Easy Spinach Salad Recipe with Apples

4.70 from 13 votes

Updated Aug 20, 2019

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This Easy Spinach Salad Recipe is made with fresh baby spinach, crisp sweet apples, red onions, pistachios, dried cranberries, and creamy avocado, all tossed with a light homemade red wine vinaigrette. Enjoy this fresh and delicious 15-minute spinach salad with oven-baked chicken breast, pan-seared steak, or as a light lunch.

Salad bowl filled with baby spinach, sliced apples, avocado, sliced red onion, dried cranberries, pistachios, and feta cheese all tossed with a light red wine vinaigrette.

Ingredients in spinach salad

The ingredients in this easy spinach salad recipe include:

Spinach – I used fresh baby spinach here. The fresher, the better. Not a fan of baby spinach? Any green will work, but darker greens are especially wonderful given the strong flavors from the other ingredients.
Apples – fortunately, any type of apple will work. From tart to sweet, I recommend adding your favorite. I love Pink Lady apples, so that’s usually the type of apple you’ll find in my salads.
Red onions – Thinly sliced or diced, red onions are sharp and spicy, but still slightly sweet. They’re the perfect complement to the sweet apples and dried cranberries.
Green onions – Green onions have so much flavor. The white and green parts, toss it all in.
Pistachios – Pistachios are mild, creamy, and delicious and add a lovely, subtle, earthy crunch. You’ll like them (I hope). Just make sure you’re not allergic to nuts.
Dried Cranberries – So sweet.
Feta cheese – Tangy and delicious, the best part of feta cheese is that you don’t need a lot. No feta cheese? Goat cheese is a delicious alternative.
Avocado – So creamy.

Red wine vinegarette

It takes just 5 minutes to prepare and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The perfect complement to all the flavors and textures that make this salad so amazing, I highly recommend trying it out.

All you need are the following simple ingredients,

Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Honey
Poppy seeds
Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper

You may also drizzle with a light balsamic vinaigrette or other favorite store-bought dressing.

Which Apples should I use for Spinach Salad?

Sometimes I feel like there are a million types of apples out there to choose from. It can be overwhelming.

I tend to gravitate toward the brightly colored red and pink apples because they’re pretty, crisp, and usually a mix of sweet and tart. I love Golden Delicious apples sliced and with peanut butter, but when it comes to salads, crisp pink-colored apples is the way I roll.

Here are my top three choices for this spinach salad-

Pink Lady (Cripps Pink)
Honey Crisp
Jazz

How to make spinach salad

To make this easy spinach salad recipe, simply:

Prepare the red wine vinaigrette – Add all ingredients to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Whisk well to combine or seal and shake vigorously until combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and add additional honey or another sweetener as needed.
Assemble – Add the spinach to a large salad bowl and top with sliced apples, sliced red onion, green onion, pistachios, dried cranberries, crumbled feta, and sliced avocado. Gently toss to combine.
Serve – Divide salad among individual serving bowls and drizzle with prepared red wine vinaigrette.

What to eat with spinach salad

This fresh and easy spinach salad takes just 15-minutes to toss together. Perfect as a light lunch or served as a base for a bigger meal, this yummy bowl of greens, apples, and avocado loves to be tossed with chicken (Greek, citrus, or spicy Jerk ), shrimp, garbanzo beans, or lightly marinated grilled steak.

One of my favorite salads to serve throughout the cooling autumn months, I often serve it with a fruit salad, Baked Sweet Potato, or a bowl of homemade guacamole.

And let’s not forget, sangria and crumbly apple crisp, are always welcome additions.

Tips & Tricks

Add the vinaigrette dressing just before serving. Unlike cabbage salads, spinach tends to get soggy much faster so it’s best to wait and add the salad dressing at the very end.
Try to pick ripe, yet firm avocados to prevent them from turning to mush.
This spinach salad is naturally vegetarian and gluten-free. To make it vegan, swap the honey for a plant-based sweetener such as agave syrup or coconut sugar.
Not a fan of apples? Use a different fruit instead – blueberries, raspberries, mango, pears, persimmon, strawberries, etc.
Add extra protein such as chicken, steak, garbanzo beans, or shrimp.
Save time and prepare the vinaigrette ahead of time.
If red onions taste too strong, soak them in water after they’ve been sliced. This will remove some of the harshness.

More easy salad recipes,

If you try making this Easy Spinach Salad Recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to hear your thoughts.

Jessica Randhawa

Chef | Food Photographer

Jessica Randhawa leads The Forked Spoon, sharing 14 years of experience and over 1,200 original recipes, kitchen tips, and practical cooking advice. Inspired by her world travels, Jessica’s approachable recipes have been featured in outlets like Daily Mail, Al Jazeera, and CNET. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of California.