Strawberry Spinach Salad with Selfmade Poppy Seed Dressing

This strawberry spinach salad is stuffed with yummy, recent elements and tossed with a creamy, candy, tangy poppy seed dressing. It’s lovely and scrumptious!

I’m so excited to share this salad with you! It’s an absolute showstopper of a salad and is ideal for a chic vacation meal or for a summer time BBQ or simply to devour on an everyday Tuesday evening. Make it as quickly as you may!

4 Causes to Love This Salad

1. This salad consists of 5 easy primary elements (not together with the dressing) – all the elements are straightforward to seek out at any grocery retailer!
2. The home made poppy seed dressing is to-die for and takes simply seconds to combine up. The creamy, tangy, frivolously candy flavors completely praise the recent salad elements.
3. Tossed collectively, this salad is a shocking accompaniment to any meal, occasion, get collectively, and even only a weeknight dinner.
4. The entire elements might be prepped forward of time making straightforward and quick work of assembling the salad collectively.

Critically, have you ever met a prettier salad?? 😍

Selfmade Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing

Let’s take a minute to honor the deliciousness of the home made poppy seed dressing. To get the flavors of this dressing excellent, I examined my recipe towards my favourite retailer purchased model (Brianna’s).

It took a number of variations, however this straightforward poppy seed dressing recipe is ideal and simply nearly as good, if not higher, than any retailer purchased dressing! It’s frivolously candy and splendidly tangy with simply the correct quantity of creaminess.

➡️ Mix all the dressing elements collectively after which STIR within the poppy seeds by hand. The home made poppy seed dressing might be made and refrigerated as much as every week upfront. Give it a fast stir or shake to recombine earlier than utilizing within the salad.

Salad Components Notes

• Spinach: You’ll want a 5- or 6-ounce package deal of recent child spinach for this salad.
• Strawberries: Hull the strawberries and slice to make use of within the salad.
• Feta cheese: If potential, purchase a block of feta cheese and crumble it from the block for the salad. Block feta cheese is creamier than pre-crumbled feta. Goat cheese or blue cheese might be subbed for the feta cheese.
• Pecans: I like utilizing toasted, chopped pecans on this strawberry spinach salad, however you can even use toasted sliced or slivered almonds. The salad can also be superb with candied sweet-spicy nuts (like those from this recipe, frivolously chopped). 
• Crimson onions: To take the pungent chunk out of the onions, slice them and soak them in ice water for 10 minutes. Pat dry earlier than tossing within the salad.

In the event you’re planning on leftovers, depart the dressing separate and add individually to every serving. The spinach will get wilty if tossed with the dressing and refrigerated to eat later.

A Few Extra Notes

• This strawberry spinach salad is scrumptious as a aspect dish. Or, serve it with grilled hen for an excellent tasty, primary dish meal.
• Whereas this salad is finest assembled proper earlier than serving in order that the spinach doesn’t get soggy, all the elements might be prepped and chopped upfront in order that assembling the salad is fast and straightforward.
• As you may see from the notes of the recipe and the small print above, there are lots of methods to customise this salad primarily based on what you favor, so have enjoyable with it and make it your individual.

An absolute showstopper of a salad, this strawberry spinach recipe is as tasty as it’s lovely. I’ve served it for a lot of vacation dinners, in addition to summer time potlucks, child or bridal showers, and buddy lunches, and everybody all the time oohs and aahs over how beautiful and yummy it’s.

And as a bonus, now you may have THE PERFECT poppy seed dressing that can be utilized on quite a few different salad recipes, not simply this one! Get pleasure from!

P.S. A few of you long-timers in all probability keep in mind that I’ve a really outdated model of this salad within the archives. I made a decision to not replace that recipe with all the modifications I made for this newer recipe, as a result of I do know a few of you just like the dressing in that older recipe. I’m leaving that recipe as-is for now, however I contemplate this recipe a vastly improved model.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Selfmade Poppy Seed Dressing

Yield: 6 to eight servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Whole Time: 30 minutes minutes

Poppy Seed Dressing:

• ½ cup avocado oil, olive oil, or vegetable oil
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (or a mixture)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Salad:

• 5- or 6-ounce package deal recent child spinach (about 6 to eight cups)
• 16 ounces strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 2 to three cups)
• ½ to ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese (see observe)
• ½ cup toasted chopped pecans, sliced almonds, or candied nuts (see observe)
• ¼ cup thinly sliced crimson onion (see observe)

Prepare dinner ModeStop your display screen from going darkish

• For the dressing, in a blender, mix the oil, vinegar, honey, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, and salt. Mix till well-combined. Stir within the poppy seeds. Put aside or refrigerate till serving.

• For the salad, place half the spinach in a salad bowl. Layer with half the strawberries, feta, pecans and crimson onion.

• Layer with the remainder of the spinach and strawberries. Sprinkle the remaining feta cheese, pecans and crimson onions excessive.

• Drizzle with dressing, to style (chances are you’ll not need or want so as to add all of it to begin). Give a really gentle toss. Do not go over board tossing the salad or the elements will fall to the underside beneath the spinach. Add further dressing, if wanted, or serve the remaining dressing alongside.

• Serve instantly.

Feta Cheese: If potential, purchase a block of feta cheese and crumble it from the block for the salad. Block feta cheese is creamier than pre-crumbled feta. Goat cheese or blue cheese might be subbed for the feta.
Nuts: This salad is scrumptious with quite a lot of totally different nuts, like sliced or slivered almonds or chopped pecans. It’s also tasty with candied nuts (like those from this recipe, frivolously chopped). 
Crimson Onion: To take the pungent chunk out of the onions, slice them and soak them in ice water for 10 minutes. Pat dry earlier than tossing within the salad.

Course: Salad, Facet Dish

Delicacies: American

Technique: No-Bake

Serving: 1 serving, Energy: 162kcal, Carbohydrates: 12g, Protein: 3g, Fats: 12g, Saturated Fats: 2g, Ldl cholesterol: 9mg, Sodium: 216mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 8g

Recipe Supply: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe