Strawberry Walnut Salad With Goat Cheese
This strawberry salad is made with walnuts, goat cheese, basil, and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. It’s the perfect mix of sweet, savoury, and refreshing! Recipe is ready in about 20 minutes.
One of my favourite ways to serve nutritious strawberries is in a salad! The pairing of sweet, juicy fruits with more savoury flavours is simply divine. It’s something I truly crave in the warmer months 🙂
I’ve been making a variation of this strawberry walnut salad for years, so it was finally time to add it to the blog. It’s pretty versatile, and I’ve included a handful of ingredient substitutions for you below. Enjoy!
Want more dietitian-designed summer salad inspiration? Check out my roundup of easy summer salad recipes for more ideas. You may also love this strawberry + corn salad, or this strawberry, cucumber + quinoa salad!
About the ingredients & substitutions
This strawberry salad is pretty versatile! Below are the ingredients and possible substitutions:
- Strawberries: The star of the show! Look for strawberries that are a vibrant red colour with little white on the top. These will be the most juicy and sweet. I do not recommend using frozen strawberries for this, as they will be too watery when thawed. If you’d like, you can also add some fresh blueberries or raspberries to the mix.
- Spring mix: I love using a spring mix/mesclun mix/mixed baby greens, but you are welcome to substitute them with baby spinach, baby kale, or baby arugula. Just be sure to use a tender, baby green.
- Walnuts: For some added crunch + healthy fats! Feel free to substitute with pecans (my first choice) or slivered almonds if needed. If you have a nut allergy, you can omit the nuts and use pumpkin seeds (pepitas) instead.
- Goat Cheese: For some creaminess + salty flavour to complement the sweetness of the strawberries. Feel free to swap with either feta or blue cheese crumbles. If vegan/dairy-free, you can omit or use a dairy-free alternative.
- Avocado: For some creamy, healthy fats! Avocado helps to make this dish more nourishing, while also helping us to absorb any fat-soluble nutrients in this recipe.
- Basil: Fresh basil is added to round of the flavours of this salad. It pairs perfectly with the other ingredients, but if you have fresh mint on hand you could likely use that too.
- My go-to balsamic vinaigrette dressing, which is made with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon, garlic, and honey! You can swap honey with maple syrup if needed. I use this dressing on EVERYTHING 😉
TIP: If you want to add more bulk to this salad, feel free to add in a grain like cooked quinoa, farro, or couscous!
Full ingredient measurements and detailed instructions are located in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post!
What to serve with this strawberry salad
This strawberry walnut salad is the perfect side dish to your warm weather dinners. I recommend pairing it with a protein like salmon, cod, or chicken.
If you’d like to enjoy this salad as more of a main meal, feel free to enjoy a bigger portion and add a protein directly on top of it. It would go well with hard-boiled eggs, grilled chicken, baked salmon, or sautéed shrimp.
If adding proteins directly to the salad, keep the ingredients simple when cooking it (like olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, etc.) This way, it won’t clash with the flavours of the salad.
Strawberry nutrition benefits
Strawberries are an excellent source of Vitamin C – a serving of 8 strawberries (1 cup) has about the same amount as an orange!
Vitamin C plays an essential role in immune function and helps form your body’s blood vessels, muscle, and collagen. It also helps your body absorb iron from foods and acts as an antioxidant.
In addition to Vitamin C, strawberries are also a source of dietary fibre (a 1 cup serving contains 3 grams). Fibre helps to lower blood cholesterol and promotes a healthy digestive system.
Strawberries also contain a small amount of other micronutrients, like:
- potassium
- vitamin B6
- folate
- phosphorus
- magnesium
Love strawberries as much as I do? Check out my roundup of easy strawberry recipes for more inspiration. This whipped feta with balsamic roasted strawberries is one of the most popular recipes on my website!
More salads with strawberries:
- Summer Salad With Corn & Strawberries
- Strawberry Cucumber Quinoa Salad
- Strawberry Tomato & Avocado Salad
- Halloumi Salad With Couscous & Strawberries
- Strawberry Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette
Did you give this Strawberry Walnut Salad Recipe a try? Let me know by leaving a comment and recipe rating below!
If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or Pinterest – seeing your creations always makes my day. You can also subscribe to my email list to never miss a new recipe or nutrition education post!
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Get the Recipe: 20-Minute Strawberry Walnut Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups spring mix (mesclun mix) (or spinach/arugula)
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced into quarters (stems removed)
- 1 cup raw walnuts (or pecans/almonds)
- 1 medium-large avocado, cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled (or feta/blue cheese)
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (or fresh mint)
- Salt + pepper, to taste
Balsamic Vinaigrette:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 a lemon, juice only
- 1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced)
- 1 tsp honey (or maple syrup)
- Salt + pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Make balsamic vinaigrette by adding all dressing ingredients into a small bowl or jar with a lid. Whisk or shake vigorously to combine.
- Add all salad ingredients to a large serving plate or salad bowl. Pour dressing on top and toss to combine.
- Serve + enjoy!
Notes
- This salad is best paired as a side dish to a simple protein, like baked salmon, baked cod, grilled chicken, or seared scallops.
- If you’d like it as an entree salad, feel free to add cooked proteins directly on top. It would go well with salmon + chicken (as above), as well as hard-boiled eggs or cooked shrimp.
- If you want to add more bulk to this salad, feel free to add in a grain like cooked quinoa, farro, or couscous! These would also be plant-based ways to increase the protein content.
- For a nut-free option, swap the nuts for a seed (my favourite here would be pumpkin seeds).
- For a dairy-free option, omit the cheese or swap with a dairy-free alternative.
- Because this salad will get soggy if making in advance, I’d recommend making the dressing and storing it in an airtight container or jar in the fridge until you’re ready to serve the salad.
- The rest of the ingredients can be plated really quickly, but if you want to make some of it in advance, you can wash + cut the strawberries to cut down on time. Add the avocado and basil before serving to prevent browning.
- Best enjoyed fresh, but leftovers will keep for a day in an airtight container in the fridge!
Nutrition
As a dietitian, I create recipes with whole food ingredients that provide the nutrients needed for optimal health. My nutrition philosophy does not focus on numbers; however, I understand that this information can be helpful.
Do note that the nutrition info provided is an estimate and I cannot guarantee correctness of the displayed values. These numbers will differ depending on brands used, recipe modifications, and amount eaten. If you require specific nutrition information due to medical reasons, please consult with your dietitian or physician.
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know by leaving a recipe rating below, or by tagging @walderwellness on Instagram. I love seeing your beautiful creations!
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4 Comments on “Strawberry Walnut Salad With Goat Cheese”
Is the nutritional content for this salad available? I am interested in low cal high nutrition salads.
Thank you!
Hi Susan! Thanks so much for your question. I don’t have the nutrition info calculated for the recipes on my website just yet, but it is calculated over on the whisk app! You can see the recipe + nutrition facts HERE (hopefully the link works if you don’t have a whisk account). Otherwise, you can enter the URL in their online nutrition calculator, too!
I wouldn’t say this one is particularly low calorie as that’s not something I typically focus on, but it is certainly high nutrition! The walnuts, avocado, goat cheese, and olive oil all provide healthy fats that, while very nutritious, do increase the calorie content. You could try it without the avocado, perhaps, if you’d like to lower it!
Great app using whisk.
This salad was really fantastic!
I served it with salmon and asparagus/Hollandaise sauce.
Delicious!
Hi Susan! Thanks so much for taking the time to take a review. I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this one. Love that you paired it with salmon and asparagus – so delicious!!