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This Spinach Salad is the one dish that is requested at more of our family dinners than any other salad. The secret is in the dressing!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
Today’s salad recipe is my niece Emily’s signature dish. At Thanksgiving when Emily asked me what I wanted her to make for dinner my reply, without hesitation, her spinach salad. It wouldn’t be a Wilkes family gathering without Emily’s salad.
The combination of flavors, taste and textures makes it perfect.
The secret to this recipe and any spinach salad is the dressing! This dressing has amazing flavor thanks to the addition of red onion.
Salad Ingredients
- Spinach. I prefer to use baby spinach
- Romaine lettuce
- Bacon
- Mushrooms
- Swiss cheese
- Strawberries
Easy Spinach Salad Dressing Ingredients
- Canola or Olive Oil
- White Vinegar
- Sugar. Can also use honey instead
- Red Onion
- Yellow Wet Mustard. Substitute with Dijon Mustard if you prefer.
- Poppy Seeds
How to Make Spinach Salad Dressing
- Place all the ingredients in a jar and shake it all up or whisk together.
- Refrigerate for several hours to let the flavors combine and meld together. The flavor of the red onion just infuses throughout, it is so good!
How to Make a Simple Spinach Salad
- Combine spinach, lettuce, mushrooms cooked bacon and strawberries in a large bowl. I like to remove the stems from the spinach leaves.
- Toss with salad dressing.
- Add grated Swiss cheese on top.
Additional Salad Add ins:
- Candied pecans, almonds, walnuts or any nuts you like
- Dried Cranberries
- Goat Cheese
- Feta Cheese
- Diced or shredded chicken
- Avocado
- Sunflower Seeds
Frequently Asked Questions
How long will salad dressing keep?
This dressing will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. I store mine in a mason jar with a lid.
How far ahead can I dress spinach salad?
It is best to dress this salad right before serving as spinach will wilt after dressing is added.
Can You Prep Spinach Salad ahead of time?
You can prepare the various components of this salad ahead of time but I recommend assembling it right before serving..
You can toast or sugar your nuts, slice the mushrooms, make the dressing, slice the strawberries, fry the bacon and grate the cheese ahead of time. Just store the perishable items in the fridge with the dressing in a separate container.
When it’s time to enjoy, all you have to do is toss the salad ingredients together with the dressing and enjoy!
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Spinach Salad
Ingredients
- 20 ounces Spinach
- 1-2 heads Romaine Lettuce
- 3/4 cup Mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 pound Bacon pieces
- 3/4 pound Swiss Cheese grated
- 2 cups Strawberries sliced
Dressing:
- 1/3 cup White Vinegar
- 1/2 red onion sliced
- 1/3 cup Sugar
- 1/2 cup Canola Oil or olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1-2 tsp yellow wet mustard
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
Instructions
- Combine dressing ingredients in a jar and shake or mix well.
- Refrigerate for two hours or longer.
- Mix all salad ingredients together and top with dressing.
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Nutrition Facts:
Originally shared January 19, 2012
kelly says
i make your spinach strawberry salad all the time. everyone loves the almonds with sugar but i’ll have to try this one!
Denise says
About how many servings would this salad make? about? I just recently found you–had a wonderful ‘brunch’ at 2sons? and it was so good, we’ll go back ! Thanks.
Tamara says
Love this salad. Thanks for sharing!
jessica says
Looks wonderful…! Going to get some red onions today!
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes, going to “Pin” this one now. đŸ™‚
Michelle says
This looks soooooo yummy. Just a few questions – are you using regular ol’ white vinegar or is it white wine vinegar. Secondly, what type of oil are you using? I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Leigh Anne says
I used just regular old white vinegar but you could definitely use white wine vinegar if you had it. I used canola oil.
Michelle says
Hi Leigh Anne,
Just wanted to let you know that I tried this recipe using the white wine vinegar and it was fantastic. This salad was to die for and I will definitely be making this again. It’s such a nice change from our standard salad. Thanks for the great recipe!