Strawberry Spinach Salad {Strawberry Dressing!}

Quick Summary

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing – spinach salad with fresh strawberries, avocado, candied pecans, red onion, feta cheese, and a simple strawberry dressing. The perfect salad for spring and summer!

Strawberry season is my favorite season. I love red, juicy, sweet strawberries. They are one of my very favorite fruits. During strawberry season, I make as many strawberry recipes as I can: strawberry shortcake, strawberry scones, strawberry smoothies , and this Strawberry Spinach Salad.

This is one of those salads that you will fall in love with after one bite, maybe even one look because it is so pretty. It is just a GOOD salad. It is the perfect salad for spring and summer and goes great with any meal and can be served at any occasion.

It is a great one for baby showers, bridal showers, BBQ’s, potlucks, pool parties, or any holiday. You can also make it for lunch or a simple dinner. Feel free to add grilled chicken if you want to make a meal out of it. You can’t go wrong with this strawberry spinach salad. Everyone loves it!

Strawberry Balsamic Dressing

Let’s start with the dressing. The fresh strawberry balsamic dressing is SO SO good. It may sound fancy, but it only takes a few minutes to blend up! That’s right, everything goes in the blender and voila, you have a gourmet salad dressing that is SO much better than any store bought dressing.

To make the dressing, add the strawberries, olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

If you need the salad dressing to be vegan, you can use pure maple syrup instead of honey.

Salad Ingredients

For the salad, you will need:

Spinach– I love using fresh spinach for this salad, but any greens will work.
Strawberries– the star of the salad!
Avocado– avocado makes every salad better!
Red onion– I love the pop of color!
Feta cheese– goat cheese is another good option. And if you need the salad to be vegan, you can leave off the cheese.
Candied Pecans– I love making candied pecans for this salad. The sweet crunch is so nice! I always make them in advance and keep then in a jar in my pantry. You can use regular pecans or even almonds, pistachios, or candied walnuts.

How to Make Strawberry Spinach Salad

Once the dressing is made, it is GO TIME!

To assemble the salad, place the spinach, strawberries, avocado, red onion, cheese, and candied pecans in a large bowl.
When ready to serve, drizzle with dressing and toss. It’s that simple!
Alternatively, you can plate the salads and serve the dressing on the side.

strawberry spinach salad on plates with strawberry dressing

More Salad Recipes

Salads

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Strawberry Dressing

For the strawberry dressing:

1 cup chopped strawberries
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the strawberry spinach salad:

8 ounces fresh spinach
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 large avocado, sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese
2/3 cup roughly chopped candied pecans or pecans

To make the dressing, add the strawberries, olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
To assemble the salad, place the spinach, strawberries, avocado, red onion, cheese, and pecans in a large bowl. When ready to serve, drizzle with dressing and toss. Alternatively, you can plate the salads and serve the dressing on the side.

Feel free to add cooked crumbled bacon or use almonds, walnuts, or pistachios instead of pecans.

Calories: 295kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 15mg, Sodium: 275mg, Potassium: 512mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 3673IU, Vitamin C: 57mg, Calcium: 148mg, Iron: 2mg