This vegan strawberry spinach salad is a fresh summery salad that you can whip up in minutes with a bag of baby spinach and some fresh strawberries!   It is surprisingly delicious and makes my whole family, even my kids, eat plate after plate of spinach salad. The perfect colorful dish to bring to any picnic or potluck!

A vegan strawberry spinach salad on a white plate with strawberries on top and around the plate.

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Why you’ll love this recipe

  • vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free so everyone can enjoy it!
  • kid-friendly and encourages even picky eaters to eat their spinach!
  • the perfect combo of sweet, savory, and tangy.
  • easy to add protein and make it into a meal!

Ingredients and substitutions

For the Salad

  • Baby Spinach – the pre-washed bagged or boxed spinach makes it quick and easy!  If you are using fresh-picked or farmstand spinach makes sure to wash it very well.  You will need to soak it and rinse it with a salad spinner to get all the sand and dirt off. 
  • Strawberries – fresh in-season strawberries taste the best!
  • Protein – (optional) vegan chicken strips or Butler Soy Curls are delicious on this salad and turn it into more of a meal.  Crispy fried tofu is also delicious on this salad.

For the Dressing

  • Oil – canola oil has the best flavor in this dressing.
  • Sweetener – sugar, coconut sugar, agave nectar, or maple syrup all work well to sweeten this dressing.
  • Vinegar – for acidity to balance out the sweetness.  You can use white or red wine vinegar.
  • Strawberries – to make it a beautiful pink color and give the salad more strawberry flavor.
  • Mustard Powder – for flavor.  You can leave it out if you don’t have any, but it does provide more depth of flavor to the dressing.
  • Poppy Seeds – for a little crunch and texture.  (optional).
A close up of baby spinach with sliced strawberries and pink strawberry dressing over it.

Instructions

My kids call this dressing “Strawberry Milkshake Dressing” because it’s sweet, creamy like a strawberry milkshake, but the vinegar balances out the flavors perfectly, so it still tastes like dressing.  (If you like poppy seeds, they are great in this dressing too). 

  1. Put all the dressing ingredients into a blender or an immersion blender container and blend until creamy!  
  2. If you want poppy seeds, stir them in with a spoon after you are done blending.
  3. Pour over the baby spinach and toss with some sliced strawberries.
  4. Add some cooked vegan chicken strips if you want and enjoy it!

I promise a bowl of spinach will go in minutes with strawberry dressing on it!  I have to admit, I have an addiction to this dressing!  It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to lick the plate clean!

Sugar-free option

If you don’t like a sweet dressing, you can reduce the sugar or even leave it out.  I’ve found that about 3 tablespoons of sugar in the whole batch of dressing makes it sweet enough that my kids eat plate after plate of spinach! (The amount of sugar needed will vary depending on the sweetness of the strawberries).

Vegan “chicken?”

Grill up some vegan chick’n if you want to make it more of a meal.   The chick’n patties from Gardein or the Beyond Meat grilled chick’n strips work well sliced up on the salad. 

A strawberry and spinach salad with strawberry dressing and vegan chicken strips on top.

I love the Butler Soy Curls for this salad too.  If you haven’t used them before, they are great for anything that you would make with chicken strips.  They come dehydrated and will take on the flavor of the broth that you rehydrate them in.  They’re gluten-free too!

To make the Butler Soy Curls into chicken strips

  1. Rehydrate 2 cups of soy curls in 1 cup of very hot chicken-style vegan broth and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
  2. Saute over medium heat in a frying pan in a little oil until slightly crispy.

Take this to-go

This beautiful summer salad is perfect to bring to picnics and parties!  Just make sure to leave the dressing on the side until you are ready to serve it or it will get soggy.

A glass salad bowl filled with spinach and sliced strawberries and drizzled with vegan strawberry vinaigrette dressing.

This salad is also delicious with vegan feta sprinkled on top!

If you love strawberries, be sure to check out my vegan strawberry muffins, strawberry chia seed jam, dairy-free strawberry cream cheese, vegan strawberry shortcake, or vegan strawberry cupcake recipes too!

More summer salad ideas

Vegan strawberry spinach salad recipe

A white plate full of baby spinach and sliced strawberries with pink strawberry dressing drizzled over it.
Diet
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5 from 4 rating

Vegan Strawberry Spinach Salad

Yield: 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Author: Monica Davis
A vegan spinach strawberry "chicken" salad made with baby spinach and homemade strawberry vinaigrette dressing.
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Ingredients

  • 1 5 oz. package of washed baby spinach
  • 5 strawberries
  • 1 package vegan chicken, like Gardein, Beyond Meat, or Butler Soy Curls (optional)

For the dressing:

  • ½ cup canola , or any neutral-flavored oil
  • 2-4 tablespoons vegan sugar, (optional)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon dry ground mustard powder
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar, or wine vinegar
  • 3 medium strawberries
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds, (optional)

Instructions
 

Prep the Ingredients

  • Cook the chick’n strips according to package directions, and let cool (optional).
  • While chick’n is cooling, put 5 oz of spinach in a salad bowl.
  • Slice about 2 strawberries and mix in with the spinach.

Make the Dressing

  • Put 1/2 cup oil, 2-4 tbsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp mustard, 2 tbsp vinegar, and 3 strawberries in a blender or use an immersion blender.
  • Blend until smooth and creamy. Stir in 1 tsp poppy seeds after blending if desired.

Assemble the Salad

  • Top the salad with sliced strawberries and chick’n strips.
  • Pour the dressing over the salad just before eating.

Notes

  • Do not mix the dressing and the spinach ahead of time. 
  • Pour dressing just before eating.
  • Stir poppy seeds into the dressing after mixing with a blender.
To make the Butler Soy Curls into chicken strips
  1. Rehydrate 2 cups of soy curls in 1 cup of very hot chicken-style vegan broth and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
  2. Saute over medium heat in a frying pan in a little oil until slightly crispy.
Serving: 2cups, Calories: 285kcal, Carbohydrates: 8g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 28g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 146mg, Potassium: 37mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 23IU, Vitamin C: 14mg, Calcium: 11mg, Iron: 1mg
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*This recipe was originally published on June 1, 2017.  It was updated on May 1, 2020, to include new images.