This fresh strawberry and spinach salad is tossed with a sweet poppy seed dressing.
Another winning recipe! Thanks to previous reviewers, I cut the oil by half (next time maybe even a little bit more), added 1/4 cup chopped red onions and 1/4 cup sliced almonds. Sweet but not too sweet and is very appropriate for this summertime weather! Presentation is beautiful and tastes even better. We all enjoyed, including my daughter, who is 5yrs old. Thanks Mona for posting this!
Read MoreI did not like this very much. I think the dressing was a bit much.
Read MoreAnother winning recipe! Thanks to previous reviewers, I cut the oil by half (next time maybe even a little bit more), added 1/4 cup chopped red onions and 1/4 cup sliced almonds. Sweet but not too sweet and is very appropriate for this summertime weather! Presentation is beautiful and tastes even better. We all enjoyed, including my daughter, who is 5yrs old. Thanks Mona for posting this!
This salad is wonderful. Everyone (even spinach salad haters) go GAGA over it. The sweet, tangy dressing is heavenly when combined with the strawberries and spinach. This salad is always a crowd favorite, and it's always requested at potlucks and dinners. I always add a few strawberries to the dressing and let it sit in the fridge to cool for an hour or so before serving. The dressing ends up a beautiful pink color and the strawberries really dress it up! It's a nice way to bring back summer if you can find strawberries out of season in your grocery store, and goes well with just about any meal you could possibly think of.
I helped cook for a wedding this past summer, and the couple wanted a spinach salad with poppy seed dressing. This was a HUGE hit, and I had people calling me the next week for the recipe (even established cooks!). I was asked to make this salad for another wedding a couple months later. This is absolutely wonderful, I like the strawberries, but it is equally great with canned drained mandarin oranges.
Used mixed field greens with Blue cheese, red onions and toasted sliced almonds in a pan, then added sugar and let them cool for on top. Used 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 reg. oil.Balsamic vinegar also. Had to make it 2 nights in a row. My family agreed it is the best salad EVER!!! Thanks!
Great taste but definitely reduce oil by 1/2 and use olive oil instead of vegetable. Also know that this is not a salad that keeps if you mix it with the dressing as the next day the strawberries taste terrible since they've marinated.
Another winning recipe! Thanks to previous reviewers, I cut the oil by half (next time maybe even a little bit more), added 1/4 cup chopped red onions and 1/4 cup sliced almonds. Sweet but not too sweet and is very appropriate for this summertime weather! Presentation is beautiful and tastes even better. We all enjoyed, including my daughter, who is 5yrs old. Thanks Mona for posting this!
This was nice and simple. We really enjoyed this salad. The dressing is very nice and light. It isn't overpowering. I added 2 strawberries to the blender when I mixed the dressing. Thanks for the recipe.
Very good. I used less oil and will use less vinegar the next time but very good. Topped my salad with the Kraft crumbles of feta, provolone, and parmesan cheeses. Also added Dawn's Candied walnuts from this site. Thank you!!
I always take this to get togethers and barbecues, and EVERYONE asks for the recipe! I usually only use half the oil and sugar, and I add two strawberries to the blender as well. Thanks for sharing!
Love this recipe. So did my hubby. My changes: I changed/cut the vegetable oil to 1/2 cup olive oil and cut the the sugar to 1/4 cup. I added four small strawberries to the dressing and used an immersion blender to blend the dressing. I added 1/2 cup toasted, sliced almonds and a small red onion, thinly sliced, to the salad. I topped it with cubed feta cheese. What can I say? It was perfect! Even hubby liked it, and he usually will not eat fruit that is in something other than a dessert.
What a hit, it was the best salad going at a recent baby shower! I didn't even get to eat any! Made it as the recipe stated. YUM! I got to lick the bowl! Thanks
This was absolutely fabulous. just added some slivered almonds and dried cranberries. The dressing was awesome, I added 3 strawberries to it though. Great, great.
