Mexican Christmas Salad Recipe (2024)

Last Updated on February 16, 2022 by Anne-Marie

Serve this layered Mexican Christmas salad recipe in a trifle bowl.

Why make this recipe

Have you ever made a Mexican Christmas Salad for the holidays?

I never knew this was “a thing” until I was challenged to redo a recipe from Lea Ann at Cooking on the Ranch.

I researched the Ensalada de Nochebuena, which is Spanish for Christmas Salad. According to Hispanic Kitchen,

Although many variations exist, three ingredients are at the core: beets, pomegranate and jicama.

The root vegetable – jicama is also known as "Mexican potato," so it's an appropriate member.

Beets are included for color along with pomegranate seeds sprinkled across the top. Apples, oranges, and sometimes bananas round out the list.

I took Lea Ann’s advice and made this Christmas Eve Salad a chopped salad recipe for my Christmas eve dinner.

Since I felt this festive Mexican Christmas eve salad reminded me of an English trifle, I arranged it in my trifle bowl.

I also use my trifle bowl Red White and Blue Trifle, Easy Layered Taco Salad Recipe, and Seven Layer Salad.

Don’t forget the salad tongs for serving!

My version of Mexican Christmas Salad

Lea Ann’s version Christmas eve salad recipe uses pomegranate seeds, romaine lettuce, peanuts, oranges, jicama, along with red and golden beets. I’ve seen other recipes use pepitas (pumpkin seeds), apples, bananas, and pine nuts.

Keeping Christmas nut free: I kept pretty true to her Mexican Christmas salad recipe, but omitted the peanuts due to my daughter’s nut allergy.

Pepitas: I served the pepitas on the side, since my kids aren’t crazy about them.

Jicama: We all love jicama. But if you can’t find it at your grocery store, you can substitute whole water chestnuts since they’re white and crunchy, too.

Where to place the beets: Next time I make this, I’ll put the beets on the bottom so they don’t run and spoil the look of the layer below them.

Dressing: For the dressing, most recipes call for Crème Mexicana, which is Mexican sour cream. If you cannot find it in your grocery store or want to use something lighter, use nonfat Greek yogurt instead. I found Lea Ann’s version super thick, so I thinned it with rice vinegar.

Vegan or Dairy Free? If you want to keep your Mexican Christmas Eve Salad vegan or dairy free, use thisvegan tofu sour cream recipeinstead of Crème Mexicana.

It’s so tasty, you’ll never believe it’s not real sour cream!

How much salad? Finally, I doubled Lea Ann’s recipe so the layered Mexican Christmas Eve salad would fit in my trifle bowl.

How to smoke beets for Christmas eve salad

Have you ever had smoked beets? Amazing! If you have a smoker, you should try this. If not, regular canned beets are fine for the Christmas Eve Salad.

While you can roast beets in the oven using my method for cooking and peeling beets, I love smoking beets in my electric smoker. Here’s how:

1. Set smoker to 275 degrees F. Add your favorite type of wood chips. And don’t forget to add water to the drip pan!

2. Coat an oven safe roasting pan with cooking spray. (Make sure your pan will fit inside your smoker.)

3. Remove beet tops from beets and set aside.

4. Wash beets. Cut into quarters and place in your roasting pan.

5. Place roasting pan in your smoker and cook for 3 hours or until the beets are soft when pricked with a knife or fork.

6. Remove from smoker and let cool.

7. Peel skin off beats with a paring knife.

More salad recipes

Here are some tasty salads to enjoy during the holidays or year round:

● Brussel Sprouts Salad with Cranberries

● Easy Vegan Garbanzo Bean Salad

● Seven Layer Salad (this is also made in a trifle bowl)

● Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables

Originally posted June 10, 2013, December 10, 2016, and December 8, 2017. Updated with new pictures and information.