Healthy Salad Recipes

Your new favorite healthy salad recipes start with this list! They’re filled with bright flavors and delicious textures – while challenging you to get creative with in-season produce.

The term salad doesn’t just mean some lettuce drizzled with a dressing or vinaigrette. Instead, think of it as a meal that has multiple layers of flavor (sweet, spicy, and savory), texture (crisp, crunchy, and creamy), and color (green, red, yellow, purple, you name it!). Honestly, salads are the most wonderful blank canvas to let your creativity run wild. So have fun with it. Here’s a few ideas to get you started.

40+ Easy and Healthy Salad Recipes

Easy and healthy salad recipes that make the best of fresh, seasonal produce. They’re filled with bright flavors, appetizing textures, and always hit the spot, like my favorite salmon, avocado, and arugula salad listed below!

Prep: 5min

Total: 5min

Yield: 1

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 300.7 kcal, Carbohydrate 15.3 g, Protein 10 g, Fat 23.6 g, Saturated Fat 3.4 g, Cholesterol 9.8 mg, Sodium 402.4 mg, Fiber 5.8 g, Sugar 6.5 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 4 cups arugula
• 1 cup microgreens
• 6 ounces smoked salmon (torn into pieces)
• 1 1/2 avocado (sliced)
• 1 pear (sliced)
• 1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)
• salt and pepper
• Champagne Vinaigrette

Instruction:

1. Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and drizzle with the Champagne Vinaigrette.
2. Gently toss everything together and serve immediately.

Best Salad Recipes: Easy Greek Salad

One of our favorite salad recipes! This easy Greek salad recipe is a flavorful, refreshing side dish!

Prep: 10min

Total: 15min

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove (minced)
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano (more for sprinkling)
• ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 English cucumber (cut lengthwise, seeded, and sliced ¼-inch thick)
• 1 green bell pepper (chopped into 1-inch pieces)
• 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
• 5 ounces feta cheese (cut into ½ inch cubes)
• ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
• ⅓ cup pitted Kalamata olives
• ⅓ cup fresh mint leaves
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instruction:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, mustard, salt, and several grinds of pepper.
2. On a large platter, arrange the cucumber, green pepper, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, red onions, and olives. Drizzle with the dressing and very gently toss. Sprinkle with a few generous pinches of oregano and top with the mint leaves. Season to taste and serve.

Twelve Superfoods Salad

This superfood salad is packed with 12 superfoods! This is a great clean out the fridge meal and is easily customized to suit whatever you need to use up.

Prep: 10min

Total: 25min

Serving Size: 1

Nutrition Facts: calories 480 calories, Carbohydrate 36 grams carbohydrates, Cholesterol 78 milligrams cholesterol, Fat 24 grams fat, Fiber 4 grams fiber, Protein 33 grams protein, Saturated Fat 5 grams saturated fat, servingSize 1, Sodium 968 milligrams sodium, Sugar 22 grams sugar, Trans Fat 0 grams trans fat, unSaturated Fat 17 grams unsaturated fat

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dry quinoa, cooked according to package directions
• 1/2 cup frozen edamame, cooked according to package directions
• 1/2 bunch curly kale (about 4 to 5 cups), chopped or torn into bite-sized pieces with thick ribs removed
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup red grapes, halved
• 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped if necessary (dried cranberries may be substituted)
• 1/3 cup feta, goat, or parmesan cheese, crumbled or shredded
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (I used unsalted)
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (I used unsalted)
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced or pressed
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
• 1 heaping tablespoon Greek yogurt (I used 0% fat, sour cream may be substituted)

Instruction:

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions, likely cooking with 1 cup water to the 1/2 cup dry quinoa. Transfer about half of the cooked quinoa to a very large bowl. I don’t use all the quinoa for the salad and save the rest for another use. I find it too difficult to cook less than 1/2 cup dry quinoa.
2. Cook edamame according to package directions. Drain and add to the bowl.
3. To the bowl, add the kale, blueberries, grapes, dried cherries, cheese, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and stir to combine; set aside.
4. To a glass mason jar with a lid (or similar jar with a lid), add the orange juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, seal with lid, and shake vigorously to combine; about 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Add the Greek yogurt and shake until creamy and incorporated, about 1 minute. Taste and check for seasoning balance, adding more salt, pepper, etc. as necessary. I prefer this dressing to be on the saltier side because it’s going to be coating a large bowl of unseasoned kale, vegetables, and quinoa and you need it to read salty out of the jar to properly flavor the salad.
6. Add desired amount of dressing to salad, toss well to combine, and serve immediately. Extra dressing will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week; shake vigorously before using.

8 Healthy Salad Recipes

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