Spinach Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette
Aug 04, 2021
Spinach & Strawberry Salad with Almonds, Goat Cheese and fresh strawberry vinaigrette. An easy and fresh summer salad!
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A simple salad made with spinach, strawberries, toasted almonds, goat cheese all tossed with a fresh, homemade strawberry vinaigrette. This Spinach Strawberry Salad makes the perfect summer salad!
This recipe is inspired by a salad that I recently had at one of the local restaurants. It was fresh, tasty and made just the perfect summer salad. It was just a bit too sweet for my liking so I re-created a similar version at home but adapted it to my taste..
The salad has baby spinach, fresh strawberries, toasted almonds, cranberries, goat cheese and all tossed with strawberry vinaigrette. It’s super fresh and really easy to make.
I was not a fan of goat cheese when I first tasted it several years ago. But over the years, I have really warmed up to it especially in salads, on crostini, pizza etc.
Ingredients
You need a handful of ingredients to make this Spinach Strawberry Salad.
Baby Spinach: I buy this triple-washed packet of baby spinach from Costco and it works perfectly well for this salad. Regular spinach would work too. You can also use a mix of arugula and spinach.
Strawberries: fresh sweet strawberries work best here. You can definitely replace it with blueberries.
Sliced almonds: for this salad, I have used sliced toasted almonds here that I got from Trader Joe’s. You can replace it with any other nut of choice. Pecans, walnuts will work well, just toast them first before using.
Onion: it adds a nice crunch plus we love eating raw red onions! If you are not a fan, you can skip the onions.
Cranberries: dried cranberries add little sweetness and tartness to the salad. You can replace them with dried cherries or raisins.
Goat cheese: I absolutely love the combo of spinach with goat cheese. The creamy goat cheese pairs perfectly well here. You can also use feta cheese in place of goat cheese.
Strawberry vinaigrette: this simple vinaigrette is made with fresh strawberries, olive oil, rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Make sure the strawberries are sweet, if not you can increase the amount of maple syrup. Rice wine vinegar can be replaced with apple cider vinegar.
Step by Step Recipe
First, make the Strawberry vinaigrette. Chop the stem of the strawberries and then transfer them to a blender along with rest of the ingredients- olive oil, rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, salt and pepper. If the strawberries aren’t sweet enough, you can add more of the maple syrup. You can even add sugar if you like.
Blend until everything is well combined. Set this aside. This will make around 1 cup of vinaigrette.
1- To make the salad, add the spinach leaves to a big bowl. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons of the prepared vinaigrette. You may add more or less but you don’t want too much of the dressing (serve more on the side later) but enough to make the leaves moist. Mix well using a spoon and fork.
2- Then add the chopped strawberries, sliced onions, sliced almonds and cranberries.
3- Mix until everything is well combined and all components of the salad are coated with the dressing.
4- Top with fresh goat cheese and serve with more of the strawberry vinaigrette on the side.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve this salad as much or with a nice crusty bread.
Even a simple focaccia will go so well with this salad.
Tips & Notes
- You can use a mix of spinach and arugula here. You can use any mix of green here, I often use bag of “spring mix” that I get from Trader Joe’s.
- This spinach strawberry vinaigrette isn’t very sweet but you can always make it sweeter by adding more maple syrup. You can also add 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar to make this sweeter.
- Do not add too much of the dressing, everything would be moist but not drenched with the dressing. Serve extra dressing on the side so that one can use as much dressing as they like while eating the salad.
- To make this spinach strawberry salad vegan, just skip the goat cheese.
More Salad Recipes
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Spinach Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Strawberry Vinaigrette
- 1 cup strawberries 150-160 grams
- 2 tablespoons olive oil extra-virgin
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or add more to taste, can be substituted with honey or sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
Salad
- 10 oz baby spinach
- 2 cups strawberries stem removed and quartered, around 325 grams
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds toasted, can add 1/3 cup as per taste
- 1/4 cup cranberries
- 3 oz goat cheese adjust to taste
Instructions
Strawberry vinaigrette
- Chop the stem of 1 cup of strawberries (150-160 grams) and then transfer them to a blender along with rest of the ingredients- 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon maple syrup, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. If the strawberries aren't sweet enough, you can add more of the maple syrup. You can even add sugar if you like.Blend until everything is well combined. Set this aside. This will make around 1 cup of vinaigrette.
Salad
- To make the salad, add 10 oz baby spinach leaves to a big bowl. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons of the prepared vinaigrette. You may add more or less but you don't want too much of the dressing (serve more on the side) but enough to make the leaves moist.
- Mix well using a spoon and fork. Then add the 2 cups chopped strawberries, sliced onions, 1/4 cup sliced almonds and 1/4 cup cranberries. Mix until everything is well combined and all components of the salad are coated with the dressing.
- Top with 3 oz of fresh goat cheese and serve the salad with more of the strawberry vinaigrette on the side.
Notes
- You can use a mix of spinach and arugula here. You can use any mix of green here, I often use bag of “spring mix” that I get from Trader Joe’s.
- This spinach strawberry vinaigrette isn’t very sweet but you can always make it sweeter by adding more maple syrup. You can also add 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar to make this sweeter.
- Do not add too much of the dressing, everything would be moist but not drenched with the dressing. Serve extra dressing on the side so that one can use as much dressing as they like while eating the salad.
- You can increase the amount of goat cheese if you prefer.
- To make this vegan, just skip the goat cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great recipe. Loved to make it. About 14 guests, loved it too.
awesome!