Strawberry Spinach Salad

My favorite crisp summer salad! Strawberry Spinach Salad is packed with sweet strawberries, crunchy walnuts, and tangy blue cheese. Top it off with the homemade raspberry vinaigrette for a crisp, sweet flavor explosion.

Inspired by strawberry season, I created a salad bursting with flavors reminiscent of my Tennessee childhood. We love salads during the summer al fresco like a Traditional Cobb Salad, Greek Salad, and Chopped Mediterranean Chickpea Salad. Strawberries and wild blackberries grew on the acres I used to roam.

Strawberries are a versatile spring/summer ingredient. Perfect for snacking, salad toppings or tossing into a summer pasta salad. They are rich in several essential vitamins. Did you know strawberries have a higher level of Vitamin C than oranges?

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Just look at all those beautiful toppings!

A few notes on exactly which ingredients make the best salad for this recipe:

Bleu Cheese: I use Roquefort blue cheese crumbles because they have the best tangy flavor. If Blue Cheese is a little too intense, you can substitute feta, goat cheese, or even cotija crumbles.

Greens – For the greens, I usually mix spinach in with a few spring greens. For a complementary color, you can add in some radicchio lettuce. It’s bright purple and has a little more crunchy texture than other lettuces.

Walnuts – use chopped walnuts or pecans if you prefer.

Raspberry Vinaigrette Ingredients and Notes

There is a recipe included for a homemade raspberry vinaigrette in the card below that is super simple to make! I recommend making extra to keep on hand or use as an excellent marinade on pork tenderloin and fish. Other dressings that go well with this salad would be a regular balsamic vinaigrette, poppy seed dressing, or a blush wine vinaigrette.

Below is a visual reference of the simple ingredients to make it:

Raspberries – You can use fresh or frozen raspberries. If frozen, thaw before. For fresh rinse before use. Fresh raspberries do dry out as they sit in the store, so if they are looking a little dry, use a ½ cup more (about 8 oz total).

Balsamic Vinegar – You can use regular or white balsamic. White balsamic is less syrupy and has a cleaner aftertaste. Regular balsamic is shown in the photos.

Light Oil – I use an extra light tasting olive oil, although it does still have a stronger flavor than canola or grapeseed oil, which are alternatives you could use.

How to Make Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

Step by step instructions with tips!

1. Completely thaw the raspberries if frozen or rinse fresh raspberries and puree in a blender or food processor.
2. Pour the puree in a cheesecloth. You can use a metal mesh strainer in a pinch. Just make sure the holes are small enough to prevent seeds straining through.
3. Close the cheesecloth and tie with a rubberband. Squeeze all of the juice out of the raspberries until you have about ¾ cup. If you don’t yield ¾ cup, add a little water and mix thoroughly with puree mixture and restrain the cheesecloth/puree.
4. In a bowl or mason jar, add the raspberry juice, balsamic vinegar, oil, honey, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.

*Tip– the vinaigrette can be a bit thin depending on your specific ingredients. If you would prefer a thicker dressing that grabs more onto the lettuce and salad, you can add up to 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Start with a teaspoon at a time. In a small bowl, mix equal parts cornstarch and dressing until the cornstarch is well mixed in a slurry. Then mix the slurry thoroughly into the rest of the dressing.

Toppings and Variations

Try some of these yummy alternatives to to make this salad recipe your own:

• Cheese: Swap out the bleu cheese for feta, goat cheese, or cotija.
• Nuts: Walnuts can be substituted for pecans, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, or pistachios.
• Sliced Fruit: Substitute or add oranges, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, or ripened berries.
• Protein: Add grilled chicken, steak, salmon, hardboiled eggs, shrimp, or chopped bacon.
• Onions: Sliced red onions or chopped green onions
• Grape Tomatoes
• Avocado Slices

Tips

• Raspberries tend to dry out in the store or refrigerator, so the amount of juice can vary. If the raspberries look a little dry or wilted, use a bit more.
• If you can’t get ¾ cup, *in a pinch* add a little water and mix through the cheesecloth/puree.
• The dressing can settle a bit in the refrigerator. Shake or whisk just before pouring.

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Strawberry Spinach Salad

Strawberry spinach salad recipe packed with strawberries, crunchy nuts, and tangy blue cheese, and raspberry vinaigrette for a crisp, sweet flavor explosion. Perfect as a refreshing lunch or summer dinner side salad on the back porch.

5 from 9 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Southern

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 4 large salads

Calories: 324kcal

Author: Rachel

Ingredients

Salad

• ▢ 10 oz Spinach mix I use a spinach spring mix
• ▢ 2 cups Chopped radicchio (OPTIONAL) For bright purple color
• ▢ 1 lb Strawberries
• ▢ 4 oz Danish Blue Cheese Crumbles
• ▢ 1 ½ cup Chopped Walnuts
• ▢ 1 cup Deseeded and sliced
• ▢ 1 cup Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

• ▢ 6 oz raspberries, fresh or frozen thaw if frozen, rinse if fresh
• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoon honey more to taste if you prefer or rasberries aren’t as ripe
• ▢ ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar regular or white balsamic vinegar is fine
• ▢ 2 tablespoon quality olive oil
• ▢ pinch Salt
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

• For dressing, rinse the raspberries. In a blender, puree the raspberries. Place in a cheesecloth and crush through the pulp to remove most of the seeds. If you do not have cheesecloth, you can use a mesh strainer. You should yield about ¾ cup of raspberry puree.
• Take the ¾ cup of strained pulp and mix with honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon, and salt. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to allow flavors to meld.
• Wash and spin salad greens. Wash and slice strawberries. Top greens with strawberries, cucumber slices, walnuts, and blue cheese crumbles.
• Serve raspberry vinaigrette dressing on the side.

Notes

Salad Dressing Tips

• Raspberries tend to dry out in the store or refrigerator, so the amount of juice can vary. If the raspberries look a little dry or wilted, use a bit more.

• If you can’t get ¾ cup, *in a pinch* add a little water and mix through the cheesecloth/puree.

For thinker dressing

Add up to 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, starting with a teaspoon at a time. In a small bowl, mix equal parts cornstarch and dressing until the cornstarch is well mixed in a slurry. Then mix the slurry thoroughly into the rest of the dressing.

Additional topping options and substitutes

1. Blue Cheese – substitute Feta or Goat Cheese.
2. Grape Tomatoes, Avocado, Apple Slices, or Red Onions make great additions if you would like to try them out.
3.  Radicchio – a bright purple lettuce, this is a great addition for both color and a crunchy lettuce texture.

Nutrition

Serving: 1salad | Calories: 324kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 3.4g | Fat: 18.4g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Potassium: 84mg | Sugar: 2.4g | Calcium: 650mg | Iron: 0.2mg

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