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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! Winners announced each season in my newsletter.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 really enjoyed the combination of ingredients in this salad, and the dressing was delicious!
I really enjoy this first salad. I don’t eat enough salads because they are boring but this one was really fun. As I was eating it I thought that if I made my salads more like this I would eat them more often. It was very filling and fun to eat. I’ve been wanting to try some new dressings also. I will make this one again.
So glad you enjoyed this salad! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the remaining recipes.
This salad makes a lovely and easy dinner. The strawberries in the dressing add a nice touch. All my favorite salads have some kind of crunch and the almond slices were perfect. I plan to add this one to my regular salad rotation list.
Awesome news that it made your regular salad rotation list!
The strawberry dressing on this salad really surprised us. We were leery of it…
It tasted fantastic!! A very nice surprise!
So glad you’re trying new things!
this salad is great-I wouldn’t thought for putting the strawberries into the dressing-it makes it so sweet. I can’t add the oil -don’t do well like fats like that-nuts, avocados are fine. Had it as a side dish with my curried lentil/rice dish.
Thanks for included this salad.
Strawberries can instantly add a bit of sweetness without overdoing it!
I was pleasantly surprised at how good the strawberry vinaigrette was and how well the seasonings came together. The salad components were an interesting combination but was bursting with flavor and different textures. I will definitely be making this again.
Fantastic! All the ingredients came together so well. And the dressing….Yummy!! This salad will be added to my staple.
The dressing was delicious, and the salad had great texture with the almonds and cucumbers.
Delicious salad. I was surprised how well the strawberry vinegrette went with the salad. The crunchy apple balanced well with the avocado and greens. I like the peppery taste of arugula so I added some and added feta cheese for a salty balance to the sweet.
Used tahini instead of olive oil. Nice flavor.
Good salad. Not a favorite but it was good.
My boyfriend and I worked together to prepare this salad the night before; he enjoyed it for lunch the next day while I’ve been finishing a complete master cleanse. He said he thought the flavor combination of cucumbers and green apples seemed odd, though it worked well in the salad. He also said the green apple’s sweetness really complemented the other flavors. He finally said the dressing was good and mentioned using it with other salads.