Vegan Spinach Salad With Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

salad

Jun 24

Kick off summer with this irresistible vegan spinach salad! Fresh strawberries, tender spinach, and spicy red onion are tossed with a 5-ingredient maple balsamic vinaigrette. A real crowd pleaser and sure to become one of your favorite salad recipes!

vegan spinach salad with fresh strawberries

🌿 What Makes This Spinach Salad Irresistible

🔖 Simple Ingredients

🥣 How to Make Vegan Spinach Salad With Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

❄️ Storage and Make-Ahead Directions

⭐️ Helpful Tips

🫐 Fun Variations

🥗 More Vegan Salad Recipes You’ll Love

🌿 What Makes This Spinach Salad Irresistible

The spinach and strawberries in my garden decided to have a little get-together and bring you a vegan spinach salad everyone will love! Isn’t it fascinating how seasonal ingredients that ripen at the same time taste so good together?

This salad is SO fresh with tender spinach, sweet strawberries, spicy red onion, and buttery toasted almonds all tossed in a simple maple balsamic vinaigrette. Consider this your invitation to join the garden party!

Easy enough for weeknights, elegant enough for entertaining.
Features a delicious 5-ingredient maple balsamic vinaigrette made from pantry staples.
Every bite is a satisfying mix of sweet, savory, crunchy, and fresh.

🔖 Simple Ingredients

You’ll find the complete ingredient list with measurements and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Vegan Spinach Salad

🌿 Spinach- large leaf or baby spinach works well. Tear larger leaves into bite-sized pieces.

🍓 Strawberries- Smaller berries are often more flavorful and naturally sweeter than larger ones, so see if you can find those.

🧅 Red onion- for spicy crunch. Slice them ultra-thin using a mandolin on the 1 mm setting.

🧈 Toasted sliced almonds- if you can’t find sliced almonds, almond slivers will work too.

🤎 Sesame seeds- White, brown, toasted, or plain- your call!

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

🫒 Olive oil- Use the best quality you can comfortably afford.

🍶 Aged balsamic vinegar- make sure it’s aged! It will say “aged” on the bottle and look thick when you turn the bottle on its side. Regular balsamic vinegar will taste overly acidic in this recipe.

🍯 Maple syrup- Use pure maple syrup, not table or pancake syrup.

🍷 Red wine vinegar- To balance sweet maple syrup

💛 Dijon mustard- This essential ingredient acts as an emulsifier, helping the oil and vinegar blend into a smooth and creamy vinaigrette.

🥣 How to Make Vegan Spinach Salad With Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette (with photos)

When you’re ready to make this recipe, scroll down to the recipe card at the end of this post. You’ll find the complete ingredient list with measurements there.

1. Toast the almonds: Melt the vegan butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the sliced almonds and stir to coat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the almonds are lightly golden and smell toasty, about 5-7 minutes. Once golden, they burn quickly, so slide the pan off the heat. They will continue to toast and crisp as they cool.

2. Make the vinaigrette: Add all of your vinaigrette ingredients into a small, lidded jar. Shake energetically until emulsified. Or vigorously whisk the ingredients in a small dish. You’ll see the vinaigrette emulsify, thicken, and become smooth.

spinach, strawberries, and red onion in a bowl

3. Make the salad: Tumble your spinach into a large salad bowl. Add the strawberries and onions. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the top and toss until well-coated.

4. Sprinkle in the toasted almonds and sesame seeds and toss again. We do this step after adding the vinaigrette, so they don’t settle to the bottom of the bowl. Finish with a scatter of salt and a few twists of black pepper to make the flavors pop. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Carol outside with a vegan spinach salad

❄️ Storage and Make-Ahead Directions

This vegan spinach salad is best enjoyed soon after tossing with the maple balsamic vinaigrette. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 day.

Make it ahead!

This salad is super easy to make in advance for gatherings or food prep.

1️⃣ Make the balsamic vinaigrette and store it in an airtight container like a Mason jar that you can shake.

2️⃣ Toast the sliced almonds, cool, and store in an airtight container. They do not need to be refrigerated and stay crispier at room temperature.

3️⃣ Store the spinach, strawberries, and sliced red onion separately in the refrigerator.

4️⃣ Assemble the salad just before serving.

This recipe does not freeze well.

⭐️ Helpful Tips

🌿 Dry your spinach- this helps the vinaigrette cling to the spinach and prevents watering down the salad.

🍓Use ripe but firm strawberries- you want them sweet and juicy but firm enough to hold their shape when sliced.

⏰ Add the toasted almond slices and sesame seeds last- so they will cling to the dressed spinach instead of settling at the bottom of the bowl.

🫐 Fun Variations

Make a blueberry and spinach salad by swapping out the strawberries for blueberries

Try candied pecans in place of toasted sliced almonds.

Add sliced avocado for a boost of healthy fats.

vegan spinach salad with maple balsamic vinaigrette

🥗 More Vegan Salad Recipes You’ll Love

Roasted Broccoli Caesar Salad with Vegan Dressing

Easy Apple Panzanella Salad Recipe Without Tomatoes

Edible Flower Salad with Citrus Maple Tahini Dressing

Massaged Kale Salad

Vegan Couscous Salad with Maple Lemon Vinaigrette

vegan spinach salad with strawberries outside on a chair

I can’t wait for you to taste this pretty salad. I’ve made it countless times, and it never fails to bring everyone back for seconds.

Happy summer from my sunny little garden. 🪴

X,o,

Vegan Spinach Salad With Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Table of Contents

🌿 What Makes This Spinach Salad Irresistible