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For years, I thought salads had to look a certain way—bland iceberg lettuce, salty croutons, and a thick, creamy dressing. I ate them… but I didn’t love them. That all changed when I realized how fresh, vibrant, and satisfying salads can actually be.
This strawberry mixed greens salad is one of my favorites. It’s all about the balance—crisp greens, sweet fruit, creamy avocado, and that bright strawberry basil vinaigrette that brings everything to life. This is the kind of salad you’ll actually crave. Enjoy!
Table of Contents
What is a Mixed Greens Salad?
A mixed green salad is a simple salad made with a variety of leafy greens—like spring mix, spinach, arugula, or lettuce—topped with fresh ingredients and a dressing. It’s known for being light, flexible, and easy to customize based on what you have on hand.
This recipe stands out because it’s more balanced and satisfying—with fruit, healthy fats, crunch, and a homemade strawberry basil dressing that adds fresh, vibrant flavor.
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How to Make Mixed Greens Salad
This mixed greens salad recipe is filled with these greens, plus tangy green apple, creamy avocado, and crunchy almonds. Seriously, this salad is the perfect meal when your sweet tooth comes calling and you’re trying to eat healthy.
1. Wash and dry greens
A recent study done by Consumer Reports says that we should all be washing any produce that comes into our cooking spaces, whether “pre-washed”, organic or otherwise. This is because even those mixed greens carefully washed by well meaning producers can still contain contaminants from E. coli, chemicals and more.
2. Chop apples, avocado and cucumber
I like to chop them all into bite-size pieces (the smaller, the better).
3. Make the Strawberry viniagarette
Combine dressing ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor and puree into the best dressing you’ve ever had with mixed greens.
4. prepare the plate
Add the mixed greens first, and then toppings to the plate. Drizzle dressing on top and enjoy!
Make-Ahead Tips
If you want this salad for work, prep it all in a mason jar. It’s seriously so easy! Simply layer the ingredients in the mason jar. Keep the strawberry dressing in a separate container until time to eat. When you’re ready to eat, pour the dressing on top, give the mason jar a good shake, and enjoy!
Strawberry Mixed Greens Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cup spring mix greens loosely packed
- 1 cucumber thinly sliced
- 1 green apple diced
- 1 avocado sliced
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
Dressing
- 1 cup strawberries diced
- 6 fresh basil fresh, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp pure maple syrup
- pinch sea salt, unrefined
- pinch black pepper, ground ground, to taste
Instructions
- Arrange salad ingredients on plates.
- Puree the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Drizzle some of the dressing over salad (you may not need all of it). Eat immediately.
Notes
- Swap mixed greens with the leafy greens of your choice.
- Oil-free? Omit the olive oil. It’ll still be delicious and less caloric.
- Lemon Vinaigrette would also be delicious on this recipe.
- Add the nuts or seeds of your choice for more healthy fats + protein.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review for a chance to win signed copies of my cookbooks!Common Questions
Yes! If you have a favorite dressing, feel free to swap out my Strawberry Vinaigrette. Yet I do encourage you to make it one time like this because it’s out-of-this-world delicious!
You sure can. You can swap it for any leafy green you prefer or have on hand. You might check out our Leafy Greens Guide for more inspiration.
In all my salads, I try and use some sorta nuts, seeds or protein to help me stay full. A salad is typically a meal for me, which means it needs a variety of fiber, healthy fats, protein and carbs to keep me full until the next meal.
The star of this salad is the incredible strawberry basil dressing. It pulls the salad together and gives it a richness that makes the salad filling and delicious with every bite. Very impressed. I’ll be making this again for sure. Loved it!
This combination of ingredients and dressing is a perfect way to ring in Spring! I will note that the recipe made a TON of dressing, so we have some leftover for another day – lucky us!
Wonderful spring time salad, the dressing is so bright and full of flavor, definately a keeper.
This salad is fresh and delicious! I actually had everything on hand (without making a trip to the store), which is exciting because it means I can make it on a normal basis :). My favorite taste was the flavor of the basil in the dressing, as well as the roasted almond/apple/dressing combo.
YumYum it’s sunny, blue skies & 70
On Pinetree today. (OH) I had this delicious salad out on our deck♥️( after getting everything untarped& set up) that felt good too! A perfect start
I liked the green apple with this. Nice tangy flavor in contrast to the salad greens. It was a nice change from regular salad!
I made it exactly as written and it was fabulous. I’m not usually a fan of fruit dressings thinking they are too sweet but this one was perfect. Not too sweet and the basil gave it depth. The crunch of the apples, cucumbers and nuts gave so much texture. It’s a keeper
This salad was great, especially the dressing! I’m not usually a fan of fruit in my salad but the apple worked really well. The only addition I would make is to add more protein to make it a complete meal.
Like many others, I did a few substitutions. I can’t eat cucumber so I used cranberries instead. I love leafy greens. I did put a little shredded mozzarella cheese on top. It was a really tasty salad. Can’t wait for the fruity salad (blueberries & strawberries-one of my faves).
I loved all the ingredients of this recipe. Especially the crispness of the apple. The color of my dressing was not as vibrant as pictured. More of a mauve color. So I personally did not like the look of it. The taste was a little bland for me. I think I would have preferred sliced strawberries and a vinaigrette dressing.
The dressing is refreshing and the better the strawberries the better it tastes. I was lucky to get very sweet berries.
I love the dressing. It’s so easy to make abs so delicious. Love that it’s all real ingredients and I know what they are. Also I was skeptical about avacado/strawberry combo but it was GREAT!
What a great salad for the beginning of spring! The brightness of the strawberries was an excellent addition!
Really good. Like some others, did a few substitutions – spinach with the greens, a splash of balsamic in the dressing and since we have bees…a little honey instead of maple syrup.
Love this Strawberry Greens Salad! I did not have the apple so subbed a peach! Love this dressing! I think I will put a little bit less basil (fresh – picked off plant) in the dressing but will have this in my rotation! Thank you for putting this together!
Loved adding the apple and nuts. Also the dressing was very refreshing after mowing the lawn.
Looks weird, tastes refreshing!!
I never thought of having a strawberry based dressing, so this was a welcome surprise. Green apples supply the best nutrition of all apples, so good to see that. It was a very easy salad to prepare which I appreciate since I could do it while working. I added arugula to the green since I like the extra tang for that.
Spring fresh salad! Crunchy with the apples and nuts. Beautiful color with the greens and strawberry dressing.
Delicious combo of flavors. Strawberries were nasty at the grocery store yesterday so I subbed raspberries. Still delicious!