Strawberry Salad Recipe (2024)

HomeRecipe ListSide DishesStrawberry Salad Recipe

Posted by Aimee 71 comments
Published: May 19, 2022 Last Updated: May 19, 2022

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This copycat Panera Strawberry Salad recipe is loaded with fresh berries and candied pecans. Tossed with a sweet homemade lemon poppy seed dressing, it’s the perfect fresh salad warm summer days!

If you think salad is boring, you haven’t eaten salad at my house. Spinach and Bacon Salad and Mexican Street Corn Salad are two more favorites that can turn anyone into a salad lover!

Strawberry Salad Recipe (1)

Table of Contents

  • Why This Salad is Best
  • Ingredient Notes
  • Salad Tips and Tricks
  • Recipe FAQs
  • More Easy Dinner Recipes
  • Strawberry Salad Recipe

Why This Salad is Best

If you like green salads with fruit, you just might become obsessed with this Strawberry Pecan Salad. This sweet salad is based off our favorite Panera Strawberry Poppyseed Salad recipe!

  • FRUITY- It’s made with strawberries, blueberries and juicy mandarin oranges.
  • CRUNCHY- Candied pecans for a satisfying sweet crunch factor.
  • ZESTY- red onion adds a perfect bite.
  • HEARTY- Delicious with or without grilled chicken.
  • PERFECT- The sweet and tangy dressing brings it all together.

We love making this salad after a trip to the farmer’s market for fresh fruits and veggies. It’s an easy, tasty way to fill your plate with all that good-for-you produce! And it’s so full of color!

If you love our spinach salad, you can swap out the romaine in today’s strawberry salad for spinach to give you a delicious, hearty meal.

Ingredient Notes

Strawberry Salad Recipe (2)

What I love about this fresh salad recipe is how versatile it can be. LOVE mandarin oranges? Add more. Hate goat cheese? Swap it out for feta. Here’s an overview of your key ingredients.

  • Strawberries. Remove the stems of fresh berries and slice them in half to add to the salad.
  • Blueberries. Make sure to use FRESH berries, not frozen for this salad recipe.
  • Mandarin oranges. We use canned orange slices with the juices drained out.
  • Candied pecans. The salad starts by toasting pecans on the stovetop with sugar until the outsides become crisp and sweet.
  • Romaine Lettuce. Or swap it for other fresh salad greens such as spring lettuce or baby spinach.
  • Red onion. The sharp taste of the red onion provides a nice balance to all the sweetness going on in this salad.
  • Goat cheese. The tangy flavor and creaminess of the crumbles make it perfect for sweet salads like this one. The fresher the better.
  • Chicken breasts. Cook the chicken breasts on the stove or your grill first. Leftover shredded chicken or rotisserie chicken works here too!
  • Lemon Poppyseed Dressing. You will need lemon juice, olive oil, sugar and poppy seeds, along with a little mustard.

Salad Tips and Tricks

Strawberry Salad Recipe (3)
  • Make the poppy seed dressing ahead of time. Mix all the ingredients together and store it in a mason jar in the fridge. When the salad is ready, the dressing will be perfectly chilled and ready to drizzle over your Strawberry Pecan Salad. We save jelly jars to use for homemade dressing!
  • Side dish or main course. To serve this salad as a side dish for your main course, simply omit the chicken. Adding the chicken turns it into a complete meal!
  • Make it less sweet. Use unsweetened toasted pecans instead of candied nuts if you prefer a salad with less sweetness. You could also reduce the amount of sugar in the dressing to suit your taste.
  • Skip Panera and try our homemade kitchen sink cookies and orange scones at home!

Recipe FAQs

Can I use frozen berries?

I don’t recommend frozen berries for this recipe. They release a significant amount of moisture as they thaw which would make your salad mushy. This is one recipe where fresh berries are a MUST!

What side dishes go well with Strawberry Pecan Salad?

