Have you ever had strawberries in salad? If not, you’re in for a real treat with this easy recipe! We’re taking a simple spinach salad up a few notches, and it’s delicious. This strawberry spinach salad is the perfect side dish for a BBQ, summer party, or a simple family dinner. It’s easy to make, yet just fancy enough to impress your guests! If you’re looking for unique and healthy salad recipes, you’ll also love my Watermelon Salad with feta cheese and arugula.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients In Strawberry Spinach Salad
Pick up these fresh ingredients to make this tasty strawberry salad. Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
For the Strawberry Spinach Salad
Pecans: Start with raw pecans. We’ll be toasting them up so that they are fresh and flavorful. Baby Spinach: You need about 2 packages of bagged baby spinach, or 10 ounces if you buy it in bulk. Look for baby spinch rather than leaf spinach. It has a light flavor and tender texture. Strawberries – A quart of fresh strawberries add amazing color and sweet flavor to this healthy salad. Slice them or quarter them, whichever you prefer. Red Onion – The spicy bite of thinly sliced red onion balances out the sweetness of the berries and the dressing. Feta Cheese – My favorite part! Buy block feta cheese and crumble it yourself. It’s so much creamier and tastier than buying it already crumbled.
For the Creamy Balsamic Dressing
Balsamic Vinegar: This rich, aged vinegar has umami flavor notes as well as hints of sourness and bitterness. Olive Oil: Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil when making salad dressings. It makes all the difference. Greek Yogurt: Regular full-fat Greek yogurt is ideal, although you can also make this dressing with low-fat yogurt, dairy-free yogurt or even sour cream. Dijon Mustard: This adds a bit of tang and creaminess. Honey: The perfect amount of sweetness comes from just a tablespoon of honey. Poppyseeds: These add visual interest, and lovely texture to the dish. Seasonings: salt, pepper, and garlic powder finish up this tasty dressing.
How To Make the Best Strawberry Spinach Salad
Recipe Tips
Try different cheese: Crumbled goat cheese is an excellent option in place of the feta. For an extra tangy salad, try crumbled blue cheese instead. Don’t let it sit: This salad is best eaten right after adding the dressing. The spinach will wilt down and get soggy if you dress it too soon. Dressing Tip: Making dressing in a mason jar is fun and easy, but if you don’t have one, just whisk up the ingredients in a small bowl instead.
Storing Tips
Spinach Salad with strawberries is best enjoyed right away. Leftovers won’t be very tasty, as the berries and the spinach leaves will start to wilt under the dressing. You can store any extra balsamic dressing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. To make this salad ahead, add all of the ingredients except the berries and dressing to a large bowl. Keep it in the fridge for up to a day or so. Just before serving, toss with sliced strawberries and your prepared salad dressing.
What To Serve With This Strawberry Spinach Salad
I love serving a salad with strawberries with grilled foods! Try it with Grilled Steak, Flaky Grilled Fish, or Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burgers. If you’d rather use the smoker for some BBQ, make a Succulent Smoked Turkey or a simple Smoked Brisket to go with this fresh salad. Round out a summery meal with an easy no-bake dessert like my Peanut Butter Pie or Banana Pudding. Strawberry Spinach Salad will be your favorite salad all summer long! Be sure to Pin the recipe so you always have it ready. © Little Sunny Kitchen
title: “The Best Strawberry Spinach Salad” ShowToc: true date: “2024-11-04” author: “Lawrence Harrell”
This Strawberry Spinach Salad is a very popular recipe here on Simple Joy. And for good reason too! It is easy to make, delicious, and a crowd pleaser. This recipe is perfect to bring to a potluck or a family reunion. It also makes a great addition to a BBQ on the back deck or just a summer lunch.
How to Make a Strawberry Spinach Salad
What Goes in a Strawberry Spinach Salad
There are so many different ways to make this salad. I love the combination of ingredients below for the perfect mix of flavor and texture.
Spinach Fresh Strawberries Feta CheeseSliced Red OnionsSliced Toasted Almonds
Then I topped it all with a homemade Poppy Seed Balsamic Dressing that took me less than 10 minutes to make. For the full printable recipe, make sure you go to the bottom of the post!
Strawberry Spinach Salad Dressing
For this salad, we are going to make a really simple salad dressing that – a balsamic poppyseed dressing.
Salad Dressing Ingredients
olive oilbalsamic vinegarsugarpoppyseedsred onions
One of the things I love so much about this salad dressing is that I have all the ingredients I need for it in my pantry all of the time. If you are concerned about sugar, or want to make this salad a little lighter, I suggest cutting the sugar in half, tasting it, and then adding more until you get the flavor you are looking for.
Variations and Substitutions
One of the reasons I love making salads is they are so easy to make your own. It is easy to swap out one ingredient for another. Here are some ideas:
Replace the feta cheese with goat cheese. The softness of this cheese, would go perfectly with the strawberries.Take out the almonds and put in some candied walnuts instead!Not a big fan of red onions in your salad? Swap them out for avocado.Don’t really feel like making your own salad dressing? Buy some balsamic dressing! I won’t tell anyone, I swear.Feel like it needs a little something something still? Toss in some homemade croutons!
There are no wrong answers when it comes to this Strawberry Spinach Almond Salad. Except not making it. That would be the wrong answer. Seriously, if you feel like you don’t eat enough salads, this is a great one to start with. It has fruit! And cheese! And a sweet dressing. It’s like a gateway salad.
Adding Chicken
If you want to make a meal out of this recipe, add some chicken breasts! Add a little olive oil, salt, and pepper to chicken breasts and bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Slice the chicken and add to this salad. Or, instead of putting your chicken in the oven, throw it on the grill! You could even marinate the chicken in balsamic dressing first and then grill it. The flavors would work perfectly in this salad. If you make this spinach and strawberry salad, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you.
I’m allergic to tree nuts, can I leave out the almonds?
Yes, of course! Sunflower seeds are delicious in salads and would be a great replacement in this recipe.
Can I make this salad ahead of time?
Yes. I would suggest making everything the night before but leave the strawberries whole and off to the side, and leave off the salad dressing. Slice the strawberries and add them right before serving.
