Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

4.86 from 14 votes

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Brighten up your table with this colorful Strawberry Salad featuring fresh strawberries, crisp lettuce, bacon and a creamy poppy seed dressing. This perfect summer salad is a crowd pleaser that’s easy to make and packed with flavor. Or try this fun variation: Strawberry Avocado Salad with Poppyseed Dressing!

strawberry salad in bowl

Why You’ll Love This Recipe!

This Strawberry Salad! Oh boy, it’s one of my favorite salads ever! So tangy and so so good! It is so incredible and can make you forget all your cares in the world. Bacon-salty. Strawberries-sweet. Almonds-crunchy. Dressing-creamy. Everything eaten together-priceless. Super simple and super delicious!

Ingredients Needed For Strawberry Salad

There are two parts to this Strawberry Salad, the salad and the homemade poppy seed dressing. For the best salad, be sure to use fresh ingredients where you can. Here are all of the ingredients you’ll need for both:

For the Stawberry Salad

  • Sweet Strawberries – our star of the show! Make sure you grab some fresh and juicy strawberries and slice those babies up.
  • Bacon – cooked and crumbled. Try making bacon in the oven! It’s a life-saver.
  • Candied Almonds – Buy these from the store OR make your own homemade which is what I did for this recipe. (They’re easier to make than you think!)
  • Lettuce – this is a strawberry salad so you’re going to need lettuce! Baby spinach is also a popular choice, or use any leafy greens you have on hand.

For the Poppy Seed Dressing Recipe

  • Mayonnaise – real mayo works best here.
  • White Vinegar –  a nice acidic flavor in comparison to the sweetness of the strawberries. If your strawberries aren’t as ripe (therefore not as sweet) use less of this.
  • Sugar – to balance out the other flavors.
  • Salt and Black Pepper – season to taste!
  • Poppy Seeds – this wouldn’t be a poppy seed dressing without poppy seeds!

Variations

  • Feta Cheese: Crumble feta over the salad for a tangy kick and great addition.
  • Mandarin Oranges: Add for a burst of citrusy sweetness.
  • Red Onion: Thinly sliced onion for a bit of bite.
  • Goat Cheese: Use instead of feta for a creamier texture.
  • Grilled Chicken: Make it a full meal by adding grilled chicken.
poppyseed dressing on spoon

How to Make Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Guys when I said this Strawberry Salad was easy, I meant it. For full recipe details, including ingredient measurements, see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is step by step how to make this strawberry salad:

1. Prep Salad Ingredients

Rinse your lettuce in cold water. Then, tear into bite-sized pieces, dry and pour into a large bowl. You can buy a clamshell of ready made lettuce for ease OR use a salad spinner. Top with sliced strawberries, candied almonds and cooked bacon.

2. Make Dressing + Serve

To make the sweet poppy seed dressing, pour all ingredients (mayo, vinegar, sugar, poppy seeds, S+P) into a small bowl and whisk. Drizzle salad generously with poppy seed dressing and serve immediately.

strawberry salad in bowl

Storage + Make Ahead Directions

Sadly, I wouldn’t recommend keeping any leftover strawberry salad. I mean you totally can, but the longer it sits, the more limp and soggy the lettuce gets, so it wouldn’t be quite the same. Definitely not one you could freeze either. If you do need to save any leftovers, store in a sealed container with a tight-fitting lid.

To Make Ahead: I would add lettuce and strawberries to my serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. Keep almonds and bacon in baggies along with the salad in the fridge. Make the dressing and keep in a small airtight container in the fridge. When you are ready to serve, top the salad with almonds and bacon, then drizzle with dressing and serve.

strawberry salad in bowl

More Fruit Filled Salads to Try!

If you love this strawberry salad, then you need to try these other flavorful salads with homemade salad dressings! They’re all great as a main dish, side dish or mid-day snack!

This strawberry salad with creamy poppy seed dressing is the perfect addition to your summer salads collection. With fresh strawberries, crunchy bacon, and a delicious poppy seed dressing, it’s a healthy and tasty lunch option. The printable recipe card is down below! Enjoy, friends!! Have a fabulous food filled day!

If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.

strawberry salad in bowl
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4.86 from 14 votes

Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

This Strawberry Salad is made with bacon and topped off with a poppy seed dressing! Perfect for spring or summer, make this soon!
servings 4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 oz lettuce or spinach, whatever type you prefer
  • ½ pint strawberries fresh, about 8 strawberries, depending on size
  • cup bacon crumbled
  • ¼ cup candied almonds

for the poppyseed dressing-

Instructions

  • Place washed and dried lettuce (or spinach) into a large bowl.
  • Wash, hull and slice strawberries and add them to the bowl with the lettuce.
  • Top with crumbled bacon and candied almonds.
  • Whisk all ingredients for dressing together in a bowl until smooth.
  • Drizzle dressing over salad and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 391kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 314mg | Potassium: 219mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 175IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: strawberry salad
4.86 from 14 votes

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Recipe Rating




66 Responses
  1. Tiffany

    I have a question about the yogurt, because I HATE greek yogurt… so can I simply substitute the greek yogurt for plain old regular yogurt, or do I need to make modifications to the other ingredients as well?

    (P.S. Getting a GA license is ridiculous, I know a lady who spent 9 months trying to get one so that she could register her car… 9 months of “riding dirty!”

    Thanks…

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  3. Yvette Carpenter

    5 stars
    Love this recipe/salad. The dressing is even good on other things. Thanks. I have written more but the flashing of the ad., is giving me a migraine.

