Spinach Strawberry Salad With Vinaigrette

Looking for a healthy lunch option? Try making this simple low-carb spinach strawberry salad with a homemade vinaigrette dressing! It's a light salad to enjoy on the side made with fresh greens, berries, and almonds.

Article Index

• Ingredients
• Quick tips
• Instructions
• ️ Serving suggestions
• FAQs
• Related recipes
• Recipe

When summer and spring come by, I always find myself craving some light, fresh salads to eat for lunch, especially if I can use seasonal fruits and veggies.

That's why I love this strawberry spinach salad recipe so much! It's the perfect salad to make when you don't feel like cooking. In fact, I like to think of it as a summertime salad.

Crispy spinach with fresh plump strawberries and sliced almonds... yum! Not to mention, the homemade vinaigrette with red wine vinegar. It's the perfect combo!

I almost didn't post this low-carb spinach strawberry salad because it's so easy. But, I decided to share it as others may love it as much as I do.

Ingredients

I love how this strawberry spinach salad uses such simple and fresh ingredients - and you will too!

Here's what you need:

Spinach

Always use fresh baby spinach leaves in salad. It has a naturally sweet taste that goes perfectly with strawberries.

Feel free to mix in other types of lettuce with it. I think the earthier arugula or crunchy iceberg lettuce will taste delicious.

Strawberries

Always count your macros when you add fruit to recipes. For example, a few strawberries are excellent sources of vitamin C and fiber, so they are really good for you. However, if you use a bunch of them, they will increase your carbs for the day.

Vinaigrette Dressing

I use red wine vinegar and avocado oil vinaigrette as the dressing for this low-carb strawberry spinach salad recipe. To offset the sour taste of the vinegar, I use vanilla-flavored stevia drops. Of course, you could use plain stevia, but the hint of vanilla is a nice complement to the strawberries.

Another option is to use my raspberry vinaigrette! It goes really well with this spinach salad.

Please note: Check out the recipe card at the bottom for a full list of ingredients used to make this low-carb recipe.

Quick tips

• Roughly chop the baby spinach before mixing it together with the strawberries. This will make it easier to eat.
• Only add vinaigrette to the amount of salad that you know you will eat. Salad with dressing won't save very well.
• Replace the strawberries with your favorite fruit. A few slices of apples or some pieces of mandarin orange would taste amazing with it, too, if you are not following a low-carb diet.

Instructions

This strawberry spinach salad is so easy to make that after you make it once, you'll have it memorized. All of the ingredients and steps are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Mix The Salad

The very first step is to mix the salad ingredients. Add everything to a mixing bowl and make sure it is well combined before adding the dressing.

You can either slice the strawberries or chop them into smaller pieces. I like to slice them because they look so beautiful on the bed of green spinach.

Make The Vinaigrette

Next, make the salad dressing. Mix and store it in a separate container so that you always have more to use. This vinaigrette dressing can double as a marinade for chicken or pork.

Add The Toppings

Finally, drizzle your salad with the dressing and add whatever toppings you want on top. Try to stick with lower-carb toppings since every new thing you add will increase the number of carbs.

️ Serving suggestions

Strawberry spinach salad is the perfect dish to eat for lunch or with a hearty dinner. In fact, if you add some shredded chicken on top, it becomes a filling lunch all by itself!

The sweet flavors in this salad make it pair with a savory main course. It will taste great with keto crockpot crack chicken. That recipe is salty with lots of cheese and bacon.

It will also taste perfect with garlic butter beef tenderloin. That recipe has parsley, rosemary, and scrumptious garlic butter!

FAQs

Here are some of the most popular questions we get about this strawberry spinach salad.

Are strawberries keto?

Just like with everything on the keto diet, it depends on how much of them you eat. A few strawberries are keto-friendly and can keep you within your macros.

I don't use many strawberries in the salad, but you could add extra for a sweeter salad. Since fruit has natural sugars, I try to limit the amount I eat. It's tough, though, in the summer - fresh summer berries are so good!

What can I use instead of almonds?

The sliced almonds give a nice crunch to this strawberry spinach salad. You could also use walnuts or pecans!

If you don't like them or are allergic to nuts, you could replace them with sunflower seeds.

What are some ways to customize the salad?

I kept this spinach strawberry salad somewhat plain. Feel free to customize it to your liking. The dressing can also be adjusted to taste - you may want to add more or less sweetener or adjust the salt.

Bacon bits would also be a nice add-on to the salad. I didn't have any bacon cooked, so I didn't bother thawing and cooking a package. We keep a good supply of sugar and nitrate-free bacon in our freezer.

How do you store leftover salad?

To keep the salad crisp, keep the dressing separate. I leave the dressing in a separate container and pour it on just before serving. You can also keep extra sliced strawberries and almonds on the side to top off each serving.

There you have it! This salad is so easy that you'll be sure to find ways to customize it and make it taste different. Or, just eat it like it is and enjoy a light and refreshing salad.

Related recipes

If you enjoyed this spinach strawberry salad, here are some more keto salads you should try next. They are just as light and easy.

• Broccoli Cranberry Salad tastes just as sweet and has a gorgeous presentation.
• Baby Kale Salad With Avocado And Parmesan is packed with iron, healthy fats, and even has protein.
• Tilapia Salad With Spinach And Creamy Avocado Dressing will fill you up and can be your entire lunch.
• Tuna Egg Salad is zesty because it's made with sour cream and topped with green onions.
• Easy Keto Coleslaw can be enjoyed all by itself or added on top of burgers.

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Recipe

First published on May 30, 2016. Post updated on June 15, 2021, with additional recipe information and clearer images.