This 15-minute peach spinach salad features juicy blackberries, toasted pecans, creamy feta, and simple homemade balsamic glaze, making it an ideal summer lunch, side dish, or appetizer for a crowd or a family meal. Perfect for summer picnics, potlucks, and other festivities, you can use fresh peaches in the summer or canned/frozen ones year-round. For an extra touch, try grilling the peaches!
Peach Spinach Salad
Spinach salads, no doubt, are my favorite, and I have lots of those on my site. When summer arrives, I love adding fruit to my salads to brighten them up (as in these 2 summer salads: apricot spinach salad and plum spinach salad). This vibrant peach salad has become one of my go-to recipes this year to showcase the best of fresh summer produce in every bite! It's ideal for getting more leafy greens into your regular meals. I used baby spinach, but this salad is also delicious with a spinach/arugula mix or with butter lettuce. The balsamic drizzle is made from scratch by cooking down Balsamic vinegar + honey until syrupy consistency. You can make it as thick or as thin as you like. You can also use store-bought Balsamic glaze or your favorite store-bought Balsamic dressing (more details on that below). This healthy and fresh peach spinach salad is a definite crowd-pleaser for summer potlucks, picnics, cookouts, and parties. Serve it as a refreshing lunch or a side dish to pair with any dinner. The combination of fruit on salads is so good, and this dish showcases that beautifully.
Main ingredients
This summer peach salad is packed with so many healthy ingredients and the freshest summer produce! Here is the overview of the ingredients, you can ball-park the amounts, or scroll down to the recipe card below to see the exact ingredients amounts and the concise recipe.
- Peaches. It's best to use fresh yellow peaches. White peaches can also be used but they won't look as pretty. I prefer to buy peaches that are somewhat firm in texture - not rock solid, but also not too soft.
- Blackberries are highly nutritious and low in calories, and very tasty!
- Baby spinach is a leafy green vegetable high in fiber and is a great source of many vitamins and minerals, including Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium. You can also use spinach/arugula mix or butter lettuce.
- Pecans. Toasted pecans add texture and crunch. These delicious nuts are also packed with healthy fats, and protein, and are a good source of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Toast them in the oven at 350 F for 7 or 10 minutes to freshen them up and add crunch.
- Feta cheese is quite nutritious, as well, and is a great source of calcium. This delicious cheese has a soft texture and briny flavor - perfect for fruit-based salads to balance out the sweetness of the fruit.
Balsamic glaze for the peach salad
- Homemade balsamic glaze. I combined 1 cup of balsamic vinegar + ¼ cup of honey and cooked it down until the mixture reduced by about half. Consistency should be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon but should not be overly thick. You can make the glaze as thick or as thin as you like - it would still be very delicious regardless of thickness.
Alternative salad dressing options
- Honey-Mustard Lemon Dressing. Combine extra virgin olive oil, honey, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and Dijon mustard in a small mason jar, and whisk with a fork to emulsify. The exact amounts for this dressing can be found in my apple spinach salad recipe.
- Use store-bought balsamic glaze. You can purchase it in the grocery store or on Amazon.
- Use store-bought balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing. This type of dressing usually combines olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and other ingredients and will be an easy option for the peach spinach salad!
- Use a high-quality aged balsamic vinegar made in Italy. High-quality aged balsamic vinegar is less acidic than regular balsamic and has a thick, syrupy consistency. It's perfect for use as a salad dressing straight from the bottle (no need to cook it down!), and only a small amount is needed. It's usually labeled as Aceto Balsamico I.G.P. or Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale D.O.P. It's pricey but so worth it as you don't need much.
How to choose the best fresh peaches
- Choose a firm texture. Buy peaches that are crisp, plump, and firm (or slightly soft) to the touch, with unwrinkled skin.
- Avoid overripe peaches that are easily indented when touched or the ones that have cuts or wrinkled skin.
