Quick and Easy Spinach Salad recipehas apples, pumpkin seeds, and a simple flavor-filled apple vinaigrette dressing to go with it. Spinach salad is a light but filling side dish that will pair wonderfully with a grilled meal.

Quick and easy spinach salad recipe with apples, pumpkin seeds, and a simple flavor-filled apple vinaigrette dressing to go with it.

Apple Spinach Salad is one of those quick, healthy, easy recipes that you can pretty much keep everything on hand for because it doesn’t have a whole lot of ingredients and it always tastes great.I love finding quick, easy, healthy side dishes like this because sometimes I get aroast in the slow cookeror somechicken legsin the oven and then I get tired of thinking about dinner.

You are going to love this apple vinaigrette! I tried a few different things to get an apple flavor into it and in the end, using apple juice concentrate made the best dressing with the most flavor.It’s just sweet enough (without being a sweet dressing really) and it’s packed with apple flavor.Add in some basic seasoning, apple cider vinegar, and a good quality olive oil and you have yourself one really easy but very impressive dressing.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Quick and Simple: This salad comes together in just 10 minutes, making it perfect for busy days.
Nutrient-packed: It’s loaded with healthy ingredients like spinach, apples, and pepitas.
Customizable: You can easily swap in your favorite nuts, seeds, or even add extras like feta or dried cranberries.

Ingredients

For the salad

Baby Spinach
Green Tart Apple
Red Sweet Apple
Pepitas, Candied Pecans, or other nuts
Feta, Crumbled Cooked Bacon, Dried Cranberries, optional

For the vinaigrette

Olive Oil
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple Juice Concentrate
Dijon Mustard
Salt
Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, Poppy Seeds, optional

See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities

Popular Substitutions and Variations

Sunflower seeds, cashews, or candied pecansare great choices if you don’t have pepitas.
If you don’t have fresh apples, use a different fruit like seasonal peaches, strawberries, pears (especially a firm variety) or whatever else you have on hand and like.

How to Make Easy Spinach Apple Salad with Apple Vinaigrette

Step #1.Place the spinach in a serving a bowl. Top with chopped apples and other toppings as desired.

Step #2.Place the dressing ingredients in a screw top jar, cover, and shake to combine. Place a few tablespoons in the salad and toss. Serve the remaining dressing on the side.

Recipe FAQs

Do I have to use baby spinach?

No, you can use regular spinach but it’s a little more work. You’ll have to remove some of the large, tough stems and make sure that it’s been washed well, especially if it comes in a bundle instead of a bag.

Can I use a different kind of vinegar?

Sure! I’d recommend a mild vinegar like red wine or rice wine over white vinegar or balsamic because those will change the flavor. But the beauty of making your own is that you can use whatever flavors or combinations you like!

Bowl of spinach salad with apples and apple vinaigrette

Expert Tips

Giving the spinach a rough chop makes it easier to eat for little mouths.
Bagged baby spinach is one of my favorite greensbecause it’s pre-washed, tender, and easy to find. It makes it easier to throw the salad together quickly, too.
You have tons of options for the nuts or seeds in this salad.I love pepitas but you could add silvered almonds, toasted, cashews, hempseed hearts, roasted sunflower seeds, etc.
If you prep this salad ahead of time,toss the chopped apples in a little lemon juiceso they don’t brown before you serve it.