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Strawberry Spinach Salad

May 19, 2022 by girlinspired Leave a Comment

Who would have ever guessed that strawberries and spinach would be a dynamite combo to liven up a standard leafy salad?! Sweet, juicy strawberries and blueberries, creamy avocado, crunchy candied pecans, and a zesty vinaigrette come together to make this Strawberry Spinach Salad a family favorite!

Glass Bowl filled with Strawberry Spinach Salad, bowl with strawberries, salad dressing in the back, white stacked tiles

This salad ticks off all the boxes for a nutritious, tasty spring or summer salad, packing fresh flavors, crunch from the onion and pecans, and creaminess from the avocado and feta cheese. 

It’s a fantastic addition to any barbeque dishes, casseroles, or fish dishes such as pan-seared salmon. You could even add shredded chicken or chicken cubes to this Strawberry Spinach Salad for a light protein-packed lunch!

If you love summer-inspired salads then be sure to try this Broccoli Grape Salad and Chicken Salad with a Burst of Citrus!

Glass bowl filled with Strawberry Spinach Salad, glass with salad dressing, two small plates filled with strawberry spinach salad, black and white checked linen on marble countertop

Table of contents

  • What is Strawberry Spinach Salad?
  • Variations and Substitutions
  • FAQs
  • Tips For Making Strawberry Spinach Salad
  • More Delicious Salads For Your Table

What is Strawberry Spinach Salad?

This Strawberry Spinach Salad is a refreshing summer salad with star ingredients including juicy strawberries and leafy baby spinach. It’s a delicious mixture of fruits, greens, crunchy nuts, and creamy crumbled feta – perfect for those hot days!

Variations and Substitutions

  • Use goat cheese or blue cheese instead of feta.
  • Use your favorite vinaigrette for this salad – sweet varieties work the best. Otherwise, consider combining ingredients such as olive oil with maple syrup and a drop or two of lemon juice for your own homemade dressing.
  • Use store-bought candied pecans or make your own candied pecans from scratch for this salad. Feel free to include different nuts too, if you like, such as almonds or walnuts.
  • Add other fruit to this salad such as apple, pear, or mandarin oranges. You could also add extra berries such as raspberries and blackberries.
  • Add grilled chicken to this strawberry salad, quinoa, farro, or other grains, as a main meal instead of just a side dish.
Close up of Strawberry Spinach Salad on top of a white marble surface

FAQs

Can I Make this Strawberry Spinach Salad In Advance?

Yes, you can! Separate the dry components of the salad from the wet and store them in airtight containers in the refrigerator overnight or a day prior to serving. The dressing can be stored in a jar but make sure that you shake it well before adding to the salad.

I don’t suggest making this salad too far in advance (as in, longer than a day) since your fresh ingredients will start to lose their structure and textures from wilting, especially with the salad dressing added. 

How Should I Store Leftover Salad?

Store any leftover salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days at the most. 

Depending on how much dressing was added to the salad, your salad may or may not hold up well for too long in storage so it’s best to use it up as soon as possible.

Make some sandwiches with any stored salad the next day as a way to use up leftovers. 

Can I Use Other Fruit For This Salad?

Yes, definitely! I’ve actually combined strawberries with blueberries for this salad although you can opt to use only strawberries or only blueberries. Any other berry will also work really well in this salad. 

Apples and pears would be another delicious option in place of the strawberries and blueberries or as a fruity addition to the strawberries and blueberries used.

Salad dressing getting poured into a glass bowl filled with Strawberry Spinach Salad, white subway tiles in the back

Tips For Making Strawberry Spinach Salad

  • The great thing about this salad is that the ingredients and quantities are completely customizable. Feel free to experiment with your personal preferences!
  • For homemade candied pecans, simply combine 1 cup of pecans, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar in a skillet.  Then heat and stir the ingredients until the sugar is completely dissolved in the butter.  Spread the mixture onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 until the pecans are crisp. Making extra candied pecans is great as a future snack too!
  • The type of vinaigrette used for the recipe is flexible. A sweet vinegar dressing is extremely complimentary! Other great options include poppyseed dressing or a store-bought mango champagne vinaigrette.
  • Substitute blue cheese or goat cheese for the feta. They are both rich and creamy cheeses which would work very well as a replacement.
  • Serve your strawberry spinach salad ingredients in a large bowl, preferably in glass, to showcase all of those beautiful fresh strawberries and bright salad ingredients.
Close up of Strawberry Spinach Salad wit wooden serving spoon