We often enjoy this salad as a one-bowl meal on its own. It would pair well with sides like freshly baked dinner rolls or crackers, too.
Keep the strawberry theme going and make a No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake for dessert!

How can I make this vegan?

Our Strawberry Pecan Salad recipe is vegetarian if made without the cooked chicken breast. To make it vegan, omit both the goat cheese and the chicken.

Can I make it ahead of time?

This salad with strawberries is best served right away once it’s assembled. You could prep the dressing and cook the chicken in advance, if you like. Store them in tightly sealed containers in the fridge until you’re ready to make your salad.

Strawberry Salad Recipe (4)

More Easy Dinner Recipes

  • Egg Salad Recipe
  • Meatloaf Recipe
  • Coleslaw Recipe
  • Southwest Chicken Salad with Avocado Dressing
  • Broccoli Salad
  • Bruschetta

Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section below!

Strawberry Salad Recipe (5)

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Strawberry Salad

4.70 from 40 votes

By: Aimee

This copycat Panera Strawberry Pecan Salad is loaded with fresh berries and candied pecans. Tossed with a sweet homemade lemon poppy seed dressing, it's the perfect fresh salad warm summer days!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

For the Salad:

  • 1 cup pecan halves
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 12 ounce package Romaine lettuce chopped
  • 8 ounce fresh strawberries halved
  • 4 ounce fresh blueberries
  • 2 ounce goat cheese crumbled
  • ¼ cup red onion sliced (cut into small pieces)
  • 15 ounce can Mandarin oranges drained
  • 2 chicken breasts cooked and diced

For the dressing:

  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • cup olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon poppyseeds

Instructions

  • In a small skillet over medium heat, saute pecans with sugar. This will take several minutes for the sugar to dissolve as you stir the pecans. Set aside and cool.

  • In a large bowl, combine romaine, berries, oranges, cheese and onion. Add diced chicken. Toss gently.

  • In a small mason jar, combine dressing ingredients and shake with lid on.

  • When ready to serve, add candied pecans and drizzle with dressing. ENJOY!

Notes

  • Make the dressing ahead of time. Mix all the ingredients together and store it in a mason jar in the fridge. When the salad is ready, the dressing will be perfectly chilled and ready to drizzle over your Strawberry Pecan Salad.
  • Side dish or main course.To serve this salad as a side dish for your main course, simply omit the chicken. Adding the chicken turns it into a complete meal!
  • Make it less sweet. Use unsweetened toasted pecans instead of candied nuts if you prefer a salad with less sweetness. You could also reduce the amount of sugar in the dressing to suit your taste.
  • Lettuce- Swap out the romaine and use spinach instead! Spinach salad is a great way to get extra vitamins. You can also do 1/2 and 1/2 with the spinach and romaine.
  • Video

    Nutrition

    Calories: 556kcal, Carbohydrates: 35g, Protein: 18g, Fat: 40g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 33g, Cholesterol: 38mg, Sodium: 215mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 28g

    Course: Side Dishes

    Cuisine: American

    Did you make this recipe?Mention @shugarysweets or tag #shugarysweets!

    Strawberry Salad Recipe (2024)

    FAQs

    Can you put grapes and strawberries together? ›

    This is a nice simple fruit salad. We enjoyed this with lunch today. It was refreshing the strawberries and grapes were crisp, cold, sweet and sour. I used a Mandarin, Orange Sesame dressing with this salad for a hint of savory.

    What makes a salad more delicious? ›

    Season the greens & vegetables

    This also creates layers of flavor, giving your salad depth. Another way to add layers is by adding prepared ingredients to your salad like pickles, marinated or grilled veggies, or anything brined, like olives or capers.

    How do you get the most out of a salad? ›

    Adding protein and fat to the salad helps your body digest the carbohydrates more slowly and give you a steady stream of energy. Protein also provides a feeling of fullness that you won't get from vegetables alone.

