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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 loved this salad so much!!!! The dressing tastes amazing and is light and refreshing. Will definitely make this often!
Woo hoo! So glad you loved this one and will be making it often, Rebecca!
Enjoyed this salad very much. Lots of taste and textures. The strawberry dressing was yummy and tied everything together. Thanks Jen!
Love to hear you enjoyed this one, Tracey!
I do love the flavors of this salad….it’s so fresh and light like Summer. I added all the dressing ingredients to my Vitamix and while it blended wonderfully, the texture wasn’t quite right for a dressing to me. Maybe I blended too long as well. Next time I’ll try blending up the strawberries and basil but then just shaking up remainder of ingredients (not sure if this will help). I’ll also add more almonds next time.
Hi Christa! Did you end up making this one again with the adjustments? I hope they worked out!
I thought this salad was fantastic! To me, the best part was the surprisingly good combination of the strawberry dressing with the cucumber. I never would have thought to mix those two tastes but they were like a fork-full of summer goodness! I will make this again soon.
“Fork-full of summer goodness” is the best description yet, Kristi!
One of my favorites!! I love the sparkling taste of the dressing and the contrast of the creamy avocado on our favorite mixed greens. It is a perfect mouth treat!!
Glad this one made your list of faves, Elizabeth!
This is such a great salad. Love the dressing! Next time I would dice the cucumbers just because I didn’t like the way the sliced cucumbers interacted with everything else.
Hi Kristen! Did you give this a try with diced cucumbers? Wondering if you liked it better than way!
Loved the dressing…added some strawberries to the salad
Strawberries are a great addition to this one, Diane!
The best part is the dressing! I loved basil and strawberries together. I toasted the almonds to add extra crunch. Loved the green apple and avocado. Would make again. Served with grilled chicken to make it a full meal.
Oohh toasted almonds probably made this one that much better, Amanda!
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!