Blueberry Spinach Salad
My go-to party salad with red onion salad dressing; bring a Blueberry Spinach Salad with red onion, toasted pecans, and goat cheese! Whether enjoying this salad for lunch or dinner, or a special occasion, it’s delicious and easy to make almost anytime of year!
I love a good spinach salad. Especially when it’s packed with freshness, and a good salad dressing. Give our Blueberry Spinach Salad a try! You can make our balsamic dressing or you can buy a bottle of Briannas Poppyseed Dressing (easy to keep in the pantry), which is delish on this salad, too.
Blueberry Spinach Salad
Add baby spinach to a bowl. Chop your pecans (or leave them whole!), throw in some blueberries, mandarin oranges, spicy nuts goat cheese, and toss. Make and add your dressing and pour all over the salad and serve! Or, serve the dressing on the side–it’s up to you. The white extra large mango salad bowls are back in my store. Here I am in a video talking about this salad!
Why I love this recipe
Potluck dinner parties are one of my favorite ways to reach out, by inviting people in, with everyone bringing a dish. Or, you get invited to a potluck dinner party and you need to bring a salad?
- It’s a great potluck salad, or dinner party salad.
- Love to keep mandarin oranges and spicy nuts stocked in the pantry for wintertime.
- You can replace the fresh blueberries with chopped apples!
Gather these ingredients
- Spinach. Spinach and blueberries are classic together and an excellent choice. You can always use any kind of lettuce or arugula for this salad in place of spinach.
- Blueberries. Fresh blueberries are the bomb. You can always mix a combination with blueberries, raspberries, dried cranberries, or even strawberries.
- Toasted pecans. We love a crunch to our salad, but if you don’t like pecans, swap them out with toasted, slivered almonds or chopped walnuts. TIP: Lay on a paper towel and toast in the microwave for two minutes, shuffling them around halfway through. Or, buy the spiced pecans at Trader Joe’s.
- Goat cheese. Adding a bit of creaminess and tang is what we love with this sweet salad. If you don’t like goat cheese, try adding feta, or a mild blue cheese like gorgonzola.
- A tip for buying cheese: Don’t buy it already crumbled. Crumble it yourself, because it will be way more fresh and tasty.
- Mandarin oranges: Those sweet little bites of orange really make this salad.
- Red onion: Read my tip below on how to slice the onion (thin!) SO GOOD!
- Best red onion dressing: Recipe here for my homemade dressing. It thickens up as it sits in the fridge. Add a tiny bit of water or olive oil and whisk to thin it out before using.
Dressing ingredients:
- Olive oil
- Honey
- Balsamic Vinegar
How do you make a Blueberry Spinach Salad?
- Combine spinach, drained Mandarin oranges, chopped pecans, red onion, and goat cheese in a large salad bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, honey, and balsamic vinegar. Optional to add the ingredients to a mason jar and shake well before using.
- Right before serving, drizzle salad dressing over the salad; lightly add fresh ground pepper.
- Toss lightly and serve.
Mango Wood and Enamel Salad Bowl
The bowl? YES! Back by popular demand, the first round of this Mango Wood and Enamel Salad Bowl sold out. But they are now back in stock. Buy yours now before they are gone (again).
Buy the salad bowl, HERE. Also grab the wooden paddles!
Tips and substitutions:
- Make our homemade dressing (above photo), here, if you don’t want to make our simple balsamic vinegar recipe (in recipe card).
- You can always grab a pre-made salad dressing, like Marie’s Raspberry Vinaigrette.
- RED ONION TIP: I swear by this tip, when cutting red onion. Using a mandolin (pick your best price range– affiliate link), place the setting on as thin as you can get it (to actually make a slice), and slice about half of the onion. Then cut into halves, or fourths, and sprinkle on the salad. The onion is light enough so that you don’t get punched in the gut when you take a bite. It really adds to the salad.
- Making this salad for a potluck-type event where it’s all going to get eaten the same day? Pour the dressing on right before serving. Or, set it on the side in a jar and let people dress their own portions.
- If you’re making this for meal prep, I recommend portioning out the salad into reusable glass containers.
- Don’t put the dressing on the salad until you are ready to eat it or it will get soggy!
- Serve leftover un-dressed salad covered in the fridge, and leave dressing in a sealed container at room temp for up to 4 days.
Possible additions:
Feel free to make adapations. I do this all the time, depending on what I have in my pantry or fridge! It’s fun to create new flavors and play around with salad ingredients:
- Grilled steak or chicken slices or leftover rotisserie chicken, chopped
- Crumbled feta, blue cheese, or creamy goat cheese
- Candied almonds, walnuts, or pecans, or the spicy ones from Trader Joe’s
- Toasted almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts (Oregon hazelnuts are the best!)
- Fresh raspberries or strawberries or blackberries
- Pickled red onions
- Sunflower seeds (leave out the nuts and add seeds to make a nut-free salad)
- Dried cranberries or cherries or other dried fruit
- Avocado
More salad recipes you may want to try while you are here:
- My Favorite Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Burrata Melon Strawberry Salad
- Dinner Party Salad
- Burrata Chopped Salad
Get the Recipe:
Blueberry Spinach Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecans, toasted (or 1/2 package Trader Joe’s spicy pecans, chopped)
- 16 ounces baby spinach
- 1 cup or more fresh blueberries
- 1 11 oz can mandarin oranges, drained
- ½ red onion, finely sliced
- 4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Optional: dried cranberries, avocados, or fresh strawberries or apples
Honey Balsamic Dressing:
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 6 Tbsp Honey
- 4 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Combine spinach, drained Mandarin oranges, chopped pecans, red onion, and goat cheese in a large salad bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, honey, and balsamic vinegar.
- Right before serving, drizzle salad dressing over the salad; lightly add fresh ground pepper. Toss lightly and serve.
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
I’m trying the salad but I can’t find the dressing!! It keeps sending me to bottled dressings! Where is the recipe?
Did you try the dressing here?
Just made this for hubby and I a quick and healthy lunch.
it was DELICIOUS!
THANK YOU.
Looks good will definitely try soon