Nothing rings in Springtime like strawberries, fennel and arugula. I originally created this strawberry arugula salad for my cookbook, Simple Green Meals, and it is definitely a favorite. This gorgeous strawberry arugula salad is as delicious as it is beautiful. Topped with a unique lemon vinaigrette, this rockstar salad is for you.
While this salad recipe may contain a few plants you aren’t familiar with, give it a try! These were new to me at one time too, and I got to discover just how incredible they are. Trust me.
Table of Contents
The Best Salad Ingredients
This strawberry arugula salad will leave you feeling great inside and out. The rawkstar ingredient list includes antioxidant-rich fruits, peppery leafy greens and a beautifully creamy salad dressing.
- Arugula– This leafy green is in the same family as kale, broccoli and brussels sprouts, with the same powerful health benefits.
- Fennel– A super-fiber bulb that is lightly licorice-flavored and crunchy.
- Orange– A vitamin C powerhouse.
- Berries– All the berries in this arugula salad are bursting with antioxidants that fight cancer, aid in cell repair and taste heavenly.
- Meyer lemon– Lemons can help lower blood sugar through their pectin.
Strawberry Arugula Salad Recipe
For an extra creamy dressing, 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 :-).
Easy Ingredient Swaps
While Meyer lemons are definitely preferred (they have the best flavor) in this strawberry arugula salad, you *can* swap them out for regular lemons. Just know they will be tarter and smaller. You can swap fennel for white 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 Salad FAQs
Arugula typically has a stronger, peppery flavor. I like to pair it with lighter, sweeter ingredients like berries as well as tangy fruit like oranges.
My Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette is the perfect pairing for this salad. It’s sweet, tangy and creamy.
If you mix up this salad without the dressing it can keep up to 48 hours in the fridge. For the best results though, I recommend eating it right away.
More Leafy Salad Recipes
Salad lovers unite over these decadent recipes. If you’re looking for new salad inspiration then I’ve got you covered. I like a beautiful plate, and that’s exactly what you’ll find in these recipes:
- Healthy Taco Salad
- Strawberry Mixed Greens Salad
- Pear Salad
- Sweet & Crunchy Chickpea Salad
- Mason Jar Salad
- Candied Pecan Salad
- Greek Salad
- Lemon Arugula Salad
Don’t forget to let me know how you like my strawberry arugula salad below with a rating + review! It’s got many of my favorite fruits and veggies, so I hope you love it too.
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 for 1 to 4 hours
- 2 tbsp Meyer lemon juiced
- 1.5 tsp honey
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- dash ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 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
- 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.
Yummy! This salad looked beautiful, smelled wonderful, and tasted great! I loved it!
This dressing is so much better than any other poppyseed dressing. I’d rather eat my salad dry then have the sugar loaded stuff. This dressing though I could eat with a spoon and I even left out the honey. I love a Berry salad and this is no exception. I could eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Can I have it for snacks in between too?
Loved the mix of flavors. I don’t have a good blender so my cashew cream did not come out right. I ended up just adding whole cashews and mixed the remaining dressing ingredients. I added blackberries too it was vey colorful, filling, and had a great refreshing crunch ❤️
Love the lemon and fruit in this one! It makes for a very bright and refreshing salad that I will definitely make again.
I liked the contrast between the peppery arugula and the fruit. Cashew butter is a staple in our house so I used it in place of the soaked cashews. I loved the creaminess of the dressing. This is a good spring salad.
I always love a good berry salad over greens. This is a delicious treat and pairs well with steak or fish!
Great idea to pair it with chicken or fish.
I had to switch the arugula for kale in this salad because I really don’t like the taste of arugula. The flavor combination of this salad was very good.
Kale is perfect to sub in for arugula.
A pretty tasty salad. I wasn’t so sure about the fennel with the berries in the salad, but the more I ate the more the flavors blended together.
I’m so glad you stuck with it and the flavors blended together.
Love the combo of berries with the greens and citrus. I used blue and blackberries since I’m allergic to the red berries. Substituted sunflower and pumpkin seeds instead of cashews and almonds. Good mix of textures and flavors.
Delicious, another home run! A little tart and peppery.
Enjoyed the salad. Very refreshing. One I will make again.
I really love the flavor of this salad. The mix of the fruits and veggies is a great blend with the dressing. This is great for lunch and very flavorful.
Yum! One of my favorite! The meyer lemon dressing was so good! The peppery arugula with the fennel and sweet and tart fruit was such a great combo! I did toast the almonds and always like a sprinkle of flaked sea salt and grated pepper on top.
Honestly, didn’t love it but didn’t hate it. The fresh fruit was great and the dressing was tasty. Not a fan of arugula so trying mixed greens next time. It’s light and would be a good side in the summer!
The Strawberry Arugula Salad is a delight! It is so flavorful – simply perfect! I’m definitely putting this in the regular rotation.