Lots of fresh baby spinach, sweet blueberries, creamy goat cheese, avocado and other goodies makes this blueberry spinach salad simply irresistible. Topped with a maple vinaigrette, this green salad recipe is sure to be on rotation all summer long!
The little things, am I right?
Though fall is my favourite season of the year, I do legit get excited for the summer season.
The reason is quite simple: easy, casual eats and berries (but mostly berries).
You’ve probably heard me say before that I think Newfoundland has the best blueberries around. Sure, I may be a little bias here (because I’m from here), but if you ever taste them, you’ll agree.
Granted, it’s not quite blueberry season here in Newfoundland so I had to use berries I got at my local supermarket. But, you can be sure, that as soon as those blueberry gems come around, I’ll be stuffing my face with them (and making this blueberry spinach salad on repeat).
And, guess what? I recently picked up a couple of blueberry bushes from my local garden centre. They’re planted and now I’m anxiously awaiting for berries to arrive. How cool is that? I can totally see myself just popping out in the garden, grabbing a handful and devouring the berries before they ever even make it to a recipe. Ha!
Why We Love This Blueberry Spinach Salad
- It’s made with simple, seasonal produce.
- It comes together in minutes. Yay for easy summer recipes!
- With savoury and sweet elements, you know it’s going to taste incredible!
Homemade Maple Vinaigrette
This maple vinaigrette recipe is my go-to whenever I make salads. I usually have all the ingredients on hand and it tastes so good!
To make it, you simply place olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a jar, cover and shake until combined. That’s it!
Sometimes, for extra tang, I’ve added a little Dijon mustard in there, but that’s totally optional.
If you don’t want to mess around with making your own vinaigrette, you can simply use your favourite store-bought variety.
Toasting Almonds
This salad takes minutes to make. No joke. It always turns out so pretty (from the colour contrast with the blueberries, spinach and avocado) and tastes even better.
While not totally necessary, I love to toast the almonds in a pan just to bring out the nutty flavour and give them a little colour.
Toasting the almonds makes them tastier, in my opinion, but if you are pinched for time you can totally skip this.
As soon as the almonds are toasted, remove them from the pan so they don’t continue to toast. I like to let them cool for a couple of minutes while I’m assembling the rest of the salad.
Assembling the Salad
To assemble, you just combine baby spinach with mint leaves, blueberries, avocado, red onion, goat cheese, almonds and chives.
Give everything a little mix, then drizzle with the maple vinaigrette upon serving.
Tip: If bringing this blueberry spinach salad to a summer BBQ, I like to mix the ingredients together just before serving. That way, it makes for an extra pretty presentation. And, if you happen to have chive flowers growing in your garden, you can pull them apart and sprinkle over the salad.
Don’t dress your salad until you are ready to enjoy (so it doesn’t wilt).
Can I Add a Protein?
Sure!
If you want to make things more substantial, add some sliced boiled egg, cooked chicken, vegan chicken, or roasted salmon. Maple smoked salmon would also be l lovely here.
This blueberry salad yields four decent side servings. If you want to enjoy it as a dinner or main course salad (for two), go for it!
More Summer Salads
- Mixed Green Salad with Fruit
- Cantaloupe Salad with Grilled Halloumi Cheese
- Watermelon Cucumber Bocconcini Salad
If you try this blueberry spinach salad with homemade vinaigrette, be sure to leave a comment below!
Blueberry Spinach Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Blueberry Spinach Salad
- ⅓ cup sliced almonds
- 4 to 5 handfuls cups baby spinach, about 4 ounces or 120 grams
- ⅓ to ½ cup mint leaves, depending on how much mint flavour you want
- 6 ounces blueberries
- 1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and diced
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ⅓ cup crumbled blueberry goat cheese , or regular goat cheese
- 3 tablespoons chopped chives
Maple Vinaigrette
- 4.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1.5 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1.5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- pinch salt
- pinch freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Blueberry Spinach Salad
- Place the almonds in a pan over medium low heat and toast lightly (just to bring out the nutty flavour) and give them a little colour. Stir often and don't leave them because they can burn fast. As soon as they are toasted, transfer them to a bowl so they cool.
- While your almonds are cooling, assemble the rest of the salad. Combine the spinach with mint leaves, blueberries, avocado, red onion, goat cheese and chives, stirring until well incorporated.
- Drizzle over maple vinaigrette and toss or mix through. Serve and enjoy!
Maple Vinaigrette
- Combine all ingredients in a jar, cover and shake to combine.
Nutrition estimate (if provided) is based on 1 Serving.
Nutrition information (if provided) is provided as a courtesy and should be considered an estimate only. Ingredients can vary and Girl Heart Food makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are guidelines only.
Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
Valentina
I’m so with you on summer berries. They’re one of the highlights of summer. I really love the combination of goat cheese and blueberries. They’re a perfect match for creamy and sweet deliciousness — like a treat in a healthy salad. 🙂 ~Valentina
Laura
What a gorgeous salad, Dawn! Looks gorgeous and sounds so deliciousI love blueberry bushes, they are so gorgeous in the winter and so nice to have your own-grown blueberries! coincidentally, I just made a post lamenting the loss of my own blueberry bushes. Wishing I still had them and Im sure you’ll be as thrilled as I was with mine!
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop
This is such a pretty salad! I love all the colors and freshness! We do have several blueberry bushes and ours aren’t quite ready to harvest yet. Probably a couple more weeks… I can’t wait! I never think about using them in a salad, but now I will! I can’t wait to make this tasty salad for dinner!
David @ Spiced
Ah, I love summer salads, too! There are just so many tasty ingredients that allow you to get creative with summer salads. I’m not gonna lie – I can’t stop thinking about that maple vinaigrette. That sounds like the perfect accompaniment to blueberries! And good luck with those bushes! We had a couple bushes in our old house, but the birds always got to the berries before we did.
Katherine | Love In My Oven
I’ve got everything I need for this delicious salad and it would make the perfect light lunch for me! Delicious!
Michelle
This salad look so fresh and delicious, especially with the maple dressing! Yum!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
Such a perfect way to enjoy fresh Summer blueberries! They are just starting to show up here in Ontario, so I can’t wait to try this one 🙂
Marissa
I adore savory sweet salads like this, Dawn! Love all of the textures too. Definitely need to make this ASAP while blueberries are at their summer peak!