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Healthy is anything but dull when there’s a giant Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing waiting for lunch. It’s colorful, naturally sweet, and as wonderful as it gets.
How to make Strawberry Spinach Salad:
First you have to make the dressing. Decisions, decisions!
Poppyseed dressing is slightly sweet, red wine vinegar based, and wonderful. A little bit of mustard powder adds just enough contrast to the sugar in the dressing. But Easy Balsamic Vinaigrette is sugar-free and a fabulous option, too. No matter which one you pick, it’s going to be a great salad.
To assemble the salad, combine the spinach and greens with sliced strawberries and toasted pecans. Drizzle the dressing over everything and gently toss until evenly distributed.
How to make easy homemade Poppyseed Dressing:
It’s a flick of the whisk or a shake of the jar away.
Mix together the vegetable oil, red wine vinegar, dried mustard, poppyseeds, sugar, and salt. Keep the dressing out at room temperature to let the flavors mingle while preparing the salad. (You can make it up to 4 days in advance.)
How to make Easiest Balsamic Vinaigrette:
Strawberries and balsamic dressing are so good together, you’ll love this poppyseed dressing alternative. (But you can definitely add poppyseeds to the dressing for the best of both worlds.) You can make it up to 4 days in advance.
Whisk together:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 4 teaspoons dijon mustard
- salt, to taste
Natural ways to sweeten poppyseed dressing:
Even if you’re watching your sugar intake, you can still enjoy poppyseed dressing by experimenting with a natural sweetener, such as:
- Honey
- Maple syrup
- Pineapple juice
- Monk fruit
Can you make Strawberry Spinach Salad ahead of time?
The beauty of this salad is that you can gather all your ingredients together, throw them in a bowl, carry it to your location—office, party, luncheon—and dress it on the spot. Poppyseed dressing benefits from being at room temperature for a few minutes, anyways.
The dressing can be made a few days in advance, so if you’re busy doing other things, you have the salad 99% made if the dressing is done.
Amazing additions or substitutions to Strawberry Spinach Salad:
Great salads like this one are endlessly adaptable. Try one or two and write about it in the comments.
- Grilled chicken slices or leftover rotisserie chicken
- Crumbled feta cheese or creamy goat cheese
- Candied almonds, walnuts, or pecans
- Toasted walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds
- Bite-sized pineapple chunks
- Canned mandarin orange segments
- Fresh raspberries or blueberries
- Raspberry vinaigrette
- Blue cheese crumbles
- Thin slices of red onion or pickled shallots
- Sunflower seeds
- Your favorite bottled red wine vinaigrette (the secret is safe with us)
- Dried cranberries or cherries
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Strawberry Spinach Salad
Ingredients
For the poppy seed dressing:
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil or light olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar or less to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried mustard
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- Salt to taste
For the salad:
- 3 tablespoons butter (optional but recommended, see notes)
- 1 cup pecans
- 16 ounces baby spinach (see notes)
- 16 ounces strawberries quartered or sliced
Instructions
To make the poppy seed dressing:
- In a small bowl with a whisk, or in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, add the vegetable oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, dried mustard, poppy seeds, and salt to taste (I like 1 teaspoon). Stir or shake to combine. Allow the flavors to blend at room temperature while preparing the salad.
To assemble the salad:
- Add butter to a small skillet over medium-high heat until the foaming subsides. Add pecans and sauté until toasted and fragrant, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove promptly to avoid scorching and drain on paper towels. Cool 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, add spinach, strawberries, and pecans. Add salad dressing and toss until evenly coated.
Recipe Video
Notes
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 4 teaspoons dijon mustard
- Salt to taste
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I’m assuming you use the butter to sauté the pecans?
Hi Dawn, yes! Thank you so much for pointing that out. I’ve updated the wording. Sorry about that! – Meggan
Love this salad!
So easy to make!! Added honey to the dressing. Not as sweet as I like and will add more. Did not use all, saving and taking some to my parents tomorrow! Great recipe!!!!