Strawberry spinach salad with poppy seed dressing is great as a side dish, and terrific as a light meal. It’s light and healthy. Poppy seed dressing adds wonderful flavor to the salad.
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Why spinach strawberry salad works
- Poppy seed dressing has magical combination of flavors.
- Strawberry and balsamic is match made in heaven.
- A great side dish, but can be a meal too!
- It’s light, healthy and very tasty.
- Made with fresh ingredients, super easy to make!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make strawberry spinach salad-
Ingredients additions and substitutions
Additions:
- Paprika – Add paprika or cayenne pepper if you like heat or a slight kick in the salad.
- Bacon – add some crispy bacon bits to the salad for extra deliciousness! Bacon makes everything better.
- Other fruits – you can add pomegranate, orange segments, and apple slices.
- More berries – add fresh blueberries or raspberries to the salad to make it berrylicious!
- Seeds – add sunflower seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds.
Substitutions:
- Strawberries when not in season can be substituted with orange segments pineapple bits roasted pumpkin cubes or any other squash roasted in the oven.
- Substitute pecans with any other nut of your choice. Almonds, pine nuts, and walnuts all are good.
- Feta cheese can be substituted with goat cheese or crumbled blue cheese. If you don’t want to add cheese, it’s okay to leave it out.
- Substitute vegetable oil with olive oil or avocado oil.
- Use honey, maple syrup, sugar, and stevia as substitutes for honey.
- Don’t skip balsamic vinegar. Strawberry and balsamic vinegar together taste terrific. If you want to substitute balsamic vinegar – use a mix of white distilled vinegar and Worchester sauce together in place of balsamic vinegar.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Roast pecan nut in the oven at 300℉ for 5 to 8 minutes. Stay next to the oven and keep a close watch. Nuts always tend to burn pretty fast in the oven. Toast until nuts are fragrant and begin to tan slightly. Remove immediately from the oven and transfer to cutting wooden board. Chop nuts into small pieces. Keep aside.
Step 2: Into a jar pour vegetable oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and pepper, mustard paste, and poppy seeds.
Step 3: Close the jar tightly with the lid. Shake well. Keep the dressing aside while you assemble the salad.
Step 4: Into a salad bowl add baby spinach, fresh strawberries, sliced red onion, and toasted nuts.
Step 5: Pour poppy seed dressing. Toss gently. Pro-Tip: If you find raw red onion too harsh in taste, you can use pickled onions.
Step 6: Finally sprinkle crumbled feta cheese on top. Serve immediately for the best taste.
Storage
For best taste serve salad immediately. If you have leftovers store in refrigerator for few hours, highly recommend you consume it the same it. I do not recommend storing it for longer.
Make ahead instructions
Gather all salad ingredients in a bowl and make the dressing. Store the salad and poppy seeds salad dressing can be stored separately refrigerated for a few days (salad for 2-3 days and dressing will last for 4-5 days). Tip: if you plan to store salad refrigerated, suggest you add nuts just before serving so they have the crunch.
When you are ready to serve, pour the salad dressing, toss gently, and serve.
Remember salad once mixed with dressing should be consumed immediately.
Recipe FAQs
Use mandarin orange segments pineapple cubes to make this salad or roasted pumpkin cubes to make this salad.
I like using baby spinach for its texture and flavor. To substitute baby spinach you can use lettuce, or kale (fresh kale torn into small pieces and massaged slightly).
Gather all salad ingredients in a bowl and make the dressing. Undressed salad and poppy seeds salad can be stored refrigerated for a few days (salad for 2-3 days and dressing will last for 4-5 days). Tip: if you plan to store salad refrigerated, suggest you add nuts just before serving so they have the crunch.
When you are ready to serve, pour the salad dressing, toss gently, and serve.
Remember salad once mixed with dressing should be consumed immediately.
The salad is terrific side with any grilled or roast meat like grilled chicken, or roast pork. I could eat this as a meal; the flavor combinations are wonderful for a light meal.
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📋 Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
Ingredients
- 10 oz baby spinach rinsed and dried thoroughly
- 1 quart strawberry cleaned hulled and sliced
- ½ red onions sliced
- 1 cup pecans roasted and chopped
- ⅓ cup feta cheese crumbled
For Poppy Seed Dressing-
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard paste
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- Roast The Nuts– Roast pecan nut in oven at 300℉ for 5 to 8 minutes. Stay next to the oven and keep close watch. Nuts always tend to burnt pretty fast in oven. Toast until nuts are fragrant and begin to tan slightly. Remove immediately from the oven and transfer to cutting wooden board. Chop nuts into small pieces. Keep aside.
- Poppy Seed Dressing – Into a jar pour vegetable oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and pepper, mustard paste, poppy seeds. Close the jar tightly with lid. Shake well. Keep the dressing aside while you assemble the salad.
- Assemble Salad – into a salad bowl add baby spinach, fresh strawberries, sliced red onion, toasted nuts. Pour poppy seed dressing. Toss gently.Pro-Tip: If you find raw red onion too harsh in taste, you can use pickled onion.
- Finally sprinkle crumbled feta cheese on top.
- Serve immediately for best taste.
Video
Notes
- Baby Spinach – I like using baby spinach for its texture and flavor. To substitute baby spinach you can use lettuce, or kale (fresh kale torn into small pieces and massaged slightly).
- If strawberries are not in season use mandarin orange segments pineapple cubes to make this salad or roasted pumpkin cubes to make this salad.
Nutrition
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
Thank you for stopping by.
I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and i’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2014 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
Comments & Reviews
MK @ Superior Goodness Catering says
I’m making this for a catering event on Saturday. I’ll take pics and let you know the reviews.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Hope you like it!
Farrukh Aziz says
This is making my mouth water! Strawberry and spinach is a really good combination, and in a salad is a good and healthy option! I’m sure my kids will love this!
Jyothi Rajesh says
Thank you Farrukh