This Spinach Salad recipe is a classic that’s great served year-round. It’s so versatile, and I like to load mine up with bacon, dried cranberries, homemade croutons, and the best spinach salad dressing around!
I think my all-time favorite salad is a fabulously decked out Spinach Salad! Costco has one that I love, but I live 90 minutes from the nearest Costco. This has forced me to recreate my favorite salad at home, and today I’m sharing my copycat recipe with you!
For summer dinners, I like to make this spinach salad the entire meal! When I serve this salad as an entree, no one ever complains that we’re just having a salad for dinner!
Salad Add-Ins:
- Add some chopped chicken or steak to make it into an entree salad.
- Add some sliced strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries to brighten the salad for spring and summer.
- Crumbled goat cheese and toasted almonds go well with this salad, too!
- During the fall and wintertime, I like to add some blue cheese crumbles.
Spinach Salad Dressing
While some opt for a warm lemon vinaigrette, I like to toss my spinach salad with back and poppy seed dressing! A list of my homemade poppy seed dressing ingredients and recipe are below. It’s so easy to make, and it comes together in just minutes in the blender!
Cook’s Note – Spinach Salad recipe:
- Dressed salads don’t make it past a few hours. If you know that you’ll have extra salad, then serve the poppy seed dressing on the side.
- This recipe is fabulous with my homemade croutons recipe.
Cook’s Tools:
- large bowl
- chef’s knife
- salad tongs
- blender
Entree salads are great for quick, easy, and usually healthier dinners. Here are some of my favorites:
- Cobb Salad
- Crunchy Ramen Noodle Salad
- BBQ Chicken Entree Salad
- Steak Salad with Goat Cheese
- Spicy Thai Beef Salad
Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing - a Costco Copycat recipe!
Ingredients
FOR THE SALAD:
- 10 ounces fresh baby spinach, rinsed and patted dry
- 6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 cup croutons
- ¾ cup sliced button mushrooms, rinsed and drained
- ½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup of sliced red onions
- ¼ cup chopped tomatoes
- 3 large hard-boiled eggs, sliced
FOR THE POPPY SEED DRESSING:
- ¾ cup canola oil
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon grated yellow onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ Tablespoon poppy seeds
Instructions
FOR THE SALAD:
- Place the spinach in a large salad bowl and top with the bacon, croutons, mushrooms, cheese, cranberries, onions, tomatoes, and egg.
FOR THE POPPY SEED DRESSING:
- Place all of the dressing ingredients into a blender except for the poppy seeds. Blend on high for 30-60 seconds, or until the dressing is emulsified.
- Add the poppy seeds and pulse the blender 1-3 times or until the poppy seeds are evenly distributed.
TO FINISH:
- Toss the salad and serve with the poppy seed dressing on the side. Place leftover dressing in an airtight container or jar and chill.
Notes
Nutrition
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes says
Oh this looks amazing! I love a good summer salad, and your dressing looks great as well!
Taylor Kiser says
This is the perfect summer lunch! So easy and looks delicious!
Danielle says
This looks so nutritious. I love using spinach in my salad – it has so much more flavour than regular lettuce.
Jillian says
I 100% agree!
Elizabeth says
I do love a good spinach salad. So summery and delicious! Love your addition of cranberries to it – genius!
Jillian says
Thank you!
Claudia Lamascolo says
I think I just found lunch! I just bought spinach and love the eggs in here this looks fantastic.
Jillian says
Enjoy! 🙂
Dayna says
YUM! I love this salad!