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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.
I love the simplicity of this salad. The dressing is so easy to make and adds a sweet lovely flavor especially paired with the green apple and avocado.
I loved this salad! I did make some adjustments. I didn’t use oil in the dressing and only used 2 tsp maple syrup. The dressing was fabulous! This will definitely be on repeat this summer.
I added the chicken breast for some extra staying power.
So good. The dressing is divine, especially the basil.
Great recipe. I made it on Sunday. The best part was having an easy recipe for just 2 servings.
I didn’t have a good avocado so I left that off and I added a light balsamic reduction drizzle because I love the flavor of strawberries and balsamic. The dressing was delicious and the crunching of apples and cucumbers was a win in this salad. It is in my rotation!
One of my favorite salad and dressings. So easy to make-n-go
Perfect start to my day!! Absolutely love the dressing too!
Loved this salad! It provided interesting textures and a lovely variety of flavors! I’d totally do this one again!
I Cut all ingredients in half for only 1 salad. Perfect! I substituted pistachios for the al.onds as I had none. The dressing was a perfect blend for this. Loved it!
I don’t enjoy sweet salad dressings in general, so i left out the maple syrup. The results was a fresh, bright, slightly tangy dressing, with just a touch of natural sweetness from the strawberries. Enjoyed! I had it for lunch, and it kept me full till dinner.
I love the sweet taste to it
This Strawberry mixed green salad is absolutely a favorite! Clean and refreshing and delicious!
Half breakfast and half lunch!
My husband and I liked the contents of this salad so much, we made it for breakfast! It was very light, refreshing and flavorful! We had low-fat vanilla yogurt with granola on the side for added protein and the pairing was a perfect way to start our day! Thank you this recipe. It will be a regular at our house!
This is a “masterpiece” when it comes to someone who is considering a plantbased diet and is a strawberry lover. It’s filled with fiber, texture and taste. Haven’t tried it yet, but I’m thinking why couldn’t you trade out the strawberries for blueberries, mang or peaches? Might be a total disaster, but then again, it might work (???)
Hi Kathy! I don’t think you could go wrong with any of those swaps. Let me know how it turns out if you decide to try it!
Delicious! It’s a great lunch to take to work!
I have made this a few times now – it is delicious, especially the strawberry dressing – so much flavor!!!!
Loved it and husband asked for seconds.
I made this salad for the challenge (had to start early) and it is AMAZING! The strawberry dressing rawks! I made an extra batch to use later.
love how strawberries are part of this dressing – a new dressing option that is perfect for this time of year! the strawberry patches literally opened this week to fresh pick strawberries – perfect!
I 100% agree. I was just thinking how great it would be to swap the strawberries for peaches when they are in season. We have options here!!!