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Wooden salad bowl with fresh spinach, sliced strawberries, sliced red onions, feta cheese, chopped pecans and poppy seed dressing.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing

Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Poppy Seed Dressing:

  • ½ cup avocado oil, olive oil, or vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (or a combination)
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Salad:

  • 5- or 6-ounce package fresh baby spinach (about 6 to 8 cups)
  • 16 ounces strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 2 to 3 cups)
  • ½ to ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese (see note)
  • ½ cup toasted chopped pecans, sliced almonds, or candied nuts (see note)
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion (see note)

Instructions 

  • For the dressing, in a blender, combine the oil, vinegar, honey, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, and salt. Blend until well-combined. Stir in the poppy seeds. Set aside or refrigerate until serving.
  • For the salad, place half the spinach in a salad bowl. Layer with half the strawberries, feta, pecans and red onion.
  • Layer with the rest of the spinach and strawberries. Sprinkle the remaining feta cheese, pecans and red onions over the top.
  • Drizzle with dressing, to taste (you may not want or need to add it all to start). Give a very light toss. Don't go over board tossing the salad or the ingredients will fall to the bottom below the spinach. Add additional dressing, if needed, or serve the remaining dressing alongside.
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

Feta Cheese: If possible, buy a block of feta cheese and crumble it from the block for the salad. Block feta cheese is creamier than pre-crumbled feta. Goat cheese or blue cheese can be subbed for the feta.
Nuts: This salad is delicious with a variety of different nuts, like sliced or slivered almonds or chopped pecans. It is also tasty with candied nuts (like the ones from this recipe, lightly chopped). 
Red Onion: To take the pungent bite out of the onions, slice them and soak them in ice water for 10 minutes. Pat dry before tossing in the salad.