Strawberry Spinach Salad

Pure summer in every bite, this Strawberry Spinach Salad is a classic we make constantly during the summer months. It’s perfect paired with simple proteins like grilled chicken or pork chops, and the Strawberry Vinaigrette gives you a double strawberry hit. It’s naturally gluten-free and can be dairy-free as well. Whether it’s for a simple weeknight dinner, entertaining, or for BBQs, potlucks, and picnics this salad is guaranteed to be a hit!

A giant bowl full of summer goodness! This salad is all flavor and you’ll find yourself wanting to make it on the regular. It’s a simple salad you’ve probably seen some sort of variation of before, but it’s a classic that never gets old. Today’s recipe is just how I make mine along with a super tasty Strawberry Vinaigrette that takes it right over the top.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Spinach – or spring mix, chopped leaf lettuces like red/green leaf, romaine, and butter lettuce would all work here if you don’t want to use spinach. I had baby spinach, but you can use those giant leaves from the garden as well, just chop them up into bite-sized pieces.
• Strawberries – the ripest juiciest berries you can find for the tastiest salad. Raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries would all work here as well in place of the strawberries. We’ve tried every single berry I mentioned in this salad over the years and we love them all. Fresh diced peaches or nectarines would also work as well if berries aren’t available. And for the winter months, you can use finely diced apples or pears and my 2-Ingredients Balsamic Vinaigrette.
• Red onion – finely diced adds a lot of savory flavor here, but you can also use thinly sliced green onions, chives, or finely diced shallots as well.
• Feta cheese – or crumbled goat cheese are my favorites in this salad, and blue cheese or gorgonzola works as well. You can also omit the cheese or use a dairy-free feta if needed.
• Nuts – I used toasted slivered almonds, but I’ve also used chopped pecans, walnuts, and sliced almonds as well. You can also leave the nuts out if needed, or sub in toasted pumpkin seeds instead.
• Dressing – my favorite dressing here is my Strawberry Vinaigrette, but you can also use any poppyseed dressing you’d like. My Basil Vinaigrette, Lemon Vinaigrette, or 2-ingredient Balsamic Vinaigrette also all work with this salad.

Step 1: This recipe is just a few minutes of prep work. Start by washing/drying your spinach if needed. Next hull and thinly slice the strawberries, crumble the feta, and thinly dice the onion. You can also go with sliced onion as pictured, but most of the time I go for very small bits of onion so it’s not overwhelming.

Make the dressing of your choice and you’re ready to go!

If you need to toast the nuts, I like to place mine on a sheet pan and bake at 250ºF for about 15 minutes or until light golden brown. By baking them at a lower than normal temperature they toast evenly and you run less risk of burning them.

Step 2: Serve everything separately if you feel you might have leftovers. Otherwise, my preferred way to serve this is to place the spinach in the bowl topped with sliced strawberries, red onion, crumbled feta, and toasted nuts.

Serve the dressing on the side, or drizzle a bit over the top for presentation, and serve the rest at the table. You can toss the salad if you’re at a picnic or potluck, but it does look better without the dressing for a dinner party.

Ways to serve this

• This makes a great side dish salad with lots of dinners including my Lemon Chicken and Asparagus, or with my Tuscan Steak, or Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta for extra special options.
• Or keep things simple and grill up your choice of meat to serve with this salad. Grilled chicken is the perfect partner with this Strawberry Spinach Salad. But grilled steak, pork chops, or even shrimp are all great too.
• Try this salad with different dressings. My 2-Ingredient Balsamic Vinaigrette, Lemon Vinaigrette, or Basil Vinaigrette all work perfectly here. My 2 ingredient balsamic can be made with a different vinegar as well, try it with white wine, red wine, or champagne vinegar. For a basic vinaigrette you can shake together 1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice to 3/4 cup olive oil with sea salt and pepper to taste in a jar, then add a touch of maple syrup to take the edge off.

Storing leftovers

• To store – if the salad has been tossed together with the dressing, any leftovers are tolerable the next day but a little soggy. If you think you might have leftovers, I’d recommend keeping everything separate at the table. Then any leftovers can be stored separately in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 days. This will vary depending on the ripeness of your strawberries, the riper they are the quicker they spoil.

More summer salad recipe inspiration

• Vietnamese Chicken Salad
• Easy Green Salad
• Strawberry Cobb Salad
• Mediterranean Pasta Salad
• Watermelon Feta Spinach Salad