This Strawberry Spinach Salad is the perfect side dish for a family dinner, or a great lunch! Beautiful ripe strawberries, sliced toasted almonds, feta cheese, and red onions all on a bed of rich green spinach and tossed with homemade balsamic poppy seed dressing.
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
- Make the salad dressing: Combine all of the ingredients for the salad dressing in a mason jar and shake to combine.
- Slice the onions and strawberries: The only chopping that needs to happen with this recipe is the strawberries and the red onion.
- Toss to combine: Toss all of the salad ingredients to combine. If you are serving this at a party or get together, I suggest leaving the dressing off and letting your guests top their own salads.
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 Cheese
- Sliced Red Onions
- Sliced 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 oil
- balsamic vinegar
- sugar
- poppyseeds
- red 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.
FAQ
What can I use instead of feta cheese?
If you aren’t a feta cheese fan, some suggestions are shaved Parmesan, blue cheese, or goat cheese.
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.
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.
Strawberry Spinach Salad
Ingredients
For Strawberry Spinach Salad
- 10 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 1 quart strawberries quartered
- 1/2 red onion sliced thin
- 1/4 cup almond slices toasted (see note)
- 4 ounces feta cheese
For Balsamic Poppyseed Dressing
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon poppyseeds
- 1 tablespoon minced red onion
Instructions
To make the salad dressing
- Combine all of the ingredients for the dressing in a mason jar. Shake well until the sugar is dissolved and the dressing is combined.
To Make the Salad
- Combine all the ingredients for the salad in a large bowl. Very lightly dress the salad right before serving, reserving the rest of the dressing on the side for people to add more.
Notes
Karen Antone says
Can you use a spring mix of greens instead of spinach.
Definitely!
[email protected] says
I love strawberry and spinach salad. Today I am making it for he first time and I was wondering if you can use Kraft Italian dressing instead of making a dressing?please let me know. Thank yoso very much and keep on making salad they are great!!!!
Of course you can use any dressing that you would like. I personally do not think I would enjoy Italian dressing on this, and if I did have to go with a store bought dressing I would opt for a balsamic dressing.
Diane says
Should the dressing be refrigerated if making ahead?
If it’s only a day or two, the countertop should be fine for the dressing. If you do refrigerate, you will need to bring it to room temperature and mix well before serving.
Kim Shahry says
Very simple. Usually have all the ingredients. Dressing makes it. Thank you.
I’m so glad you like it, Kim!
Jane says
A perfect salad to go with beef tender and garlic chese grits for Christmas – the red and green are beautiful! Followed recipe but used pecans instead of almonds. For the dressing just a tablespoon of sugar, and 1/2 tsp of spicy mustard and didn’t have poppyseeds, so just left them out. Dressing is so easy, don’t be afraid to taste and adjust. Thx for the festive recipe
Cookie says
Requests for this salad when I go to summer events. I usually triple the salad ingredients. The dressing I make in a blender, the oil and vinegar turn into a nice, thick liquid! 👍🍓
I’m so glad you enjoy it!
Bambi says
Love this salad but I use ranch dressing with a bit of cream cheese: Try it!