When we make this we also add two diced avocado. It is absolutely delicious with the avocado!
AMAZING! Best salad ever! I added slivered almonds and bleu cheese :). Thanks for posting!!
Really easy, really delicious. The better the white wine vinegar you choose, the better the dressing. I've made it with champagne white wine vinegar, which was great.
Delicious!! I added warmed chicken & heated up the dressing on low heat before I added it to the completed salad---it really made it fabulous.
I love this salad! I added the chopped red onion, slivered almonds and dried cranberries. I also used 1/3 cup vinegar (white wine with real white wine) to 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil.
I also added 2 or 3 strawberries to the dressing mix, and I didnt have any poppy seeds so I used a tsp of celery seed. I have also played with toppings, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds. YUMMY
This was really good. I made the dressing by the recipe and changed up the salad. I added toasted almonds, red onion slivers, roasted chicken and blue cheese crumbles. I love, love, LOVE this salad. Mango and avacado sounds yummy also. Thanks for such a versatile recipe.
I was skeptical about a salad with strawberries, but i'm thrilled i gave this a try. It does make a ton of dressing, i will half the amount next time, and it quickly seperates, so mix and pour fast. I also added some sliced almonds to the mix. Will def make again! Refreshing and lovely summer/spring salad.
This has been a go to recipe for me for years. I can't believe I haven't rated it before this. So easy. So pretty. and what a hit.
Easy and delicious! As with many other reviews this amount of dressing is way too much for a serving of 4; but it will keep so make a big batch! I used olive oil and sesame seeds instead of poppy. Added toasted slivered almonds as well. Don't add dressing untill just before serving. Family raved, will make many times I'm sure. (The photo shows sliced almonds and something that looks like ?mango)..neither are listed as ingredients.
The dressing on this is really good, and is perfect with fruit and lettuce. Made a meal out of it by adding chicken and almonds.
Very good! Fresh, tart, and sweet. I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil to be healthier. Next time, I'm going to try balsamic instead of white vinegar. We ate it tonight as a side dish with burgers. On a 95 degree night, it was a welcome addition to the meal! Oh, and don't be stupid and decide to use Splenda. It's fairly healthy the way it is, no need to risk your health with close to a pound of aspartame.
Great summer salad. It makes a ton of dressing so I cut the recipie in half but so good!!
This is such a delicious and nutritious salad! I provided a link to this recipe in my article, entitled Healthy Foods for a Vegetarian Diet.
This is one of my favorite go-to recipes when I need something light, quick, simple, and inexpensive...it is always a hit! I do substitute Splenda for the sugar. I've also tried using the Toffee Glazed Almond Accents and the Honey Roasted Almond Accents in place of plain almonds, which adds a nice touch as well.
this was really good, I added more strawberries than recipe called for because I really like them
This was a big hit at our home!!! Instead of poppy seeds we added sliced almonds!!! Delicious!!!!
Good stuff! Pretty simple and very tasty! I added blanched sliced almonds to mine just for a more diverse flavor. Thanks!
This was delightful..my daughter in law served the salad at a baby shower and everyone enjoyed it.
Excellent! So fresh and tasty, not to mention it's a breeze to make. The idea to blend a berry into the dressing was great as was the suggestion to top with candied almond slivers. Just delicious! Thanks.
This has been a family favorite for YEARS at our house! We make the dressing with Splenda and have in the winter used frozen blueberries! We also usually put some chopped toasted almonds in it, pecans are good too! Hard to mess this up! :-)
Salad was wonderful. Like other reviewers, we cut the sugar to l/2 cup but would cut it to l/8 cup next time. We used white balsamic vinegar and took it to an Easter brunch. It had rave reviews. Definitely a keeper!
This salad was excellent, I served it at a BBQ and there weren't any left overs! Added some red onions and gorgonzola cheese.
