Simply The Best Spinach Salad Recipe with eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, sesame seeds and a healthy salad dressing. Quick, customizable and is the perfect side salad to any meal!
Along with strawberry spinach salad and my favorite spinach salad, I promise this is one of the best healthy salads you will ever make!
I have the best spinach salad recipe for you! 18 years ago we used to live in Calgary and I was a brand new mom. One night, a friend invited us over for dinner. Part of dinner was this spinach salad.
She tossed it with the dressing in a garbage bag! Not environmentally friendly choice but every spinach leaf got coated in delicious spinach salad dressing.
Since then, this recipe for spinach salad has become my go-to salad recipe and I use tongs for tossing it because I feel bad to throw out a plastic bag after a single use.
I am sure you will love it too! Spinach is full of good for your nutrients. With its mild taste, I have come to use it in everything from healthy spinach dip to a green smoothie!
Reader’s Review
This is my first time ever reviewing a recipe but it is so good and easy I just had to review. Amazing dressing. So simple. It will definitely be my new go to for spinach salad.
Jen
Ingredients for Spinach Salad Recipe
You can actually add whatever you want to this salad but here is the basic guideline of what I use because I always have these simple ingredients on hand.
- Baby spinach: Small spinach leaves are more tender, flavorful and honestly just fit on your fork better. Plus I prefer baby spinach to regular spinach because it is pre-washed.
- Tomatoes: Add a burst of color and juicy, sweet flavor. I love to use grape or cherry tomatoes because they don’t leak as much. My favorite full-grown tomatoes that taste good year round are tomatoes on the vine. You will have to chop them.
- Cucumber: I love mini cucumbers for their taste but English cucumber or summer garden cucumber (might have to peel) works.
- Mushrooms: My friend used sliced white mushrooms. They add some great texture to the spinach salad. Brown mushrooms are more flavorful but I find it doesn’t matter in this salad since they do not get cooked.
- Hard boiled eggs: For the protein and that egg yolk is so creamy!
- Sesame seeds: Add crunch with a nutty flavor.
- Spinach salad dressing: An easy salad dressing with extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard and soy sauce. You can substitute the apple cider vinegar with lemon juice.
How to Make Spinach Salad
Prep ingredients: Slice hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and cucumbers. I love to make hard boiled eggs in Instant Pot or hard boiled eggs in air fryer because they peel easily every time. But here is a stovetop method as well.
Now is a good time to toast sesame seeds. I love to quickly toast my sesame seeds in a small skillet on the stove. You can opt not to toast your seeds, but they do add another layer of flavor to the salad.
Place ingredients in bowl: Fill large bowl with spinach, then add eggs, mushrooms, cucumbers and tomatoes. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds last.
Make spinach salad dressing: In a small jar with a tight fitting lid, combine olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard and soy sauce. Shake until well mixed or just whisk it in a small bowl.
Then drizzle dressing over the spinach salad, use as much or as little as you like.
Toss spinach salad: Toss salad gently. I also like to start with a small amount of dressing and then add more as needed while tossing.
Serve immediately: This salad is best served immediately as spinach wilts fast.
Variations
This spinach salad recipe is so flexible! Feel like sprucing it up? Here are a few ideas.
- Make it a main dish with the addition of grilled chicken breast.
- Add red onion for a burst of pungent flavor with sweet mild undertones.
- Toss the salad with freshly crumbled feta cheese, goat cheese, or grated Parmesan cheese.
- Add chopped apples with dried cranberries in the fall.
- Skip the sesame seeds and add toasted walnuts, pecans or sourdough croutons.
- Use a different dressing like poppy seed dressing, healthy ranch, spinach salad dressing or any one of these healthy salad dressings.
- Chopped baked bacon would add a salty and savory addition.
What To Serve With Spinach Salad?
The beauty of this salad recipe is it’s just as good for a weeknight dinner as it is for a holiday meal! You can serve it with a variety of main dishes.
- Baked chicken breast goes with it well for a low carb dinner. So does baked salmon or garlic butter steak bites.
- It would be extremely easy to make chicken bites in air fryer or steak bites in air fryer while you are preparing the salad.
- For a quick and budget friendly vegetarian dinner make simple spaghetti recipe or low carb almond flour crust pizza.
