This strawberry walnut salad is a super quick and healthy salad that you can whip up in under 20 minutes. It's packed full of nutrients and is great as a main or served as a side dish.
Who else is hanging onto summer by their nails? There's so much wonderful produce out there and this recipe certainly celebrates it! Super ripe red diamonds are needed for this strawberry walnut salad. None of those bland flavourless strawberries.
If you've got a reputation for making uninteresting salads, give this one a go. Get your mojo back with this delicious platter of summer flavours. And if you love this idea for a salad, you'll have to try our Nectarine Salad, Chicken Tostada Salad Bowl or Watermelon Basil Salad too.
Crisp salad greens with cucumber and crunchy toasted walnuts combined with sweet juicy strawberries and a drinkable black pepper balsamic dressing. What's not to love?! This salad feeds two very hungry people or it's perfect to serve as a side dish too.
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Why you'll love this recipe
Here are some reasons why you need this strawberry walnut salad recipe in your life:
Delicious - the combination of flavours in this salad are just perfect. Strawberries work so well with walnuts, feta, balsamic and black pepper. YUM!
Quick & easy - this is almost not even a recipe. It takes as long as it takes to toast some walnuts and hull some strawberries. Very simple.
Healthy - packed full of nutrients and vitamins, this salad gives the boost your body needs.
Side dish - serve as a main or a side dish, it works great with some grilled meat.
Dressing - the dressing is packed with flavour, you're not mistaken with the quantity of black pepper involved, it totally works!
Ingredients
You only need simple ingredients for this strawberry walnut salad recipe, this is what you'll need:
Strawberries - these perfect ruby jewels need to be picked when sweet. Unripe or bland ones just will not do unfortunately - this is a summer salad! The flavours will be incredible if you get the ingredients right.
Walnuts - we lightly toast our walnut halves in the oven for 5-10 minutes whilst preparing everything else. It brings out more of their delicious nuttiness. You can use smaller pieces as they're cheaper but just watch them as they may burn more quickly than the halves.
Balsamic - we recommend using a quality balsamic vinegar, one that is almost syrupy if you can, it will lend a more complex flavour and balances nicely between acidic and sweet.
Greens - you'll need a mix of your favourite salad greens. We've used baby spinach and arugula as the leafy base to this salad, for a mixture of mild and peppery.
Customisations
We know you love to mix things up with customisations and substitutions so here are some of our recommendations for this strawberry walnut salad recipe:
Cheese - you can switch out the feta crumbles with goat's cheese, shaved parmesan or shaved pecorino. All would be amazing on this salad.
Greens - mix it up with some alternative salad leaves, use some soft round lettuce, lambs lettuce or pea shoots. Whatever is fresh and available.
Glaze - if stuck for time or some ingredients, simply use some balsamic glaze from the store mixed with some black pepper and thinned down with a touch of water.
Dairy free - if you need to make this salad dairy free, just omit the cheese or use a dairy free alternative.
How to make a strawberry walnut salad
Follow these simple step by step guides to success for this strawberry salad recipe:
- Toast your walnuts on a baking sheet in the oven. Meanwhile, add all the salad dressing ingredients together in a bowl and whisk together. Alternatively you can add them to a jar and shake them together.
- Arrange and assemble the salad ingredients in a bowl or on a platter, top with the feta crumbles and drizzle with the balsamic dressing.
Expert tips
Make sure to read and follow these expert tips to ensure complete success with this strawberry walnut salad recipe:
Mandolin - make your preparation easier by slicing your cucumber and onion with a mandolin. Just be careful not to slice your fingers off!
Prep ahead - The salad preparation can be done ahead of time, even prepared in a box in the fridge for up to 3 days in advance. Just leave the dressing off until you're ready to eat.
Dressing - grab yourself a small jar or a squeezy condiment bottle, pour in the dressing ingredients, seal and shake it up. It'll be in an easily storable container once made too!
Multi tasking - Toast your nuts in the oven at the same time as you are preparing everything else. It'll take far less time doing it this way.
Recipe FAQs
We find that if you get strawberries nice and fresh, they will last far longer if they're stored in the fridge. You can rinse them in a very diluted vinegar or lemon/water solution, dry them off and place them in an unsealed container lined with kitchen paper - this will extend their life too.
All of the ingredients we have in our salad! Spinach, arugula, red onion, sweet onion, green onions, cucumber, watercress and lettuce. The list is not exhaustive.
Related recipes
Love this strawberry walnut salad recipe? Then you may want more of our salad recipes - here are some suggestions to get you started:
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Strawberry Walnut Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups hulled and quartered strawberries, approx 12 strawberries
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 1 cup wild rocket, baby arugula
- ½ cup thinly sliced cucumber , about ¼ cucumber
- ¼ cup red onion, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup walnut halves, toasted
- ¼ cup feta crumbles
For the Black Pepper Balsamic Dressing
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1-2 teaspoons water, to thin if needed
Instructions
Black Pepper Balsamic Dressing
- Add all the dressing ingredients into a small bowl or jar and whisk or shake together until combined.3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon honey, ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 1-2 teaspoons water
Toasting walnuts
- Place your walnut halves on a baking sheet and toast in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for 5-7 minutes until aromatic and toasted.⅓ cup walnut halves
Salad assembly
- Layer your salad ingredients however you like on a platter or just toss them gently together in a bowl. Top with feta crumbles and drizzle over the dressing. Serve immediately.1 ½ cups hulled and quartered strawberries, 1 cup baby spinach, 1 cup wild rocket, ½ cup thinly sliced cucumber, ¼ cup red onion, ¼ cup feta crumbles
Notes
- Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side.
- Use a mandolin to slice your cucumber and onion. Just be careful not to slice your fingers off!
- The salad preparation can be done ahead of time, even prepared in a box in the fridge for up to 3 days in advance. Just leave the dressing off until you're ready to eat.
- Use a jar or squeezy condiment bottle, pour in the dressing ingredients, seal and shake it up. It'll be in an easily storable container once made too!
Susan says
I'm not usually a sweet and savoury person but this is amazing. Wonderful bursts of flavour with every mouthful. Love it!