Get ready for your favorite side dish of the season: strawberry spinach salad! Oh yes. This green salad pairs with just about every meal. It’s got beautifully ripe strawberries, red onion slices, chopped pecans and a bit of salty feta. Then it’s all covered in a sweet tart strawberry vinaigrette salad dressing that makes it taste like gold. Alex and I like it with pizza, with salmon, with pasta…it goes with just about anything!
Start with perfectly ripe strawberries
Starting with ripe red strawberries is a must. Promise us that you’ll only make this salad if you have ripe, in-season strawberries? The flavor is all about the quality and sweetness of the berries. Out-of-season, tart or mealy strawberries just will not do. If you’re looking to mix it up with the type of berry, try our Blueberry Salad or Blackberry Salad.
Double the strawberry! Strawberry salad dressing
This strawberry spinach salad takes our classic strawberry salad recipe up a notch. How? It has double the strawberries: sliced strawberries and strawberries in the salad dressing. This strawberry vinaigrette will be your new favorite salad dressing: promise! It’s sweet tart, lightly sweetened with maple syrup, and bright pink using juicy ripe strawberries. Even better, it only takes 5 minutes to blend up! SO GOOD.
How to make strawberry spinach salad
Each ingredient in this easy strawberry spinach salad is chosen to pack maximum punch. Once you’ve got your ripe beautiful strawberries and lovely vibrant strawberry salad dressing, you’ll need just a few more ingredients to complement the mix. Here’s what you’ll need, in addition to the berries and vinaigrette:
Mix of spinach & other greens: Tip: spinach salads that are 100% spinach can be intense on the flavor. How to fix it? Add some mixed greens too! This strawberry spinach salad has 5 cups spinach leaves and 3 cups mixed greens. Sliced red onions: Strawberries and red onion is a really great flavor combination! The savory bite of the onion is just perfect against the juicy berry. How to cut them like in the photo? Go to How to Cut an Onion.Pecans: Chopped pecans add a crunch that’s a perfect texture contrast! Of course you could use any nuts you like: walnuts, pistachios, almonds, etc. Cheese crumbles: This strawberry spinach salad is easily vegan (plant based) without the cheese. But for a savory, salty note, feta or goat cheese crumbles are perfection.
How to cut strawberries for salad
What’s the best way cut strawberries for salad? The other day my friend and I were making this. She went to cut the strawberries cross-wise, and they ended up in little circles! Of course that’s great if that’s what you’re going for! But here’s how to cut them like in the photo:
Hull the strawberry (cut out the stem). Place a sharp paring knife at an angle at the base of the stem. Cut in a shallow cut, then rotate the strawberry around the knife. This cuts out the stem instead of cutting it out (more info here). If you’re feeling lazy, simply cut off the stem as close to the greens as possible. Cut thin slices lengthwise. Cut thin slices lengthwise along the strawberry, so you get that beautiful strawberry shape.
And that’s it: how to make strawberry spinach salad! Let us know in the comments below if you give it a try. It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t like this one!
This strawberry spinach salad recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free. For dairy-free, plant-based, and vegan, omit the cheese.
Looking for more salad recipes?
Outside of this strawberry spinach salad recipe, here are a few of our favorite salads on A Couple Cooks: 5 from 4 reviews
1 ½ cups sliced strawberries 2 tablespoons maple syrup 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar ¼ cup olive oil ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For the strawberry spinach salad
1 cup sliced strawberries 1 handful thin sliced red onion 5 cups baby spinach leaves 3 cups mixed greens ¼ cup chopped pecans ¼ cup feta cheese crumbles (optional) ½ cup Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
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Last updated: January 2020