Love this recipe and so do all who've tried it. I add coarsely chopped roasted almonds, slivers of red onion and freshly ground black pepper to the spinach and strawberries. The dressing is wonderful. I use only 1/4 c. vinegar, less than 1/2 c. oil and add a strawberry or two for color and flavor. I find the dressing is even better if made the day before. Oh, and if you have an egg slicer, use it for slicing the strawberries; it's fast and easy. Thank you for such a wonderful, happy recipe :)
I used this for a Father's day BBQ. Got great reviews, especially on the dressing. I cut down on the oil, but added some low fat mayonnaise, which gave it a nice creamy texture!
Very tasty! I reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup and blended some strawberries in to make up sweetness.
This was pretty good. I left out the seeds and added in some thinly sliced white onion. Also I used baby spinach. Next time I'll use red onion and I think I'll add some crumbled cheese, like blue or feta.
Absolutely AMAZING!! I used Olive Oil instead of Vegetable Oil and it was still a great dressing! And I added feta cheese and slivered almonds to mine as well and that was a wonderful touch!
sooooo good, I also halved the oil and added blue cheese and sliverd almonds, unless I am making this for more than 4 i will 1/2 this next time! thanks for a great fast salad!!!
Very good recipe. After getting the salad ready I realized that I did not have white wine vinegar so I used what I did have-red wine vinegar and it was wonderful! I also sub canola oil; next time will use a little less oil. I also added some aliced almonds as some others suggested. Will definitely make again.
This is just like the salads you buy in restaurants! Very yummy! I left out poppy seeds as I did not have them, and added a little onion powder to the dressing--I noticed other recipes had onion and so I threw it in--turned out great. We will definitely have this again and again!
I have a recipe very similar to this one except it calls for balsamic vinegar which is delicious with strawberries. Also, waaay too much oil! (Got to go - Eli Stone is coming on. Love that guy!
Made this last night, and it was really different and fresh kind of dressing. My 20 month old daughter and husband loved it. Will make it again. Although I had to do with the ingredients I had home. Instead of the sugar, I added 4 very ripe strawberries into the blended mix, and only added 1/2 tsp of sugar (next time will do without it). I didn't have white wine vinegar, so I used the juice of one lime. Also I used 1/4 tsp salt. Finally, I used 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil. for crunch I used cashews, and for more omega 3 added a whole avocado (cut into cubes). This salad tasted fresh, healthy and delish! Thanks Mona for posting!
I served this salad at our monthly Bunko tournament, and everyone loved it! I gave 10 copies of the recipe out to my friends. It was a big hit.
Great simple elegant recipe. Used ideas from below - and had a perfect salad to serve for New Years Day brunch. Used: 1 bag baby spinach, 12 large strawberries, slice, 1/8 cup white sugar, 1 pinch salt 1/3 cup white wine vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil - also added 1 strawberries to dressing - helped sweeten it (with only using 1/8 a cup of sugar) and made very elegant, and 1 tablespoon poppy seeds. Will make again and again. Thanks!
Spinach AND Strawberries in one dish. Who could ask for anything more. The dressing is terrific, too!
This surpassed my expectations!! My skeptical husband had seconds, and our dinner guests declared it a winner. Based on the advice of other reviewers, I only used a half cup of oil, and this was plenty - the dressing was great. I was pleasantly surprised when the juices from the sliced strawberries blended with the dressing to make a sort of strawberry vinigrette... delightful!
Yum! I used 2T sugar, balsamic vinegar & 1/2 C olive oil (instead of veggie)...as per reviews. Fabulous!
Delicious and easy. I make this quite often now with a couple of changes though - I use half white wine vinegar and half raspberry vinegar (very yummy!) and I throw a couple of strawberries in the blender with the other dressing ingredients and I add toasted slivered almonds to the salad.
I took this to work and all 17 people remarked that it was really great. There were other dishes left over from the potluck, but none of my salad :-)
Very good and easy to make -- my only complaint is that I think it call for too much oil -- the oil weighs down the spinach and takes away from the flavor... Enjoy!