Variations and substitutions
- Leafy greens: spinach, arugula, mixed greens, garden greens, and butter lettuce.
- Use other stone fruits, such as nectarines, apricots, mangoes, and plums instead of or in addition to yellow peaches. All should be pitted, of course.
- Berries. You can use fresh raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or strawberries.
- Nuts: I recommend pecans, walnuts, cashews, pine nuts, or almonds. If using raw nuts, toast them briefly in the oven to make them crunchy. You can also use roasted nuts or candied nuts.
- Add seeds, such as toasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds to make this peach salad nut-free.
- Dried fruit options include dried cranberries (Craisins), dried figs, blueberries, or cherries.
- Cheese: I recommend using goat cheese, feta, or gorgonzola.
Add protein
Add your favorite protein to turn this summer peach spinach salad into a well-balanced, complete meal. Easy ideas are leftover cooked chicken, rotisserie chicken, grilled steak, shrimp, salmon, or scallops. You don't even need to fire up a grill, try these stove-top recipes:
- Blackened Shrimp
- Best Pan-Seared Chicken Thighs (Skinless, Boneless)
- Honey-Garlic Glazed Salmon
- Add cooked bacon or crispy prosciutto. Crispy up the prosciutto in the preheated oven at 350 F for about 5 or 10 minutes.
Storage Tips
- It's best to serve the peach spinach salad right away, so I recommend making just enough so that you have no leftovers.
- If you do have leftovers, refrigerate them for 2 days. It's best to refrigerate the salad and the dressing separately, if possible.
Other summer spinach salads
- Strawberry Spinach Salad with Balsamic Glaze
- Apple Spinach Salad with Honey-Mustard Lemon Dressing
- Caramelized Pear and Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese
- Berry Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Blackberries, Pecans, Feta, and Balsamic Glaze
- Blood Orange Green Salad
Summer Peach Spinach Salad with Balsamic Glaze
Ingredients
Balsamic glaze
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup honey or brown sugar
Salad Ingredients
- 5 oz spinach
- 2 medium yellow peaches sliced
- 6 oz blackberries
- 1 cup pecans toasted
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
Salad Dressing - Balsamic Glaze
- You can make this step up to 2 days in advance. Or, purchase store-bought glaze.
- In a small saucepan, heat balsamic vinegar and honey over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and reduces by about half (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and pour the balsamic glaze into a heat-proof bowl to cool off. The glaze will get thicker as it cools off. Consistency should be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon but should not be overly thick. Use the glaze once it's completely cool.
Salad assembly
- My preferred method is to arrange salad ingredients in individual salad bowls. Add baby spinach to individual salad bowls. Top with sliced peaches, blackberries, toasted pecans (some whole, some chopped), and crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle each salad bowl with balsamic glaze.
- Alternatively, use a large mixing bowl to combine baby spinach, sliced peaches, blackberries, toasted pecans (some whole, some chopped), and crumbled feta cheese. Toss to combine. Distribute into individual salad bowls and drizzle with the balsamic glaze.
Notes
- Use store-bought balsamic glaze. You can purchase it in the grocery store or on Amazon.
- Make your balsamic glaze. Make the balsamic glaze by cooking down 1 cup of balsamic vinegar and ¼ cup of brown sugar until the mixture reduces by about half and acquires a thick and syrupy consistency.
- Use store-bought balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing. This type of dressing usually combines olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and other ingredients and will work perfectly in a peach salad!
- Make your balsamic vinaigrette by combining ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil, ¼ cup of high-quality balsamic vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of honey. Whisk to emulsify. You should not use the whole dressing, use just enough to drizzle the salad.
- Use a high-quality aged balsamic vinegar made in Italy (labeled as Aceto Balsamico I.G.P. or labeled Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale D.O.P.).
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I just posted a comment and used my full name. If possible, please use just my first name. I didn’t notice how the other reviewers identified themselves. Apologies….
Deborah, I fixed that on both of your comments. 🙂