20-Minute Strawberry Spinach Salad & Balsamic Dressing

Jul 7, 2020 (Last updated Feb 2, 2026) by Hannah Sunderani

Today I am sharing a sweet, delicious, and refreshing summer salad. This quick and easy strawberry spinach salad features toasted almonds, sliced cucumbers and an easy balsamic vinaigrette dressing! It’s an amazing fresh and wholesome summer salad recipe, or side salad. For best results, dress the spinach salad minutes before serving.

This is such a great summer recipe, that everyone will love – vegan or not. Best of all, it’s a 20-minute recipe for an easy and nourishing side salad at your summer bbq’s and gatherings.

Now that I’ve finished the manuscript of The Two Spoons Cookbook, I’ve been having a lot of fun this summer playing with different seasonal greens for making salad (thanks to my organic farm-share box I’ve subscribed to). And I’ll say, salads are getting much more interesting and creative.

I’ve made this salad multiple times now, including over the weekend while we were at the cottage with family. It was a huge hit with our mixed crew of eaters.

All-in-all, it’s a very simple, flavourful, and non-intimidating salad with simple whole food ingredients. So you can rest assured it will please a crowd of vegan skeptics and easy enough for beginner cooks. 

Now, let me tell you exactly how to make this recipe. So you can enjoy it pronto!

The Ingredients:

The ingredients for this salad are simple and straightforward. You will need:

• Strawberries: Freshly sliced strawberries work beautifully in this recipe. If they’re local and seasonal, even better! They’re bursting with juicy flavour.
• Baby Spinach: Boxed baby spinach from the grocery store works great in this recipe! You can also use mixed greens – I recipe tested it with this and it was delish.
• Slivered almonds: Toasted slivered almonds add delicious nutiness, crunch and texture to this recipe. Toasted hazelnuts are also delicious as an alternative.
• Red onion: Thinly sliced, adds tanginess and bite to this recipe. If you find red onion too strong you could try shallots instead.

Strawberry Spinach Salad: Tips & Notes

How to stop the salad from getting soggy:

The best tip for ensuring a fresh salad is to drizzle it with the salad dressing just before serving. Especially when using a tender green like spinach.

When it comes to greens, spinach is more on the tender side, and so it’s best to dress just before serving to ensure it stays fresh and not wilted. Another option is to serve the strawberry spinach salad dressing on the side, and have people add as much or little of the dressing as they like.

But personally, I like to be control of the final output, dressing the salad myself, to ensure the leaves are well coated and everything is combined, but not overdressed. 

How long does this recipe keep?

Once the salad is tossed with the vinaigrette, it’s best to enjoy immediately as over time the spinach will wilt.

However, you if want to prepare in advance then you could prepare the salad in advance and keep the balsamic dressing on the side. The salad will keep in the fridge in an air-tight container for one day. Add the toasted almonds and dressing just before serving.

So there we have it, an easy and simple strawberry spinach salad recipe with a flavourful and easy balsamic vinaigrette dressing. It’s a lush and easy salad made to please a crowd. I think you’re going to love it!

And, if you do make this recipe please let me know in the comments below what you think! I love hearing from you. And of course, tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #twospoons. Nothing makes me happier than to see your recreations.

• Spring