Let's make Blueberry Salad with candied Almonds, an easy summer salad recipe made with fresh strawberries, blueberries, candied almonds, feta, and spinach. A healthy vegetarian summer salad bursting with the flavor of garden fresh ingredients and poppyseed dressing. These candied almonds are easy to make and pair perfectly with this leafy green and berry salad.
Get ready to wow your guest at your next cook out or summer bbq with this berry spinach salad. This warm weather meal is perfect is a patriotic salad perfect for memorial day, labor day, and especially the 4th of July.
Be sure to look at our other cool summer salsa and pasta salads Roasted Chili Corn Salsa, and Easy Caprese Pasta Salad. Or pair this fresh salad with our delicious Gumbo Recipe.
Ingredients
- Baby Spinach
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Feta Cheese, crumbled
- Poppyseed dressing, this is our favorite (Brianna's Homestyle Poppyseed Dressing)
- Candied Almonds
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- In a medium sized sauce pan bring cinnamon, sugar, and water to a boil on medium heat. As soon as it starts to boil add the almonds.
2. Stir continually until the boiling sugar water turns from wet and sticky to dry and powdery on the almonds. Immediately remove from the heat.
3. Pour the almonds on a prepared parchment paper and sheet pan and let cool.
4. While the almonds cool, prepare the fruit. Slice the strawberries and wash the blueberries.
5. Assemble the blueberry salad with spinach and toss with blueberries, sliced strawberries, feta, and candied almond.
Hint: Double the batch of candied almonds to have some for the salad and some to snack on throughout the week! When making the candied almonds remove from heat when they go from a sticky consistency to a dry chalky texture.
Substitutions
- Arugula - instead of spinach, use arugula or an arugula blend.
- Kale - instead of spinach, use kale or a mixture of kale and other leafy greens.
- Vegan - to make this a vegan friendly salad, replace the feta with vegan cheese or don't have the cheese at all and use vegan friendly salad dressings.
- Goat Cheese- use goat cheese instead of feta at a 1:1 ratio.
- Honey Vinaigrette- Use a lighter dressing and make our honey mustard vinaigrette found here.
- Pecans- Candy pecans instead of almonds for a similar sweet nut.
- Raw or Roasted Nuts- Making the almonds candied is fast and delicious but you can also use raw or roasted nuts on the salad instead.
Variations
- Apples - Add ½ cup chopped apples, fuji, granny smith, or your favorite apple.
- Blackberries - Add ½ cup chopped blackberries to make this a triple berry salad.
- Peach- Add ½ cup peeled and sliced fresh peaches for a variety of fruit.
- Chicken- Need to add some protein? Make this a copycat Wendy's strawberry chicken salad by adding sliced grilled chicken to the top or side.
- Avocado- Make this a Panera blueberry and avocado salad copycat by adding ⅓ cup diced avocado.
- Raspberry- Add ½ cup garden fresh raspberry for a berry explosion salad.
Equipment
Storage
Store ingredients separately until ready to serve. Keep blueberries, strawberries, spinach and dressing chilled in the refrigerator.
Left over salad will keep for 1-2 days in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
Store candied almonds in an air tight container at room temperature.
Top tip
Make sure to keep stirring the almonds on medium heat. The cinnamon sugar mixture will burn if you let sit. Stir until the gooey mixture around the almonds no longer looks sticky but looks dry and dusty. The change happens fast and when it does, be sure to pull the almonds off of the stove top and onto the prepared parchment paper.
Recipe
Blueberry Salad with Almonds
Equipment
- sheet pan
- Parchment Paper
- small sauce pan
- Mixing Spoon
- Salad Bowl
Ingredients
Salad
- 2-3 cups baby spinach
- ½ cup strawberries sliced
- ½ cup blueberries
- ⅛ cup poppyseed dressing
Candied Cinnamon Almonds
- 1 cup raw unsalted almonds
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Candied Cinnamon Almonds
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine water, sugar, and cinnamon and bring to a boil on medium heat. Immediately add almonds to boiling mixture and stir continually.
- Stir until the boiled sugar water turns from sticky to dry and chalky looking. About five minutes. Immediately transfer almonds to the prepared baking sheet to cool. This step happens quickly, so watch carefully. Use a spoon or pour almonds onto baking sheet. Do not use your hands, they will be hot.
- Set aside to cool
Berry Salad
- Wash and chop strawberries. Wash blueberries and spinach leaves, if needed.
- Assemble salad by placing spinach leaves at the bottom of a medium sized bowl. Top with berries and cooled nuts.
- Top the nuts and berries with feta cheese and poppyseed dressing.
Notes
- Substitute almonds with pecans.
Jenny Ramsay
Yummy!! So fresh and delicious. This is my favorite summer salad!