This salad is fantastic. I took the advice of others and reduced the amount of dressing to about 1/3 and there was still leftover dressing. I added two strawberry's to the dressing as advised and it was so delicious. I also added toasted sliced almonds, feta cheese, and red onion to the salad. This salad is so fantastic I will be serving it once a week from now on.
I like this recipe and have had several successes with it. I substitute Balsamic for the white vinegar and cute back on the sugar. I add to the salad thinly sliced red onion and toasted nuts (I've tried pecans and almonds, both were good). I use olive oil not vegetable.
I made this for my husband's Christmas party and it was a huge hit! I did make a few changes. I used less than 1/2 c. olive oil instead of the vegetable oil, used a little less sugar than the recipe called for, and added about 1/4 c. toasted, sliced almonds. I also added a couple of strawberries to the blender to make the dressing a nice pink shade. It was so pretty and the red strawberries and green spinach were a great, festive color! Yummy!
The dressing was way too sweet. I threw the original out and made new dressing with 1/2 as much sugar. It was delicious. I also added feta and toasted pecans to the salad. Will have again soon as the local strawberries are unbelievably good.
MMM MMM GOOD!
Even though I made this fantastic salad for my hubby for Valentines Day (which he loved!) It really makes a terrific summer salad! And the dressing is Great!!! My hats off to you Mona!!! Its definitely a keeper!! thanks!
This was a very simple recipe to make and it tastes great. It would be easy to add ingredients to the salad but it is great as is. I used red wine vinegar since I was out of white wine vinegar and I halved the oil. It still made plenty of dressing.
This is a great salad, especially since it's strawberry season! SO EASY and delicious! Served at babies' birthday party, and everyone loved it! Toss the salad with the dressing right before serving, otherwise your spinach will wilt badly!
Fabulous flavor and beautiful color! I did add red onion and some blueberries as per other's suggestions. One afternoon, I made a large serving for my daughter and I to share. She sat at the table, and I went to finish cooking. When I came back, she had eaten the whole salad, right out of the serving bowl! It's THAT good! Thanks for posting this. :-)
Really good. The dressing was sweet and a little tangy but too oily and could do with half the oil called for. At least that is how I'm fixing it next time to see if that makes it better. I had to use raspberry white wine vinegar as it's what I had. Wonderful salad. I sprinkled with some sliced toasted almonds.
I did not like this very much. I think the dressing was a bit much.
Excellent salad. I add some of the strawberries to the dressing and blend them in. In addition...add carmalized pecans to the salad makes a great texture contrast.
I made this for our Memorial Day picnic. I chose this recipe because of all the postive feedback and I'm so happy I did. I thought it was a fun and different salad. Will certainly make again. OH, I did cut down on the oil too, after reading the feedbacks I decided to use 1/2 a cup - I measured out a whole cup and I thought it looked like too much oil, so a scaled back.
I followed the recipe exactly, the only thing I added was 3 or 4 strawberries into the blender to make the dressing a lovely pink colour. It needed a few drops extra of white wine vinegar, and probably less poppy seeds. And I also added lots of crumbled feta cheese, which really completed it. It was a hit! To make for 15 people, use the measurements for 5 servings, and you'll have leftovers.
This is soooo good. Every one loves this and is alawys asking for the recipe. I cut the oil in half.
Very delicious, though I did add a little more fruits to the recipe. Since summer is all about fun colors I added grapes, cantaloupe, blueberries and toasted almonds.
Everybody in my family loved this. Had it at a family get together and everyone wanted the recipe. Will be making this again soon.
This is my favorite salad!!! I used only 1/2 the dressing that the recipe makes and added slivered almonds and feta cheese for more "punch". It tastes great!
The entire family loved this salad--unfortunately I could not find poppy seeds anywhere (I think I'll try the bagel place next time) so we had to do without those, but we managed :)The strawberries, and dressing were a hit together! definetely a keeper!
Very good, very easy. Does make a lot of dressing. I only had red wine vinegar and I thought it tasted fine. I also halved my sugar and added two strawberries to the blended dressing.
