Strawberry Fields Spinach Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
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Perfect for an Easter holiday table or weeknight meal, this colorful spinach salad packs a flavor punch with every bite! Spinach, strawberries, bacon, feta, red onion, and more are topped with a mild, lemony, sweet dressing that’s sure to please all ages.
Disclaimer: This post is created in partnership with Burgers’ Smokehouse.
The Perfect Strawberry Spinach Salad
We created this Strawberry Fields Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette to be the perfect spinach salad for your Easter brunch table, but it’s versatile enough to work anytime! The vibrant colors of strawberries, spinach, and red onions and the bright golden dressing make this salad part of the lively table decorations. Thanks to the delicious Burgers’ Smokehouse Bacon, every bite is a salty-tangy-sweet combo.
Our Favorite Bacon
The Burgers’ Smokehouse Uncured Bacon (or any of their bacon!) takes this salad to the major leagues. This family-owned mid-Missouri business uses their age-old family recipe to cure bacon with a mixture of salt, brown sugar and pepper, then slow-smoke it over natural wood chips…never adding any water. Because who wants to cook water with their bacon?
The Uncured Country Bacon is unique in that they use their traditional dry cured recipe without the added Sodium Nitrite. So, this bacon includes no MSG, gluten, preservatives, or added nitrate or nitrite. I find it in the Health Food section at our local Hy-Vee stores. Or you can order it online here.
The result of their method: perhaps the most flavorful bacon that I’ve ever had. Don’t buy Burgers’ Bacon if you want to be a little disappointed with all other bacon in the future. Consider yourself warned. 😉
About the 3 Ingredient Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing
While I love talking about bacon, let’s chat about this golden goodness in the form of dressing, shall we?
The Lemon Vinaigrette for this spinach salad only requires THREE main ingredients! This simple, elegant dressing provides a little extra sweetness (thanks to the honey) and tartness (thanks to the lemon juice and zest) to balance out the saltiness of the bacon and bite of the red onion. It’s a mild, lighter dressing that anyone will like and complements, rather than masks, the flavors of the different ingredients in the salad.
Bonus: You can throw this beautiful Strawberry Fields Spinach Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette together in just minutes. Serve it at your next holiday meal or gathering, and you and your guests may be singing “Strawberry Fields forever!”
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Strawberry Spinach Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
This colorful spring-inspired salad packs a flavor punch with every bite! Spinach, strawberries, bacon, feta, red onion, and more are topped with a mild, lemony, sweet dressing that’s sure to please all ages.
Ingredients
For the Vinaigrette:
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about juice of 3 large lemons)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin olive oil
For the Salad:
- 8 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
- 1/2 pound Burgers’ Smokehouse Uncured Bacon, cooked and chopped (find this at Hy-Vee and other local grocery stores)
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted*
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
- 4 ounces crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese
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Instructions
- Make the Vinaigrette: Add all the ingredients to a mason jar with lid. Seal tightly and shake until combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your preference. This dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- Assemble the Salad: On a serving platter, add the spinach. Top with the bacon, toasted almonds, red onion, strawberries, and cheese.
- Shake up the dressing and serve alongside the salad.
Notes/Tips
*To Toast the Almonds: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the almonds on a rimmed sheet pan. Bake for about 4 minutes. Give them a shake, and bake another 3-5 minutes until they begin to smell toasted and are starting to turn golden. Keep a close eye on them, so they don’t burn! Remove from the oven and immediately transfer to a plate or parchment paper to cool.
This was so simple & amazing! I had no almonds, so I used pepitas & as well as blueberry chèvre! Definitely a keeper!
★★★★★
Yum! Love your swap-out ideas!