Simple, super tasty Strawberry Spinach Salad made with soft, deep green spinach, ripe juicy strawberries & buttery avocado all finished off with a fresh strawberry vinaigrette and some optional creamy, salty crumbles of vegan feta cheese or toasted nuts.
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This healthy Strawberry Spinach Salad is the only salad you need to see you through spring and summer.
It's refreshingly delicious, with rewarding little bites of strawberry and soft buttery avocado. The optional addition of some creamy, salty vegan feta cheese, toasted or candied nuts takes it right over the top!
Let's Make Strawberry Spinach Salad
Here's a quick visual walkthrough of how it's done. For the full printable version see the recipe card:
1 - Blend up the strawberry vinaigrette.
2 - Toss the spinach in a little of the dressing, then layer it up in a bowl with the avocado and strawberries. If you've made this recipe before you might notice that this direction has changed since originally published. I've learned after making it repeatedly over the years that it is way better layered than tossed. The strawberries and avocado stay perfectly intact and they don't all slide to the bottom of the bowl.
3 - Drizzle over some more dressing and a few sprinkles of optional vegan feta cheese or nuts.
If you don't buy already washed spinach, I really recommend the use of a salad spinner to get the spinach leaves as dry as possible after washing. This will help keep the leaves fresher and in better condition until they are dressed and avoid accidentally diluting the salad dressing.
Variations
Here are some tips for extra mix ins and substitutions that work well:
- Baby spinach works incredibly well with the other flavours and it's soft texture goes really well with the juicy strawberries but you could use any other greens if you need to. Butter lettuce would probably make the best sub or use half arugula and half spinach for a peppery twist.
- Add vegan croutons, nuts (walnuts, pecans) or seeds (pumpkin or sunflower) for some extra texture and crunch.
- Bulk it up with some cooked grains like farro, wild rice or quinoa.
- Add some poppyseeds to the dressing for some extra "nuttiness" and texture.
Recipe
Strawberry Spinach Salad
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
For the vinaigrette
- 1 heaping cup (140 grams) fresh strawberries
- ½ cup (120 ml) water
- ¼ cup (60 ml) balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) unsweetened applesauce or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or sugar
For the salad
- 8 oz (227 grams) baby spinach leaves , washed & dried
- 16 oz (1lb / 454 grams) fresh strawberries , washed & dried
- 2 medium ripe avocados , peeled & sliced
OPTIONAL
- vegan feta cheese
- toasted nuts or seeds
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Make the dressing - Blend the vinaigrette ingredients together until smooth. I recommend leaving the maple syrup/sugar out until the end. If your strawberries are super sweet you might not need it. Blend, taste, then add as required and blend again.
- Make the salad - Toss the spinach leaves in about ¼ cup (60ml) of vinaigrette.
- Layer the salad - Layer up the dressed leaves with the avocado and strawberries. The recipe originally said to toss it together, but after making it repeatedly for years, I now recommend layering over tossing because it keeps the strawberries and avocado intact and stops them from sinking to the bottom.
- Drizzle with more vinaigrette.
- Scatter over the optional nuts and feta cheese before serving.
NOTES
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Diane says
Delicious! Will definitely make again. Salad was top notch and the oil free dressing just took it over the top. ?
A Virtual Vegan says
So pleased you enjoyed it Diane!
Alison Cover says
This was SO good. Thank you!
Melanie McDonald says
Glad you enjoyed it Alison!