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Nothing says spring quite like juicy strawberries, crisp fennel, and peppery arugula. I first made this strawberry arugula salad for my latest cookbook, and it’s been a favorite ever since. Honestly, the toppings are what made me fall in love with it—but everyone who tries it always asks about the Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette in top. It’s so simple and so good.
Ingredients You’ll Need
I know a few of these ingredients might be new to you (they were for me once, too!), but that’s part of the fun—discovering how incredible new flavors can be. This salad is packed with good-for-you plants that make you feel amazing inside and out:
- Arugula: a leafy green with a little peppery bite (it’s in the same family as kale and broccoli).
- Fennel: crunchy and lightly sweet with a hint of licorice flavor.
- Orange + berries: full of vitamin C and antioxidants, and they add bright pops of flavor.
- Meyer lemon: slightly sweeter than regular lemons and totally addictive. I use them in my Ginger Lemon Honey Tea.
How to Make Strawberry Arugula Salad
- Combine all dressing ingredients (except for the poppy seeds!) in a blender or food processor. Blend until creamy. You may need to add a bit of water to help it blend well. Hand mix in the poppy seeds, then store in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Slice the fennel bulb, Meyer lemon, strawberries, almonds and orange, then toss with the arugula and berries.
- Once you’re ready to eat, shake up that homemade vinaigrette and pour over the salad.
I won’t judge if you lick the bowl on this one. It’s ridiculously good. I love Meyer lemons so much I started growing them in my yard and eating them like apples. If this is your first time trying one then I dare you not to immediately fall in love.
Ingredient Swaps
While Meyer lemons are definitely preferred, you can swap them out for regular lemons. Just know the dressing will be tart.
You can swap fennel for yellow onion as well as the berries for any berries you have on hand.
If you need this salad to be nut-free, then swap the almonds with hemp hearts or sunflower seeds, and swap the cashews in the lemon vinaigrette with the same.
Strawberry Arugula Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups arugula
- ½ fennel bulb very thinly sliced
- 1 orange peeled and segmented
- ½ cup strawberries sliced
- ½ cup blueberries
- ½ cup raspberries
- ½ Meyer lemon seeded and very thinly sliced
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
- 2 tbsp raw cashews soaked
- 2 tbsp Meyer lemon juiced
- 1 tsp raw honey
- ⅛ tsp sea salt, unrefined
- ⅛ black pepper, ground
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
Instructions
- Combine the cashews, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Add a teaspoon of water if needed. Mix in poppy seeds and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the arugula, fennel, oranges, berries, lemon and almonds.
- When ready to serve, drizzle dressing on top.
Notes
- If you have time, soak cashews in water for 2+ hours to get creamiest result. You can also “flash soak” by putting cashews in a bowl with boiling water. Cover with a plate for 10 minutes, then rinse and drain.
- Store dressing in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Swap in whatever berries you have on hand.
- Hemp hearts or sunflower seeds can be swapped in for almonds in the salad and for the cashews in the dressing.
- Meyer lemons are less tart and much sweeter (and larger) than regular lemons. You can swap in regular lemons if you can’t find Meyer lemons, yet it will change the flavor of the salad and vinaigrette.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review for a chance to win signed copies of my cookbooks!Common Questions
You can prep most of it ahead! Slice the fennel, citrus, and berries up to a day in advance and store them separately in the fridge. Wait to toss everything with the arugula and dressing until just before serving to keep it crisp and fresh.
Meyer lemons are sweeter and less tart than regular lemons, but if you can’t find them, you can absolutely use regular lemons. Just know the flavor will be a bit more tangy—still delicious, just a little brighter.
Soaking helps make the dressing super creamy, but if you’re short on time, do a “flash soak.” Just pour boiling water over the cashews, cover the bowl for 10 minutes, then drain and blend.
Yes! Swap the sliced almonds for hemp hearts or sunflower seeds, and use the same seed swap in the vinaigrette instead of cashews. It will still taste rich and delicious.
