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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.
Day 1 of the challenge…. great salad! Very fresh and delicious!!
Omg I loved this salad. I make a similar one all the time. Both my husband and I had it for lunch. The strawberry vinaigrette was surprisingly delicious! Thanks so much for this recipe! Going to make it again for sure!
I never thought to use strawberries this way and it’s so delicious.
I was very sceptical, when I read the recipe for the first time. Strawberry dressing??? But as I’m sitting here at work and eating this salad, I’m absolutely amazed. The combination of everything just works and the taste is fantastic. Great start for the salad challenge.
Glad you are lovin it!
Delicious. Much better than expected. I used sunflower seeds for crunch instead of almonds. This salad was surprisingly filling and I will definitly make again. I would maybe use less apples or red apples. Didnt like the sour green but that is personal preference.
Surprised how much I loved this salad I like all of the ingredients individually but would have never thought to pair cucumber, apple and avocado. The combination was a delicious, satisfying crunch. It was very filling alone or would be a great side. It will be perfect for summer barbecues – I can’t wait to share it with others!
I modified the dressing a bit to use what I had and to bring the cost down for me. In Hawaii, strawberries are expensive! So instead of using $8 worth of strawberries to make this dressing, I used less strawberries and added a lilikoi (passion fruit) butter. I used macadamia nut oil in place of olive oil and it came out great! I was happy to use the basil that I picked from my garden for this fresh-tasting dressing.
nice variety
This salad was lunch today. The salad and dressing were easy to prepare and to put together. I thought it looked visually pleasing with the strawberry red on top. But I didn’t care for the flavor mix of green apple, cucumber and avocado that much, although the dressing was yummy and I’d use that with other salads. Also, it wasn’t very filling so I supplemented with crackers on the side. My husband and I both thought this salad was average tasting but appreciated how healthy it was to start off the challenges.
It’s so awesome your husband it doing it with you! Feel free to make adjustments as you need.
Great salad for lunch. Light and crispy and the dressing was so easy to make.
Loved this salad. Dressing was amazing. It was a wonderful lunch. Not too heavy but very satisfying.
Love the flavors! Made too much dressing, so I’ll save some for another salad.
I love this salad, most of the ingredients are in my kitchen except for the almonds. I often forget to combine almonds and apples in salads. This is a great recipe to combine the two ingredients along with my favorite avocado. I have never had strawberry dressing before, and wow the dressing tasted fantastic. The strawberry dressing is going on my families menu! I was lucky to have bought really ripe strawberries which brought out more of the natural fruit flavor.
Glad your family is enjoying this salad!
This dressing is amazing! I love the crunch of the apples. This salad was a great lunch, and will be a side for dinner as well. Delicious.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Love it, very tangy dressing goes well with apple
The addition of basil is fantastic
Yummmmmmmmmm!! Loved the dressing!
Yes; I could drink this dressing! It’s delicious.
Loved the strawberry basil salad dressing. I added hemp hearts to this salad to increase the protein a bit. This would be great with some tofu or chicken for a more substantial meal.
Ooooooh. I love the idea of the hemp hearts!
I love the idea of punching up the protein in this salad!
The dressing is amazing!
I am rating this salad a 10 out of 10! This was a new dressing for me and I didn’t think I would like it! A wonderful, almost inherent talent is to know how to combine flavors that will expertly enhance one another. Someone did the research on this one! I used organic girl greens of course.
Isn’t it great when you are pleasantly surprised?!
Love Love Love the Salad Dressing