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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.
Good dressing! I left out the maple syrup because I was pushing my husband with a fruit dressing… he doesn’t like sweet. Even my kids liked this one!
Way to make this one work for your family, Sara!
Haha serves two no wonder I was so full. I started this challenge a little late because I waited until my husband went out of town. I can now be meat free for a week.
This salad is good, it will be great when the produce is fresh from the garden and not store bought. The dressing with garden strawberries yum. I used walnuts instead of almonds.
I bet the walnuts gave it a great taste, Tammy! I’ll have to give that a try sometime as well.
I really like this salad. All the flavors and textures work really well together. I’m usually not too big on sweet salads but it has a nice balance with all of the ingredients so it’s not overly sweet. The dressing is yummy too!
I thought this salad was refreshing.
I agree, Marjorie! Refreshing and perfect for Summer!
I really enjoyed the strawberry mixed greens salad. The dressing had just the right amount of tart and sweet, and the flavors came together quite nicely!
Woo hoo! Really happy you enjoyed this one, Judy!
I mixed the dressing up and packed the ingredients and took this delightful salad out to our country garden for supper! It was a delightful refreshing treat!
Great idea, Glenda!
Dressing is delicious. My 6 year old said, it tastes like a smoothie!
A winner with a 6 year old… now that’s a compliment, Kate!
The dressing really elevated this salad!! I will definitely make this on repeat, especially when local berries are available. The salad has a nice contrast of creamy / crunchy and sweet / tart.
This one is perfect for local berries, Karen!
Fresh and delicious! Leftover dressing can be thrown in a smoothie. Add some farro to make more filling
Great idea to used the leftover dressing in a smoothie, LR!
Fresh, crunchy, creamy and super fast to get on the table. I’m looking forward to having the second serving for lunch!
So glad you enjoyed this one, Cie!
I forgot to rate this recipe on my previous comment. I love it and in fact used the extra dressing for another salad.
A 5 star rating is definitely a winner, Marinella!
Love the crunch that the apples provide contrasting the creamy avocados with this delicious dressing!
You’re so right, Robin! The apple definitely gives a unique crunch.
This was a deliciously sweet salad with a tanginess from the apple. I liked the crunchy apples and used sunflower seeds instead of nuts due to allergies. I can envision making this frequently in the hot Florida summer and might consider adding watermelon chunks to the salad. My apologies for not posting this yesterday but a migraine kept me from eating until today.
Great idea to use sunflower seeds to make this work for you, Liz!
This salad was delicious! The dressing took it over the top. I liked the contrast of the crunchy apple, cucumber, and almonds with the creamy avocado. I will definitely make this salad again. It will be very refreshing on hot days. I will also use the dressing on other salads–Hubby liked it a lot!
Hubby approved means a lot, Barbara! So glad you both enjoyed it!
This was a very refreshing salad, used frozen strawberries
I’m one day behind, but made this for lunch and it was delicious! Never made a dressing in the blender. It was perfect! I just hate wasting any of the dressing when I’m emptying the blender! Nice combination – apple, cucumber and avocado!
So yummy! I love the dressing and the avacados!
It’s the dressing! The dressing on this salad is what does it for me. So tasty. Well, the avocados too!
Strawberry dressing? And basil? Yes, strawberries and basil. Give it a try. I swear you’ll want to eat it on ice cream! (Or I do, at least!)
Very tasty. Easy to make and the dressing is very good.
Refreshing with the and apple. Strawberry dressing is awesome!