaigrette and season to taste just before serving.
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What to serve this Warm Goat Cheese Salad with?
This salad is a whole balanced dish in itself, so it is meant to be served as a main. For starter, you can serve some French-style Deviled Eggs (Oeufs Mimosa) or a Cream of Cauliflower Soup. And for dessert, why not indulge in a Classic French Chocolate Mousse or a Classic French Strawberry Tart.
Notes & Substitutions
- Before popping the goat cheese toasts into the oven, I like to drizzle them with olive oil. Feel free to get creative—try pine nut oil, hazelnut oil, balsamic vinegar, or even a touch of honey for extra flavor!
- Instead of tomato wedges, you can use 6–8 cherry tomatoes per plate for a slightly sweeter bite.
- Once you’ve tried this warm goat cheese salad, don’t hesitate to switch things up! Blue cheese or brie make fantastic alternatives—just as delicious in their own way. Or why not make three toasts, each with a different cheese?
I hope you’ll enjoy this Warm Goat Cheese Salad (Salade de Chèvre Chaud) as much as I do! And if you have any questions, please leave a comment.
