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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!
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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.
This was SO-SO for me & NO for hubby. I thought the dressing was better than the salad was! Probably not going on my rotation.
Well, way to go for trying it!!
I used mixed baby greens for this recipe since I get them for my bunnies too. The salad was delicious. I accidentally added a little too much salt to the dressing but it still turned out great. Normally to reduce calories I eat salad without the dressing but I really liked this one. I had it for dinner and will have the second for lunch tomorrow.
I loved the dressing for this salad. I used Organic Girl Butter, plus for the greens. I feel it made way more than 2 servings…more for me 🙂
I absolutely love this salad. Especially the strawberry vinaigrette! I substituted spinach for the mixed greens (because spinach has vitamin K in it and I need this for my bones.
I enjoyed this salad so much and will make it again regularly.
It looked so good that I made it yesterday, and had it both days. It really reflects Spring, and I will keep this one for fresh summertime lunches.
The salad wasn’t too bad. It isn’t the best time of year in my area for produce since this seemed bland. I used a mixture of butter lettuces and spring mix. I LOVED the dressing right out of the Vitamix. However, in the salad it seemed to lose its flavor – or become overwhelmed by the other ingredients. I really wanted to taste more strawberry, so next time I’ll add fresh sliced strawberries and maybe ditch the cucumbers (even though I LOVE cucumbers). I felt like the cucumbers competed with the apples rather than be a complement to the overall salad. I liked having apple in the salad, but next time will go with a sweeter variety over a granny smith. I really liked the crunch of sliced almonds in this. Next time I would like to try it with raw sunflower seed kernels. I look forward to trying this again with strawberries, lettuces and maybe the cucumber straight from my garden!
I think the changes and substitutes you suggested sound sweet and DELICIOUS! You should def try it!
So good! Who knew I could make my own strawberry vinaigrette?!
Way to go!!
I love my 50/50 spinach mix with berries. I make this all the time for summer.
Strawberry and fruit forward with apple. Delicious, summery, and fun. Didn’t add almonds and avocado as I’m allergic. But keeping with minimum greens and cukes was just fine!
So glad you were still able to enjoy! 🙂
Since I’m not a fan of mixed greens, I used a sweet kale mix and added radish sprouts. Love the salad, love the dressing and I highly recommend the salad
This was amazing. It tasted too good to be SO GOOD for me!! All the envy of the teacher’s lounge at lunch!
Day I is rawking! I loved the Strawberry Mixed Greens so much that I had it for lunch and dinner. The strawberry dressing was easy to prepare and full of flavor.
I loved the strawberry dressing. It was very refreshing and a tasty addition to the salad.
This salad was amazing! The strawberry and basil dressing was an odd but delicious combination. I loved the crunch of the Apple and almonds. We will be using this recipe often
I made it yesterday, forgot to take a photo, it was so good, made it again
Where can I publish the photo?
Well, this salad makes two portions. I already told my husband I’m making him a salad, so I guess I can’t renege and eat both portions myself. It was terrific!
Love the crunchiness of today’s salad and added in shaved brussel sprouts and garbanzo beans for extra protein. Might add gorgonzola cheese next time.
Had this salad for lunch at work and will have it for dinner tonight. The dressing is a mild flavored dressing, tasty enough to eat it again
Great taste combinations! Loved it!
I was surprised by how much I liked this salad. I wasn’t sure this was going to be for me but followed the recipe except I used a yellow apple variety my toddler really wanted to buy for the house. The dressing really made this salad refreshing in a way I wasn’t expecting and it’s a very simple salad to make. Most of these ingredients are staples in my house so I’m looking forward to adding this one as a go-to since it’s an easy one to put together with little planning.
Made this salad for Day 1 of the 10 Day Salad Challenge and enjoyed it as a late lunch. I really dislike cucumbers so I subbed in a stalk of chopped celery. Also added 3 sliced strawberries to the greens. The salad dressing is delicious and most of the creaminess comes from the strawberries, with a tiny bit of olive oil. I would 100% make this again.