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Pasta Chicken

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango and Avocado

Published: May 23, 2018 | 19 Comments

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Bring Summer to your table by making this Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango, Avocado, Blueberries, and Cashew Nuts, tossed with a simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette.   This recipe makes a great Summer meal – perfect for lunches, picnics, grilled meats, and anything outdoors! This salad has become a new favorite in my family, and we make it all the time at home.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango, Avocado, Blueberries, and Cashew Nuts, tossed with a simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette

Ingredients you need for Strawberry Spinach Salad

This salad is healthy, gluten free, packed with fiber, nutrients, and vitamins.  And, it’s easy to make.  In fact, this colorful Summer salad uses only 6 ingredients:

baby spinach, chopped
sliced fresh strawberries
chopped avocado
blueberries
sliced mango
cashews

Baby spinach or regular spinach?

For salads I recommend using baby spinach. Baby spinach has more delicate leaves than regular, mature spinach, and is more suitable for salads.  Mature spinach is better suited for cooking and sautéing as in this delicious recipe: cooked spinach with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and lemon rind.  I also use mature spinach in many of my pasta recipes, such as in this asiago chicken pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango, Avocado, Blueberries, and Cashew Nuts, tossed with a simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette

Homemade balsamic vinaigrette

Make this easy balsamic vinaigrette by combining together 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon mustard powder, and 1 teaspoon onion powder in a medium size bowl and whisking until well-emulsified.  Make sure to season your salad dressing with garlic salt or garlic powder, as well as with salt and pepper.

I like the dressing on the sweeter side, which for me means 4 tablespoons of brown sugar in this recipe, but feel free to make it less or more sweet (by adding/subtracting the amount of brown sugar), depending on how you like it!

What does it mean to emulsify? Emulsifying means to thoroughly combine olive oil with the balsamic vinegar until you can see the small drops of oil and balsamic vinegar evenly interspersed throughout the salad dressing.  You do that by vigorously whisking the dressing ingredients in a medium bowl, or by shaking them in a closed container, such as a glass jar.  After all this intensive whisking and/or shaking, your salad dressing should have a nice, smooth, even texture.

What other salad dressings go well with strawberry spinach salad?

Strawberry spinach salad always goes well with vinaigrette type of salad dressing, not the creamy type. One of the best salad dressing with this kind of salad would be this delicious maple balsamic dressing.  For even more Summer vibe, add fresh basil to your dressing.  Yes, basil.  Strawberries and fresh basil are amazing together!  Such as in this Basil Vinaigrette Recipe .   And if you want a very Summer, very strawberry dressing and have more time on you hands, do make this sophisticated Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango, Avocado, Blueberries, and Cashew Nuts, tossed with a simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette

Nuts to include in salads

I am a big fan of nuts. Nuts add earthy flavor, a nice crunch, and beautiful texture to any salad.  My favorite nuts to use in salads include: pecans, slivered almonds, cashews, walnuts, pine nuts. I recommend toasting the nuts right before adding them to the salad, as it really changes the flavor of the nut for the better. Tip: when adding nuts to the salad, use half of them whole, but grind the other half into smaller bits, which will add more texture, and it also makes the salad prettier. Also, don’t forget about seeds!  Seeds work great in salads, too, especially pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, both toasted.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango, Avocado, Blueberries, and Cashew Nuts, tossed with a simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette

How to make strawberry spinach salad

  • First of all, use baby spinach. I like to chop up the spinach leaves or tear them, so that the salad has the look of a “chopped” salad. Add sliced strawberries, diced avocado, blueberries, and sliced mango. Adding avocado brings creaminess, while mango adds lusciousness to this beautiful salad.
  • Brown sugar is essential in this balsamic vinaigrette dressing – when combined with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, it’s what makes this dressing so flavorful and tasty. The mustard powder provides just the right amount of “kick”. A little bit of onion powder and garlic powder (or garlic salt) creates even more flavor!
  • Do not add the dressing to the salad until serving time, otherwise the spinach will wilt quickly. Add the dressing right before you’re ready to serve the salad! Also, add just enough dressing to coat the leaves – don’t pour all of the dressing into the salad at once (it could be too much for your taste) – you don’t have to use all of the dressing – let your taste be your guide.
  • Finally top the salad with the cashew nuts (use my advice to chop up half of the cashews into smaller bites for more texture).

This salad is colorful and refreshing like summer itself, and the dressing is super delicious!