More Delicious Salads For Your Table

  • Chinese Chicken Salad
  • Artichoke Rice Salad
  • Broccoli Grape Salad
Glass bowl filled with Strawberry Spinach Salad and a wooden serving spoon, black and white striped linen, half an avocado and strawberries on a white marble surface

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Sweet, juicy strawberries and blueberries, creamy avocado, crunchy candied pecans, and a zesty vinaigrette come together with superfood baby spinach leaves to make this Strawberry Spinach Salad a family favorite!
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 406kcal
Author: girlinspired
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  • 5 oz. fresh baby spinach rinsed and patted dry
  • 1 cup candied pecans
  • 1 quart strawberries rinsed, dried, and halved or quartered, stems removed
  • ¼ red onion thinly sliced
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries rinsed
  • 2 avocados diced
  • ½ cup feta cheese crumbled
  • ½ cup vinaigrette more or less to taste

Instructions

  • In a large salad bowl, toss together spinach candied pecans, strawberries, onion, and blueberries. Add avocado and cheese.
    Glass Bowl filled with spinach, pecans, cut strawberries, cut avocado, blueberries, onions, feta cheese, bowl with strawberries, half an avocado, bowl with blueberries, bowl with onions, black and white checked linen on a white marble countertop
  • Pour salad dressing over ingredients and toss gently to combine. Adjust dressing to taste.
    Salad dressing getting poured into a glass bowl filled with Strawberry Spinach Salad, white subway tiles in the back
  • Serve immediately.
    Close up of Strawberry Spinach Salad wit wooden serving spoon
  • Storage:
  • The separate components of the salad can be prepared a day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator in separate airtight containers or bags until ready to serve.
    Bowl filled with baby spinach, bowl with pecans, avocado cut in half, bowl of blueberries, bowl of cut onions, bowl of feta cheese, bowl with strawberries, half , a wooden kitchen board, bottle with salad dressing on a marble countertop
Tried this recipe?Follow me on Pinterest @girlinspired!

Notes

  • The ingredients and amounts are completely customizable.
  • To make your own candied pecans, combine 1 cup of pecans, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar in a skillet. Heat and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved in the butter. Spread onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 until pecans are crisp.
  • Sweet vinaigrettes are delicious with this recipe, as is a poppyseed dressing. We used a store-bought mango champagne vinaigrette and it was perfect.
  • Great substitutions for the feta cheese include blue cheese or goat cheese.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 406kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 238mg | Potassium: 733mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 2398IU | Vitamin C: 109mg | Calcium: 134mg | Iron: 2mg

Filed Under: Food and Recipes, Soups|Salads|Side Dishes Tagged With: avocado, spinach, strawberry

Italian Sausage Pasta

April 19, 2022 by girlinspired Leave a Comment

Mouthwatering Italian sausage pasta is creamy, flavorful, and comforting. You can easily pair it with a small dinner salad, a side of veggies, or just eat it as a one pan meal. When we have a busy week our family is all about the 30 minutes dinners!

side shot of italian sausage pasta in a skillet with a wooden spoon

Originally this recipe started as my famous chicken pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, and it’s absolutely delicious. But you can only eat chicken so many times in a week, right? So I swapped the protein for the seasoned Italian sausage that we all love and made another pasta dish that quickly turned to a family fave. I must say, there’s not another spice out there that tastes the same as the fennel (the distinctive flavor you taste) in sausage.

two plates of creamy italian sausage pasta next to a skillet

Anytime I can’t decide what to make, it all circles back to pasta. Most of the time the recipes don’t require many ingredients and can be made fairly quickly. If you are a pasta lover like me be sure to try this easy lasagna recipe or my sour cream noodle bake. Both are perfect when you want a simple, comforting meal, and even the picker eaters will like it!

top shot of italian sausage pasta in a skillet with a wooden spoon

Ingredients for Cheesy Italian Sausage Pasta

  • Rigatoni pasta – you can use any medium size noodles such as penne, cavatappi, ziti, or rotini
  • Hot Italian sausage – you can also use mild, but the “hot” isn’t spicy, it’s just packed with even more delicious flavor
  • Onion
  • Salted butter
  • Minced garlic
  • Italian seasoning
  • Sundried tomatoes in oil and herbs – the oil is full of flavor also, use it generously in the dish
  • Heavy cream – you can use milk if needed, but the creaminess from the heavy cream is really yummy
  • Baby spinach
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
ingredients needed to make stovetop italian sausage pasta

How to Make the Best Italian Sausage Pasta Recipe

In a large pot of salted water, boil the rigatoni and reserve a cup of pasta water. Drain the rest.

