Spinach Salad – a Costco Copycat recipe!

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 winter time, 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.

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. 

Cook’s Tools:

• large bowl
• chef’s knife
• salad tongs
• blender

ONE YEAR AGO: Mom’s Zucchini Bread

TWO YEARS AGO: Copycat Monterey Chicken

THREE YEARS AGO: Oven Tacos

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!

Spinach Salad is one of those classic dishes that are great 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!

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: entree salad, Poppy Seed, Spinach

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 8 people

US Customary - Metric

Calories: 260kcal

Author: Jillian - a Food, Folks and Fun original!

Ingredients

FOR THE SALAD:

• 10 ounces fresh baby spinach, rinsed and patted dry
• 6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup croutons
• 3/4 cup sliced button mushrooms, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup of sliced red onions
• 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
• 3 large hard-boiled eggs, sliced

FOR THE POPPY SEED DRESSING:

• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon grated yellow onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 Tablespoon poppy seeds

US Customary - Metric

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

The poppy seed dressing recipe will make more than is needed for this salad. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Nutrition

Calories: 260kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 512mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 151% | Vitamin C: 15% | Calcium: 14% | Iron: 10%

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