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Pasta Chicken

Simple Spinach Salad

Published: Mar 12, 2019 | 8 Comments

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Simple Spinach Salad with Pine Nuts, Parmesan Cheese and easy homemade salad dressing.  Ready in 15 minutes!  This healthy spinach salad is a great addition to your family weeknight dinners.

simple spinach salad with pine nuts and shaved parmesan cheese

If you want to add something healthy and easy to your weekly dinners, you HAVE to make this simple spinach salad.  It goes perfectly with pasta, such as chicken pasta or shrimp pasta.  It’s also a great side dish for seafood dinners.  For example, serve it alongside trout recipe or with pesto shrimp.

This salad takes only 15 minutes to make. Toss fresh baby spinach with the simple dressing made with olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice and coarsely ground black pepper.   Dress it up with toasted pine nuts and shaved Parmesan cheese.

Made with baby spinach, this is the best spinach salad to prepare on a busy weeknight!  The salad itself has only 3 ingredients, and the homemade salad dressing requires only 4 (olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and cracked black pepper!).   You can also use your favorite salad dressing or a store-bought dressing.

If you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen, quick and easy spinach salad is what you need!

Substitutions

  • What is a good substitute for spinach?  Arugula has a mustard-like yet soft flavor and is a great substitute for spinach.
  • What can you replace pine nuts with?  If you don’t want to use pine nuts, use toasted slivered almonds or sliced almonds.  You can also use toasted pumpkin seeds.
  • What cheese can you use instead of Parmesan?  You can replace Parmesan with Pecorino Romano or Asiago cheese.  You can also use goat cheese or feta cheese.
  • Salad dressing.  Use a simple dressing made with olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Or, use any store-bought salad dressing of your choice.

Toppings for simple spinach salad

Add simple toppings to your salad to make it a little bit more sophisticated.  Here are some suggestions:

  • Vegetables.  Top spinach salad with sliced avocado, cherry tomatoes, or diced cucumber.
  • Berries.  Sliced strawberries go really well in salads.  You can also use blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries.
  • Fruit.  Add sliced apple, pear, mango, or grapes to your spinach salad.
  • Dried fruit.  Top spinach salad with raisins, dried cranberries, cherries, or blueberries.
  • Nuts.  Add pine nuts, slivered almonds, pecans to your spinach salad.  Make sure to lightly toast nuts in the preheated oven.  Nuts taste better and have a better, crunchier texture after light toasting.
  • Condiments.   Capers, sun-dried tomatoes, or olives are all great toppings on salads.
  • Cheese.  Add shaved Parmesan, Pecorino Romano or Asiago.  You can also use feta, goat cheese, or Gorgonzola cheese.
  • Other toppings.  Add diced cooked bacon, chopped eggs, or grilled chicken.

simple spinach salad with pine nuts and parmesan cheese

How to make a spinach salad

  1. First, combine baby spinach leaves in a large bowl.
  2. Then, add your favorite salad dressing.  Toss to combine.
  3. Next, top the salad with toasted pine nuts and shaved Parmesan cheese.
  4. Finally, sprinkle coarsely ground black pepper over the salad.

How to toast pine nuts

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Spread the pine nuts in one layer over the parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
  3. Roast for 5 minutes.
  4. Note: pine nuts get burned really quickly.  Watch them closely and remove them promptly from the oven.

Spinach salad dressing

This recipe features the best salad dressing for spinach salad.  Why?  Because it is so simple and it requires basic ingredients found in any pantry.  You only need 4 ingredients: olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt, and coarsely ground black pepper.

Combine all dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk until emulsified.

Other spinach salad recipes

  • Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango and Avocado
  • Apple Cranberry Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
  • Chopped Salad with Spinach, Apples, Gorgonzola Cheese
5 from 5 votes
simple spinach salad
Print
Simple Spinach Salad
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
5 mins
Total Time
15 mins
 

Easy Spinach Salad with Pine Nuts and Parmesan and a homemade dressing made with olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and black pepper.  Ready in 15 minutes!  The best salad for a family weeknight dinner.

Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 203 kcal
Author: Julia
Ingredients
Dressing
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Spinach Salad
  • 6 oz spinach fresh
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts toasted
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese shaved
Instructions
Dressing
  1. Add dressing ingredients to a medium bowl.  Whisk to emulsify.

Spinach Salad
  1. Add spinach to a large bowl.

  2. Toss with the salad dressing.

  3. Top with toasted pine nuts and shaved Parmesan cheese.  Season with extra black pepper, if desired.

Nutrition Facts
Simple Spinach Salad
Amount Per Serving
Calories 203 Calories from Fat 171
% Daily Value*
Fat 19g29%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Cholesterol 4mg1%
Sodium 206mg9%
Potassium 304mg9%
Carbohydrates 3g1%
Fiber 1g4%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin A 4035IU81%
Vitamin C 13.4mg16%
Calcium 116mg12%
Iron 1.9mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Filed Under: Gluten Free, Healthy, Nuts, Pine nuts, Recipe, Salads, Spinach, Vegetables Published: Mar 12, 2019 8 Comments

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kari Mason

    Oct 07, 2020 at 8:24 pm

    This salad is absolutely delicious!I make lots of salads and this is my new favorite!

    Reply
  2. Hellen

    Jun 16, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    My favorite salad. Simple and fast. I wash spinach, arugula, and lettuce in bulk, once a week with a vinegar solution to kill bacteria ( https://lazyplant.com/misc/wash-vegetables ). I also use sesame seeds and walnuts. I tried pine nuts. Loved it…

    Reply
  3. Vivian

    Feb 15, 2020 at 1:12 pm

    I made this today. Very easy, tasty and healthy. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Julia

      Feb 19, 2020 at 5:13 pm

      You are very welcome! Glad you liked the salad!

      Reply
  4. Debra Z.

    Dec 20, 2019 at 6:21 pm

    Exactly what I was looking for! I googled “simple spinach salad” and found this. Perfect with my red sauce and gnocchi.

    Reply
    • Julia

      Feb 20, 2020 at 5:28 pm

      So glad you found this recipe useful! Thank you for your comment!

      Reply
  5. Great salad

    Jul 28, 2019 at 2:05 pm

    I served it with marinated chicken. Used roasted sunflower seeds instead.

    Reply
    • Julia

      Sep 28, 2019 at 9:57 pm

      Glad you liked it!

      Reply

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