You’ll fall in love with this easy, flavourful spinach salad with fresh blueberries and strawberries dressed with a creamy balsamic vinaigrette. Who says healthy can’t be craveable?
It’s no secret I’m a salad girl, with a capital S. I’ve written 3 best-selling plant-based cookbooks, so I’ve definitely got opinions on what makes a good salad. It’s got to be flavourful – no boring salads here! It should be colourful. And have plenty of texture.
Salads aren’t an afterthought in my world…I like salads with main character energy (for not a lot of effort) like my restaurant-worthy chopped asparagus salad and this unbelievably good blueberry spinach salad. It’s tossed with fresh blueberries and strawberries, a little cucumber and mint freshness, just a bit of shallot for zip, and some crunchy pecans or almonds.
It’s the perfect summer salad when you’re wanting something nourishing and easy because it comes together in just 15 minutes, with 7 ingredients and the DRESSING!! If you haven’t tried it yet, my creamy balsamic vinaigrette is all-of-the-things: sweet, tart, savoury and utterly drinkable. So, exactly what a good salad dressing should be.
Before we get into though, there is something I need to get off my chest: baby spinach is FAR better when it’s chopped up. It’s a hot take, but I think that tearing or roughly chopping the leaves makes a far better spinach salad that you can actually fit on your fork.
Enjoy this as a side dish salad – it will serve 4 – or make it a meal for two with some grilled or baked tofu or roasted chickpeas for added protein.
Dietitian Tip: looking for a simple way to boost nutrition and support a healthy gut? Research suggests we should aim for 30 different plant foods a week to support our gut microbiome…all of it counts, from herbs and spices to vegetables, grains and seeds! It’s easier than you think: this blueberry spinach salad offers 7 different plant foods, even before you add the dressing!
How to make this epic spinach salad with blueberries
I know you’ll fall in love with this easy berry spinach salad…all you have to do is toss the ingredients in your serving bowl and dress right before serving! Yep, that’s it. No further instructions necessary!
And it’s easy to customize with whatever you have on hand. Swap in arugula for spinach, go all blueberries if you don’t have strawberries, try sunflower seeds to make it nut free. No rules….live your life!!
Gather your ingredients: you’ll need some baby spinach, strawberries, blueberries, shallot, cucumber, mint, pecans OR almonds…and a batch of my creamy balsamic vinaigrette.I highly recommend tearing or chopping your spinach so the leaves are easier to eat and cling to the dressing better.
Serving Instructions: I like to dress and toss the salad right before serving for the best texture. Or, you can simply serve the dressing on the side.
If you think you’ll have leftovers, leave the salad undressed and it keeps quite well for a couple of days because there are no delicate ingredients like raspberries or avocados. The creamy balsamic vinaigrette makes a LOT, and it keeps for ages so you can use it for a couple of weeks.
PS…scroll down to the bottom of the page for the full, detailed recipe!
Why this blueberry spinach salad is so, so good for you:
I have to admit that as a dietitian, I tend to eat a lot more salad with kale, arugula and spinach than lettuce because it’s such an easy swap to boost some serious nutrition (they’re more flavourful too!).
Spinach is a great source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds like beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. It’s got plenty of vitamins and minerals too, such as folate, magnesium, potassium, iron and calcium.
As a higher oxalate green, the minerals are less well absorbed…but the natural vitamin C from the berries helps with absorption! The berries also offer plenty of antioxidants to support skin health. Many plant-based compounds are better absorbed with a bit of healthy fat, and the olive oil in the vinaigrette is a perfect match.
On a low FODMAP diet? Ditch the shallot in the salad and garlic in the vinaigrette and this salad is fully low FODMAP….yay!
More yummy blueberry recipes
Blueberry and Kale Salad with Almonds
5 Min Blueberry Spinach Smoothie
Blueberry Pineapple Smoothie (Erewhon dupe!)
Quinoa Breakfast Porridge with Quick Blueberry Compote
Print
Spinach Salad with Fresh Blueberries and Strawberries
You’ll fall head over heels for this easy, flavourful spinach salad with fresh blueberries and strawberries dressed with a creamy balsamic vinaigrette. Who says healthy can’t be craveable? Makes a great side salad or main dish with added protein
4packed cupsbaby spinachtorn or roughly chopped (or your fave salad green!)
1cupblueberriesfresh or thawed from frozen
1cupstrawberriesdiced
1cupdiced cucumberabout ⅓ medium cucumber
¼cupalmonds or pecanschopped or whole
¼cupmint leavessliced or torn
¼shallotvery thinly sliced
Creamy Balsamic Dressing
Instructions
A little note on texture…I really love it A) when the spinach is torn into smaller pieces that fit easily on your fork and B) when the add ons are all roughly the same size as the blueberries, so dice the strawberries and cucumber smaller! But you do you…it will save you a few minutes if you don’t chop the spinach and keep the other stuff larger!
This salad is so so easy that it almost needs no instruction: just add the spinach, berries, nuts, shallot and mint to a large salad bowl and serve with dressing. You can either dress it right before serving or serve the salad with dressing on the side if you’re expecting leftovers (it keeps better that way!).
Notes
This salad makes 4 side dish servings or 2 main dish servings, paired with a protein like baked or grilled tofu, or roasted chickpeas!
Low FODMAP? Ditch the shallot in the salad and the garlic in the vinaigrette and this salad is fully low FODMAP in either the side dish or the main dish serving. Looking for more low FODMAP recipes? I’ve got some on the blog and in my book, Good For Your Gut.
The post Spinach Salad with Fresh Blueberries and Strawberries appeared first on Desiree Nielsen.
Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Health and Beauty News
Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!
