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Strawberry Salad topped with a homemade poppy seed dressing and fresh mandarin orange segments is a delicious and refreshing summer strawberry salad that comes together in less than 30 minutes.
Start with a mixture of romaine lettuce and spring mix salad greens and add fresh berries, mandarin oranges, thinly sliced red onions and feta cheese. Next, whisk together an easy poppy seed dressing recipe and drizzle over the salad greens. Finally, add a little crunch by garnishing the salad with La Choy rice noodles.
This salad is bright and fresh with just the right balance of sweetness from the fruit and tanginess from the dressing. If you like, add grilled chicken and turn this recipe into a main entrée salad.
Easy Strawberry Salad Recipe
You know me. I’m all about EASY recipes. Not just that, I get excited when an easy recipe tastes anything but ordinary, like this Easy Strawberry Salad recipe.
Sweet strawberries and fresh mandarin oranges add brightness to a mixed greens salad while the tangy poppy seed dressing and feta cheese balance it all out. Not only that, this beautiful plated salad is perfect for a ladies’ luncheon or summer dinner party.
I made a similar salad years ago that used the canned mandarin oranges, but last week I purchased a bag of Sunkist Gold Nugget variety mandarins to make this salad.
These mandarins have very bumpy skins. My husband almost threw them out because he thought they were bad! Not so! They’re seedless, peel easily, and are extremely sweet and juicy which is perfect for this salad recipe.
Ingredients for Easy Poppy Seed Dressing
Everything you need for this easy salad dressing is probably already in your pantry! Add the following ingredients (see exact measurements in the recipe card below) to a blender and pulse until the dressing is emulsified.
- Olive oil
- Honey
- Apple cider vinegar
- Low-fat mayonnaise
- Poppy seeds
- Onion powder
- Kosher salt
- Dry mustard
What does it mean to emulsify salad dressing?
Oil and vinegar naturally separate, so to make a dressing with a creamy texture, the two liquids must be completely blended together. Achieve this by slowly adding the olive oil in a slow stream to the other salad dressing ingredients while whisking briskly. You may also do it quickly in a blender by pulsing for just 15-20 seconds.
You may like these Strawberry Salad recipe variations
- Instead of La Choy rice noodles, garnish the salads with toasted almonds or sugared pecans.
- If mandarin oranges are not available, substitute a can of mandarin oranges — just remember to drain the juice off first.
- Make this salad a complete meal by adding grilled chicken.
- Try strawberry salad with fresh pineapple slices or pink lady apple slices.
- If you’re not a fan of Poppy Seed Dressing, substitute the dressing with a nice balsamic or raspberry vinaigrette.
- Not a Feta cheese fan? Try using a mild goat cheese instead.
To make this recipe you may need…
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A Ninja Nutri Blender Duo with Auto-iQ I bought the Ninja originally because I wanted to start making smoothies for breakfast, but I’ve found that I love using it for lots of other recipes. It’s powerful, has handy suction cups for the countertop, and are the parts clean up easily in the dishwasher.
I probably use this little appliance two to three times a week! Add the Poppy Seed Dressing ingredients to the blender container and you’ll have a perfectly emulsified dressing in mere seconds!
More summer salad recipes!
- Chopped Chicken Salad with Fresh Peaches
- Catalina Salad
- Grilled Panzanella Skewer Salad
- Lightened Up Broccoli Salad
- Seven Layer Salad with Parmesan Ranch Dressing
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Lemon Basil Potato Salad
- Tex-Mex Chicken Salad with Pico de Gallo
- Grilled Salmon Salad
- Green Goddess Quinoa Summer Salad
Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing Recipe
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The original post was updated on May 22, 2019.
Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
Ingredients
Dressing
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 tablespoons honey
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
Salad
- 3 cups Romaine lettuce torn into pieces
- 3 cups Spring mix salad greens
- 1 cup strawberries sliced
- 2 mandarin oranges peeled and segmented
- 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup Feta cheese crumbled
- 1/2 cup La Choy rice noodles
Instructions
Poppy Seed Dressing
- Add all ingredients to a blender and pulse for 15-20 seconds until emulsified and creamy. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
Salad
- Toss all salad ingredients except for rice noodles and Feta cheese together in a large bowl. Divide among serving plates and drizzle with Poppy Seed Dressing. Sprinkle each serving with Feta cheese and rice noodles. Serve immediately.
Just prepared it for Thanksgiving and it was a hit. A couple minor changes. I used raspberries because strawberries were too expensive. Also used one head romaine and 5 ou container of mixed spring green lettuce with only half the dressing on it. Loved it.
I will also have to try this salad with raspberries – glad it was a hit! Happy Thanksgiving to you!