Store the Meyer lemon vinaigrette in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in the fridge for up to 1 week. Give it a good shake before using again.
Absolutely. Use whatever berries you have on hand—strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries all work beautifully.
Wow, I love this salad! It’s a party in mouth with all the different flavors. I adore fruit, this salad is too good to be true:)
Love arugula, hate segmenting citrus fruit for salads, lol. This might have been my least favorite salad out of the 10 day salad challenge, but it was still good. I was out of a few ingredients when I found they went bad or were eaten before I got to them, so I only had red onion, blackberries, blueberries, orange and regular lemon. That probably changed the overall taste a bit so take this review with a grain of salt. Dressing was good, but not amazing like some other ones here on SGS. As I eluded to at the beginning, I have determined that the time and effort to segment citrus fruit for a salad is not worth the reward of eating it in a salad, for me. I think I’d rather juice it and add to the dressing or leave it out. It makes a salad look beautiful though, so maybe for special occasions. I will try this salad again once I get all the original ingredients, but I am not sure I will make this one very often.
I loved this salad! (I did sub out mixed greens for the arugula). I went to 4 stores looking for fennel and never could find it or the meyer lemons. I just used a regular lemon in the dressing but it was sooooo good. I am not usually a person who will put fruit on my greens. I love both, just not together. This combination paired well and was very filling! Great recipe and another wonderful dressing!
Aww! You made an amazing effort to find ingredients. Regular lemon is a perfect substitute for a Meyer lemon and celery would have been a great sub for fennel. Maybe if you see fennel in the future, you could give this one another shot with it!
Berries. Yum. I used kale in place of arugula and the combo of strawberries and greens wins every time for me!
Pretty good. Not a big fan a arugula but tasty.
Loved this salad. Another fav. Thank you so much for your kind words and support shown these past l0 days. I have learned a lot about trying new things and doing things a new way. I would love to participate in your summer smoothie. I went to pull up todays email to see instructions on completing and don’t know what I did but it disappeared! Efforts to find it have been unsuccessful. This was a fantastic experience.
Hey Teresa, if you’re subscribed to our weekly newsletter at simplegreensmoothies.com then you’ll know when it’s time to sign up for the Summer Smoothie Challenge! 😉 Don’t worry! We will not leave you out!
So delicious. Everyone took seconds. We loved the contrast of the berries with the arugula. We’ll definitely add this to our rotation!
wonderful salad!
This salad is so refreshing with the orange, lemon, and berries. I would definitely make this again. And I’m sold on cashews to make a dressing!
I did like this salad even though arugula is not my favorite. I get it now though; it needs to be combined with sweeter foods to balance it out. The dressing was very good. My husband ate a lot of it. That’s a win for me!
Yes, SCORE! It’s always nice with the husband likes it as well!
What a delightful way to finish this challenge. Great way to use my new salad favorites one more day.
A delectable salad, full of yummy berries, citrus, and almond and fennel (love!) crunch. We really liked the dressing, a perfect match. This salad is so versatile that it could be made with literally any green, but we liked the peppery arugula to go with the sweet of the fruit. I can see us making this often when berries are in season in NC.
This was so good. The different flavors, sweet mixed with sour and savory arugula melded so well. By far our favorite.
Sweet, the fruit, the crunch and dressing pulled it all together. and so good! Day 10 of the challenge! Ready to keep doing more.
The strawberry arugula salad looked real pretty, especially because I added a strawberry to the dressing. I think that might’ve been a big mistake because the dressing wasn’t very good and the ingredients looked like it would be. I like the combination of the berries with the Meyer lemon and the sliced almonds. I’m afraid my arugula might’ve been a little old because it was tough and didn’t give the salad the best chance it might’ve had. I’ll try it again some other day. In the meantime, it was a nice healthy combination of things.
Loved this salad!! The variety of textures and flavors made it very satisfying. The crunch of the fennel with the juicy berries and the spicy bitterness of the arugula all tied together with the creamy dressing was so enjoyable! Will make again!
So delicious! I love the fennel and arugula together. The dressing is my fave!