In the meantime, brown the Italian sausage over medium heat in a large skillet. Once there is only a little pink remaining, add the diced onion. Continue cooking until it softens.

Add the butter, Italian seasoning, garlic, and sundried tomatoes. Cook for another couple of minutes.

Pour in the heavy cream and reserved pasta water, then bring to a simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in the spinach and cooked rigatoni.

Simmer for a couple of minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

getting a scoop of italian sausage pasta on a fork

Variations, Substitutions, and Helpful Tips

Make it cheesy. If you’d like to add up to 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese to the sauce, you can do so when you’ve added the cream and reserved pasta water to the skillet – add a handful at a time and stirring until it is melted and incorporated into the sauce.

Swap proteins. You can swap in chicken, regular mild Italian sausage, or even shrimp for the hot Italian sausage in the recipe.  The hot Italian sausage adds a ton of flavor, I wouldn’t consider the finished dish even remotely spicy, but it does have a ton of seasoning and flavor.

Sub chicken broth. You can substitute chicken broth for the pasta water.

Use half and half or milk. You can also use half and half or milk instead of the heavy cream. If you use half and half or milk, increase the quantity and you may not need the pasta water.

The pasta water helps to thin out the sauce.  Using heavy cream makes a nice rich creamy sauce, even with the addition of the pasta water (the pasta water also holds some starches from the cooked pasta so it helps to thicken the sauce.)

Make a full box of pasta. If you’d like to use a full box of rigatoni, I think you could use the same amount of sausage and onions, but double the remaining ingredients (to make enough sauce). You will probably need to use a much larger skillet or stockpot.

Colorful. Add fresh basil (or fresh parsley) and/or fresh cherry tomatoes to this recipe for some added brightness.

Use oil with the tomatoes. Don’t be shy about adding the oil along with the tomatoes into the sauce.  The oil helps flavor the sauce – I typically keep my sundried tomatoes in the refrigerator and the oil is more solid when it’s cold – so I just scoop the sundried tomatoes and whatever oil they are surrounded in, into the skillet.

Using Italian sausage links. If you don’t want to use ground sausage, you can use the links instead.

close up of italian spicy sausage pasta on a spoon

Storing and Reheating

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

The sauce thickens substantially as it sits and cools and the pasta absorbs the liquid. To reheat, add some milk or cream to the pasta and reheat on the stovetop.

Italian Sausage Pasta

This creamy pasta dinner with spicy italian sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, and wilted spinach is the best 30 minute meal you will ever try!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 699kcal
Author: girlinspired
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. ½ of 1 lb. box rigatoni pasta
  • 1 lb. hot italian sausage
  • ½ medium yellow onion diced (about 1 cup)
  • ¼ cup salted butter
  • 2-3 garlic cloves minced
  • ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • ½ cup chopped sundried tomatoes in oil and herbs
  • 1 ½ cups heavy cream
  • 2-3 cups fresh baby spinach
  • Salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Instructions

  • Cook rigatoni in a large pot of salted water to desired tenderness. Reserve about 1 cup of the water to make the sauce and drain the remaining water from the pasta.
  • Meanwhile, begin browning sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. When sausage is about halfway cooked (some pink, some brown sausage in pan), add the diced onion and continue cooking until the sausage is cooked and the onion is soft.
  • Add butter, garlic, Italian seasoning, and sundried tomatoes to the skillet and cook over medium heat 2-3 minutes longer.
  • Add the cream and reserved pasta water to the sausage mixture and bring to a simmer. Simmer 3-4 minutes.
  • Stir the spinach into the sauce (it will wilt quickly and does not need to be cooked further), followed by the pasta.
  • Simmer 1-2 minutes longer to thicken the sauce as needed.
Tried this recipe?Follow me on Pinterest @girlinspired!

Nutrition

Calories: 699kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 55g | Saturated Fat: 27g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 145mg | Sodium: 665mg | Potassium: 553mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2170IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 2mg

Filed Under: Food and Recipes, Main Course Tagged With: pasta, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes

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