- During the holidays serve with sirloin tip roast or boneless turkey breast roast.
Can You Make It Ahead of Time?
Yes but once tossed, it is best to enjoy spinach salad the same day. Fresh spinach wilts extremely fast.
To make spinach salad recipe ahead of time either for meal prep or busy holidays, refrigerate all salad ingredients in a bowl covered with plastic wrap separately from the dressing for up to 2 days.
I also recommend to store sesame seeds in an airtight container in a cool dry place because they will get soggy in the refrigerator. Dressing lasts for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
FAQs
Olive oil hardens when refrigerated. Just place the jar with the dressing in a bowl with hot water for 10 minutes or so. Always shake salad dressing before adding to salad.
It depends what your goals are. According to Harvard university, to get the most lutein from spinach is best to eat it chopped raw. It also provides more fiber than cooked spinach.
However, with cooked spinach you will consume much more beta-carotene, iron and calcium. Only one problem, cooked spinach doesn’t taste good in a salad.
First of all, do not add ingredients you don’t like. Any vegetables and nuts are welcome in this salad recipe. As for dressing ingredients, some people are not fans of soy sauce or apple cider vinegar. In this case, use 1/2 teaspoon of salt or white wine vinegar instead.
More Simple Salad Recipes to Try
- Spinach avocado salad
- Lettuce salad
- Arugula feta salad
- Lemon kale salad
- Spring mix salad
- Simple butter lettuce salad
Easy Spinach Salad Recipe
Video
Ingredients
Spinach Salad
- 11 ounces box baby spinach, pre-washed
- 4 large hard boiled eggs, sliced
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in halves
- 1 long English cucumber, sliced
- 2 cups mushrooms, raw and sliced
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
Healthy Spinach Salad Dressing
- 1/3 cup olive oil, extra virgin
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions
- In a large salad bowl, add spinach, eggs, tomatoes, cucumber, mushrooms and sesame seeds.
- In a small Mason jar, add olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard and soy sauce. Screw on lid tight and shake until well mixed.
- Pour dressing over spinach salad before serving and toss gently. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Make ahead: Refrigerate salad ingredients separately from the dressing covered with plastic for up to 2 days.
- Dressing in a jar can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Place in a bowl with hot water for 10 minutes to warm up, then shake.
- Cheese: Add fresh feta, goat cheese or parmesan.
- Onion: Add chopped red onion or green onion.
- Lemon juice or red wine vinegar are a good substitute for apple cider vinegar.
- Nuts: Toasted almonds or walnuts add additional crunch.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi, did I miss how much of everything I must use for the spinach salad dressing?
There is full recipe card with all measurements lower in the post.
Thank you for a delicious recipe. We put in everything: cucumber, tomatoes, eggs, mushrooms, apples, feta cheese, dried cranberries, red onion, roasted sesame seeds and bacon. Yummy!
Oh I love this combination! Glad you loved the recipe, Lauran.
This is my first time ever reviewing a recipe but it is so good and easy I just had to review. Amazing dressing. So simple. It will definitely be my new go to for spinach salad.
It’s my absolute pleasure to hear you enjoyed this recipe so much! Your comment made my day!
Been using this recipe for the last 4-6 weeks and I ate it about twice a week on average. I don’t always do repeats on the recipes over the internet but this one’s a keeper. I don’t always like spinach salad. Somehow this mixture of ingredients make this a super delicious mild spinach salad. I got the organic spinach at Costco and the mushrooms, cucumbers, onions and tomatoes at the farmer’s market. The combination is a delight every single time. I am running out of spinach too so I will have to pick some more up this week at Costco. I used to put the spinach in my smoothie and that is definitely a great way to go and get your greens, but I sometimes get a burnout on the smoothies and have to take a break for a few days. I eat this on a day I don’t make a smoothie, It’s a win-win for me!
Love this recipe except it is much to heavy on the Dijon Mustard. The taste of the mustard overwhelmed the salad. I cut the mustard down to 1/2 a tbs and it was so much better!
Can’t have enough of this salad! Will be using this dressing for other salads as well. Never had raw mushrooms before. But the combination of the mushrooms, eggs and that dressing is truly exquisite.
So happy to hear, Helena! My kids live raw mushrooms. They are super delish and good for you.