Summer Strawberry Salad
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Prepare to be transported to a warm summer day as you enjoy our Summer Strawberry Salad. Tangy feta cheese, toasted sliced almonds, sweet strawberries, fresh pineapple, and creamy avocado pair well with the sweet and tangy honey balsamic dressing.
About This Recipe
Looking for a fresh new salad recipe? One for a potluck? What about a salad for a dinner party where you’re not sure what everyone likes? This Strawberry Salad is an ideal choice. It’s easy, crowd-pleasing, and adaptable, too.
This light and fruity salad is bursting with color and flavor. Like other salads in our recipe index, our Summer Strawberry Salad is easy to throw together and packed with nutritional powerhouse ingredients.
Ingredients Needed
The beauty of a great salad recipe is that it can be customized to your preferences (or whatever you have in your fridge!). Here are a few of the key components in this specific recipe:
- Salad greens. We love the pre-rinsed, pre-packaged baby Romaine from the store, but you can chop up your own lettuce or use baby spinach as your base.
- Fruit. Strawberries are a must but feel free to play with other fruits that you have on hand or that are in season. You could also toss in blueberries, dried cranberries, or anything else sweet and juicy. If you have leftover strawberries, use them to make our Strawberry Shortcake Trifle!
- Avocado. Pick one that is perfectly ripe.
- Toasted almonds. The necessary crunchy element that every good salad needs. You could swap the almonds for chopped walnuts or pecans. Whatever nuts you choose, be absolutely sure to toast them first—it adds so much flavor and crunch.
- Feta. Creaminess is a necessity in a salad, and cheese was born for it. A great swap for feta would be goat cheese. Yuuuummm.
- The dressing. We recommend using Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette for this scrumptious salad. This slightly sweet, slightly tangy balsamic dressing is incredibly easy to make.
How to Make Summer Strawberry Salad
If you’ve never made salad with homemade dressing before, I’m about to blow your mind in 2 steps…
- Add all the dressing ingredients to a mason jar or small container with a lid. Seal and shake.
- Layer the salad ingredients in a bowl. Serve the dressing on the side.
This takes just minutes and it’s so gorgeous. Mind blown, right?
FAQs
It is naturally gluten free. To make it dairy free, omit the cheese.
Strawberries and avocado won’t last long after being sliced. I’d recommend prepping the salad a few hours at most before you need it.
We recommend using Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Summer Strawberry Salad
Ingredients
- 8 cups baby Romaine or salad greens (loosely packed)
- 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
- 1 cup pineapple (chopped in 1-inch pieces)
- 1/2 large Hass avocado (diced)
- 1/2 cup sliced toasted almonds (sub: toasted pecan halves*)
- 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese (sub: crumbled goat cheese)
- Honey Balsamic Dressing
Instructions
- On a serving platter, add the salad greens.
- Top with strawberries, fresh pineapple, avocado, toasted almonds, and cheese.
- Make the dressing using this recipe for Honey Balsamic Dressing.
- Shake up the dressing and serve alongside the salad.
Notes/Tips
- To toast the nuts: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the nuts on a rimmed sheet pan. Bake for 4 minutes and then shake the pan. Bake for another 3-5 minutes, until the nuts are just starting to turn golden and are fragrant. Watch closely so they don’t burn. Remove from the oven and immediately transfer the toasted nuts to a plate to cool. (If they stay on the hot sheet pan, they may get overcooked.)
- Feel free to play with the fruits in the salad. Blueberries or dried cranberries would be great additions.
- You can substitute the almonds for pecans or pine nuts.
I never thought of putting pineapple in a salad until this recipe. I love the combination of flavors and the dressing is so easy and yummy!