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango, Avocado, Blueberries, and Cashew Nuts, tossed with a simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette

More Strawberry Spinach Salad recipes

When it’s Summer, I love combining spinach and fresh strawberries in a salad, using all sorts of other ingredients.  So here are my suggestions.  One of my most favorite salads of all times is a Strawberry Spinach Salad with Bacon, Feta, and Toasted Almonds – this salad has bacon, so enough said!  If you like quinoa, you will be pleasantly surprised how well quinoa goes with spinach and strawberries and a balsamic salad dressing in this Quinoa salad with spinach, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, mandarin oranges.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango, Avocado, Blueberries, and Cashew Nuts, with balsamic vinaigrette
Print
Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango and Avocado
Prep Time
20 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 

This Strawberry Spinach Salad features Mango, Avocado, Blueberries, and Cashew Nuts ,tossed with a simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette.   A great side for picnics, grilled meats, and anything outdoors!  

Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 350 kcal
Author: Julia
Ingredients
Homemade balsamic vinaigrette:
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • garlic salt or garlic powder, to taste
  • salt and pepper , to taste
Strawberry spinach salad:
  • 10 oz baby spinach fresh (about 10 cups of torn leaves)
  • 4 cups strawberries , cleaned and hulled, freshly sliced
  • 1 avocado , chopped
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1 mango , sliced
  • 1/4 cup cashews
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, combine the dressing ingredients, and whisk together well. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can serve the dressing immediately or you can cover it and chill for an hour.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients, except the cashew nuts. Add the dressing to the salad and toss. Sprinkle cashew nuts on top of the salad.
Nutrition Facts
Strawberry Spinach Salad with Mango and Avocado
Amount Per Serving
Calories 350 Calories from Fat 225
% Daily Value*
Fat 25g38%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Sodium 46mg2%
Potassium 702mg20%
Carbohydrates 29g10%
Fiber 6g25%
Sugar 19g21%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 4800IU96%
Vitamin C 85.5mg104%
Calcium 79mg8%
Iron 2.6mg14%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe was originally published on June 12, 2014, and republished with updates, cooking tips in May 2018.

Filed Under: Avocado, Blueberry, Fruit, Gluten Free, Mango, Nuts, Recipe, Salads, Spinach, Strawberries, Vegetables, Vegetarian Published: May 23, 2018 19 Comments

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Maria

    Aug 03, 2014 at 3:52 pm

    I just made this salad and it was a hit with my whole family, even my 3 year old 🙂 it’s so tasty! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Julia

      Aug 05, 2014 at 2:56 pm

      Maria, thank you! I am so glad you liked the salad! I love it too! So much freshness and flavor!

      Reply
  2. zerrin

    Jun 14, 2014 at 4:11 pm

    Wow! What a healthy salad that has a fantastic look! I can feel the freshness of the salad even from the screen of my laptop. Pinning!

    Reply
  3. Cindy @ Pick Fresh Foods

    Jun 13, 2014 at 12:10 pm

    This is so my kind of salad Julia! It looks beautiful and is full of bright fresh flavors. Your balsamic sounds delicious too. Pinning

    Reply
  4. Matt @ Runner Savvy

    Jun 12, 2014 at 8:03 pm

    Looks delicious!

    Reply
  5. Liz

    Jun 12, 2014 at 5:48 pm

    Whoa, this colorful salad looks amazing! So many of my favorite ingredients…I’d be happy to skip the entree, and make this my dinner!

    Reply
  6. Beth

    Jun 12, 2014 at 5:47 pm

    I love the sound of that dressing – and I can’t imagine a more beautiful salad! What a great summertime meal.

    Reply
  7. ela@GrayApron

    Jun 12, 2014 at 11:54 am

    …you know, I haven’t put strawberries in a salad yet. I have a feeling I will…soon. Your salad looks beautiful!

    ela h.

    Reply
  8. Shashi @ RunninSrilankan(dot)com

    Jun 12, 2014 at 6:25 am

    Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous photos! I too love the colors and flavor and texture combination in this sweet and savory salad! Wait – did I tell you this salad is gorgeous?! 🙂

    Reply
  9. Angie (@angiesrecipess)

    Jun 12, 2014 at 4:14 am

    So fresh and beautiful…the colour just makes me happy!

    Reply
  10. Kevin | keviniscooking

    Jun 12, 2014 at 12:41 am

    This looks amazing and is on my list to make for sure. I love mixing avocados with fruit in a salad and this combination looks great. Beautiful photos as well.

    Reply
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