Wonderful. Used 1/2 cup oil in place of the whole cup and added 1/3 cup diced purple onion and toasted almonds. Made the dressing (just stirred with a fork), several hours before serving and sprinkled the poppy seeds over the salad greens just before adding the dressing. So good. Thanks for sharing.
Cut the oil down to 1/2 Cup! The dressing is fantastic, although I suggest adding toasted pecans and thin sliced red onion to the salad.
I've made this about a hundred times, and it's always a crowd pleaser. Simple, yet delicious. And, it goes great with almost anything!
My husband and I loved this, even though I forgot to add the salt. He's picky about dressing, and said, "It's great! It's not overwhelming, not underwhelming. It's just the perfect amount of whelm!" I used half olive oil, half vegetable oil, probably 3/4 cup total, and only 1/3 cup sugar. Everything else in the recipe's amounts.
This was superior! My grandkids ate spinach this way. I did however cut the oil in half I felt we did not need a cup. Refreshing! Thanks to Mona for sharing. Definitely will do this one over many times.
I took the advise of other reviewers and cut the 1/2 cup sugar to about 1/3 cup, and it was plenty sweet. I also would recommend reducing the poppy seeds to just 2 teaspoons. The full tablespoon of poppy made the dressing look very dark and unappetizing. I used canola oil. Very fresh and tasty salad. I hate cooked spinach, but fresh spinach is wonderful in a salad like this. Rave reviews from the ladies at my church. Good recipe!
I wanted to give this salad 3 stars, because there is something "off" that I cannot figure out yet, however the fact that it sort of got to me to start liking spinach makes it 4 star worthy. I did cut the oil by half, and the second time I tried it with toasted almonds and feta (which was really good). However, I do need to experiment with the dressing a little more. Definitely a good recipe worth trying, especially for anyone who does not like spinach!!!!
This was a huge hit with my family I add 2 strawberries to the dressing and I only used half the sugar and oil. The strawberries in the dressing really make it look elegant.
I made this and it was great. Very simple to make and goes with just about any type of food. I also tried it with apricots once, and once with peaches (replacing the strawberries) and it tasted just as (if not more) delicious.
With fresh strawberries appearing in the market, I was anxious to try this salad. I left out poppy seeds, cut back on the sugar and blended 2T of strawberry jam into the dressing. I sprinkled toasted slivered almonds and a bit of crumbled bleu cheese on top before serving. Heavenly salad. YUM! Thanks Mona.
This is such a refreshing, delicious and simple salad. I leave out the poppy seeds (just because I don't like them), and I'm always asked for the recipe.
I made this recipe for a baby shower and everyone just loved it. I added grilled chicken to it also. It was awesome
This was excellent! I made "Dawn's Candied Walnuts" from this site, and sprinkled them on top, and it made the salad that much better. Highly recommended!
I could not get my husband to go near this but I loved it. I did not have poppy seeds though. YUM!!
This is a great recipe! Very easy and tasty. As other raters have said it does turn out very sweet when you use the full amount of sugar...I happen to like it that way, but others might want to reduce. I added crumbled feta and slivered almonds for a delicious summer salad.
This is delicious! Make sure you pour the dressing right before you serve. It gets soggy if you don't. I put the dressing over spring salad and it tasted great! Cut the oil in half.
This was good, my mother in law was very excited to see that I was serving a salad with poppy seed dressing. I especially liked that the dressing was not too vinegary.
Oh my gosh---this is one of my favorite spring salad recipes now! I do sub extra light olive oil for the vegetable oil, and add sliced almonds and some shredded parmesan cheese to the salad. I often forget the poppy seeds, but find that it is just as good without---no seeds in the teeth! Finally, I add a strawberry to the blender when making the dressing---adds a hint of berry flavor for when I use the leftover dressing on other salads. The dressing is way more than is needed, but I save it in a cruet in the fridge and enjoy it on other salads. Thanks for such a perfect recipe!