  4. Yvette Carpenter

    5 stars
    It was delish! Only thing I will change next time is not so much vinegar. Maybe if the strawberries were riper and sweeter it would have been not so tart. Maybe I will try to see if there is a strawberry vinegar or similar to see if that works better for my family. 🙂

  5. Suzanne

    5 stars
    Lauren, thanks so much for this poppy seed dressing recipe. I just made it and love it, I like the Greek yogurt in there too. I will be using this dressing often now. If I use it on my blog I’ll give you the ping back thx 🙂

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  9. Sydney

    I make a similar salad but with green onion and crumbled heath bars. Sounds a little strange until you try it, but its AMAZING!!

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  12. Kathy

    I just had to take a test to get a Utah license and luckily, it was open book. It still sucked because I only had 20 minutes to take it before they closed. Thanks for the dressing recipe. I’m trying to avoid eating canola and soybean oils, so this is a perfect recipe for me.

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    […] held onto this beautiful, vibrant salad inspiration from my blogging pal, Lauren, from Lauren’s Latest for several months, thinking it would be perfect for springtime, specifically for the Easter […]

  14. Lesley

    I did the quiz, totally failed! A lot of it was me not understanding what the @#$% they were talking about, and with only 10 questions, 1 wrong answer is a big deal!!

  15. susan marie

    5 stars
    I made this salad today for a church potluck – everyone loved it! You’ve got the salty, sweet, and tangy flavors going on, and the different textures. This is definitely a keeper! To save time, I used a large bag of spring greens mixture, and it was so pretty,

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  18. Marilyn Brennan

    Yeah, I’ll buy your book just for the journaling/posts. Oh, the salad looks great too. BTW, how can I get your posts at my new email address?

  19. Vicki F

    I failed my first written test for an Oregon driver’s license too! Shocked me as I’ve been driving for umpteen million years (it seems). Thought the questions were worded to fail as they included choices that applied to similar situations. Did what you did, I studied and passed my test yesterday, only missing one (who knew those tractor things could go as fast as 25 mph?). Funny thing was the questions for my retesting seemed much simpler…go figure. Congratulations Lauren 🙂 The salad sounds and looks fabulous!

  20. Kara

    I failed. Miserably. Not even close. What a joke. I’m never moving states again, just in case the state we move to requires a written test.
    Salad looks fantastic!

  21. Ashley @ Wishes and Dishes

    Strawberry and bacon in a salad pretty much means it’s a perfect salad 🙂

    P.s. I have NEVER had a good experience at the DMV so I feel ya… the last time I went there I left crying. The last 2 times, actually. Who knew changing my last name after a marriage was virtually IMPOSSIBLE?! Didn’t help that I had the rudest lady to ever walk the planet “helping” me….Ok, done with my rant 🙂

  22. Amy Bounds

    Thank you for sharing the DMV test. We just had a teenager take the Washington test so thankfully the questions were really similar to ours.

  23. Krista S

    I am with you on the DMV! Us Canadians will have trouble with US tests because everything is in different measurements! How many feet can you park from a fire hydrant, what speed to you drive in a residential area if there is no speed posted, etc. I was like “can I answer in meters and km?” HA!

    Great recipe 🙂

  24. Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel

    Hhahaha god, I hate the DMV, but I LOATHE the library even more! My library is SO rude. I STILL don’t have a card because each time I come in with the stuff they claimed I needed last time, they need something else. I’m like DAAAYMN son, who cares?! I’m renting Pretty Little Liars. Am I really a threat? WTH, yo. BTW, this salad is amazeballs.

  25. Gisela

    Yup, took me 3 visits to the DMV to get mine, sheesh!! And they didn’t tell me about the skip button either. Salad looks super yummy!

  26. Katherine D.

    The salad looks delicious but I had to comment on the DMV!
    I moved to Portland two years ago and had the exact same experience…I too failed the first go round by one question (“if you are on a country road and a man on a horse raises his right hand, what does that mean?” ummm, howdy?) and I KNOW I was not told about the skip button. The second go around I used that skip button and made sure everyone around me knew about that skip button! It probably didn’t hurt that I had read the entire handbook from front to back just to be on the safe side 🙂
    Glad you are finally an OR license carrying resident! We need to stick together!

  27. carrian

    5 stars
    GOOD MERCY! I’m making this immediately. And I’m totally not kidding. Three of my absolute favorites in one salad. Pure genius lady.

  28. DessertForTwo

    Oh, Lauren! I’ve had so much trouble with the DMV too! I can’t prove I live in Kansas because all bills are in my spouse’s name. It’s so frustrating!

    1. Lauren

      It makes a lot of dressing! And all that sugar counteracts the tanginess of the yogurt. If you use all mayonnaise, reduce the sugar by 1 tablespoon.

  29. susan marie

    What is it with libraries? I had to present all kinds of proof, too, but didn’t have my voter’s registration with me. So the librarian asked me the name of my county commissioner – couldn’t do that, but I knew the precinct number, so she let me have the card. Sheesh, By the way, what really attracted me to this recipe is the dressing – it sounds great! I think I’ll give this salad a try this weekend. 🙂

  30. Stephanie

    Salad with bacon? You had me at bacon!

    Also, Oregon state allows you to make a left turn at a red light if traffic permits?? (I took the test, haha)

  31. shelly (cookies and cups)

    When I moved to NJ I had to re-take the written portion of the test and totally failed too.
    Oh well.
    This salad looks like it could help my wounded heart 🙂

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