    What is strawberry spinach? ›

    Strawberry spinach is comprised of arrow-shaped leaves growing in a low rosette with upright, flowering stems that seasonally produce clusters of brightly colored berries. The green leaves are broad, flat, thin, and triangular to spade-shaped, averaging 2 to 10 centimeters in length.

    What is the best combination for strawberry? ›

    Next time you tear open a punnet be sure to give at least one of these a try to take your strawberry consumption to the next level.
    1. Avocado. ...
    2. Spinach. ...
    3. Black pepper and balsamic vinegar. ...
    4. Rhubarb. ...
    5. Chilli. ...
    6. Fish. ...
    7. Rosemary. ...
    8. Salty cheese.

    How do restaurants make their salads taste so good? ›

    Restaurants salt their salads.

    In the restaurant I worked in, I also noticed that cooks seasoned every element with a pinch of salt — even the lettuce. This resulted in every bite tasting vibrant and flavorful. "Season your salad just like you would anything else," Simpson said.

    What are the three 3 keys to a quality salad? ›

    The three keys to ensuring a quality salad are:
    • The freshness of ingredients.
    • Having all the ingredients blend together in harmony.
    • Making sure the salad is appealing to the eye.

    How do restaurants keep their salads so crisp? ›

    The Keys to Crisp Lettuce

    Lettuce actually needs a good amount of airflow, in addition to a bit of moisture (but not too much!), in order to stay crisp. That's why restaurants store their lettuce in special perforated bins that allow for air circulation while it's held in the fridge.

    What can I put in a salad to make it filling? ›

    Try four ounces of one of the following:
    1. Beans like black, chickpeas (hummus), cannellini or adzuki.
    2. Chicken.
    3. Edamame.
    4. Eggs (over easy, soft boiled, or chopped hard boiled)
    5. Lean beef.
    6. Lentils.
    7. Reduced fat cheese.
    8. Seafood (sardines, tuna, shrimp, salmon)

    What is considered as the most important part of a salad? ›

    That leads us to the final, and perhaps most important element of an amazing salad: dressing.

    Is spinach and strawberries good for you? ›

    Strawberries are rich in vitamin C, fiber and antioxidants, yet free of cholesterol, fat and sodium. Spinach is, indeed, as good for you as your mother said. It's a good source of iron. As a dark, leafy green, it is high in beta-carotene, a disease-fighting antioxidant.

    Can you eat strawberry spinach raw? ›

    Strawberry Spinach - Botany

    The juice from the flowers was also used as a red dye by natives. The fruits contain small, black, lens-shaped seeds that are 0.7-1.2 mm long. The greens are edible raw or as a potherb, but should be eaten in moderation.

    Are strawberry greens good for you? ›

    They have more health benefits than the berries themselves. Strawberry leaves are completely edible and are high in antioxidants, vitamin C, calcium and iron. You can enjoy the green leaves in your salad or smoothies.

    Can strawberry and grapes be eaten together? ›

    Yes, eating grapes and strawberries can be beneficial for weight loss as part of a balanced diet that includes a variety of nutrient-dense foods. Grapes and strawberries are low in calories and high in fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants, making them a great choice for those looking to lose weight.

    Are strawberries and grapes good? ›

    Berries and grapes are rich in nutrients called 'flavonoids' which help slow the rate at which the body absorbs fat.

    What fruits do grapes pair well with? ›

    Grape: Pairs well with almond, apple, chocolate, citrus (especially lemon), ginger, hazelnut, mint, pear, pecan, raisin, raspberry, rosemary, strawberry, and walnut. The flavor is an obvious companion for brandy and wines of all varietals, though grape co*cktails also do well with a rum base.

    What are strawberries not compatible with? ›

    Plants like tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, melons, peppers, roses, mint, and okra may actually contribute to this deadly disease in strawberry plants. It is essential to note that strawberries should not even be planted in beds that have recently housed those plants on this list.

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