Strawberry Spinach Salad with Roasted Strawberry Dressing

This strawberry spinach salad with roasted strawberry dressing is fresh and vibrant.

A salad that screams summer! Sweet strawberries, baby spinach, crisp red onion, and a whole lot of other goodies. It's finished off with a creamy roasted strawberry dressing.

When it's hot outside and you don't feel like cooking, salads are the perfect solution. This strawberry spinach salad with roasted strawberry dressing is making the most of juicy and delicious summer strawberries.

The salad is using strawberries in two ways - fresh and roasted. Fresh goes directly in the salad for pops of juicy sweetness. Some are roasted for the creamy roasted strawberry dressing which ties it all together.

Jump to:

• The ingredients
• Step by step instructions
• Serving and storing
• Additions and substitutions
• Related recipes
• Full Recipe

The ingredients

The salad

In the salad, you've got

• Strawberries - Fresh, red, vibrant and juicy
• Red onion - Crisp with a little kick of spice. Reduce the spice by soaking them in water while you prepare the rest of the salad. This takes way some of the red onion bite.
• Spinach - The base of the salad and the nutricious green vessel to carry all the salad goodies.
• Feta - Salty, crumbly feta cheese.
• Pumpkin seeds - these add a buttery crunch
• Herbs - Both basil and mint are needed. They compliment the salad and the strawberries very well. Herbs and strawberries are excellent together.

The dressing

In the dressing there are

• Strawberries. This time they're roasted which brings out their flavour and natural sweetness.
• Olive oil
• Apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar
• Maple syrup or honey
• Dijon mustard
• Salt

A stick blender (immersion blender) brings this together to make a super creamy dressing.

The salad is super quick to throw together but the roasted strawberries need time to cool before being mixed with the other dressing ingredients.

This makes about 200ml of dressing so there will be dressing left over for future salads.

Step by step instructions

The dressing

Preheat the oven to 200°C/392°F. Hull and slice up the strawberries for the dressing. Lay them on a lightly greased or lined baking tray.

Bake for around 15 minutes until juicy and starting to caramelise. Let them cool down completely.

Add the cooled strawberries to a jar and add in the rest of the dressing ingredients. Blend it together using a stick blender until creamy. Taste and add more salt or sweetness as needed.

The salad

Finely slice the red onion and add to a bowl. Top with fresh water and let the onion sit in the water for 15-20 minutes.

Chop the strawberries into chunks, finely shred the mint and the basil.

In a large salad bowl add the spinach and top with the strawberries, herbs, and pumpkin seeds. Crumble over the feta.

Drain the sliced onion and add it to the salad. Drizzle over 4-5 tablespoons of the dressing.

Toss everything together to coat.

Serving and storing

The salad can be made ahead of time. It's best made ahead without the dressing and stored covered in the fridge until ready to serve. Toss with the dressing at the time of serving.

Leftover salad will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Leftover dressing can be stored in a jar in the fridge for up to a week.

Additions and substitutions

• The pumpkin seeds can be swapped for other seeds or nuts of your choice. Try walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds or cashew nuts.
• If you don't want to make the roasted strawberry dressing, you can use another dressing like this herbed green dressing, or a simple balsamic reduction.
• Spinach can be substituted for other salad greens.
• Other berries go great in salad too! Try blueberries or raspberries!

Have you made this? Tag me and let me know!

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