This Spinach Arugula Salad is the perfect side salad for busy weeknights. If you need an easy healthy salad recipe for your next meal, this recipe is the perfect addition to your table or meal prep!
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Do you have a favorite salad? When we're throwing together a quick vegetable side for dinner or something to accompany a protein for a light lunch, we generally opt for this simple arugula salad with spinach. It's one of the most simple salads that we turn to time and time again.
We love the peppery arugula and delicious spinach. This meal pairs well with any protein, like chicken breast, a juicy steak, salmon, shrimp, and more. Add a homemade salad dressing, like this honey lemon vinaigrette, and you'll actually be enjoying this salad!
Looking for more tasty salads? Try this delicious apple and cucumber salad, this burrata salad, this arugula pear salad, or this strawberry goat cheese salad.
Want a salad that's a whole meal? Try our steak salad, this keto shrimp salad, this antipasto salad, or our Big Mac salad!
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❤️Why we love this recipe
- Made with staple ingredients. Anything you don't already have on hand, you can find at any grocery store.
- A great base to add to. You can always add your favorite ingredients to this salad and dress it up even more, or swap in more seasonal produce. It's a great place to start!
- Suitable for multiple diet types. All you need are a few straightforward ingredients that naturally fit into lots of diets, including keto, vegetarian, and gluten free! This recipe can easily be made dairy-free/vegan with one simple swap.
- Ready in 10 minutes or less. You can make this simple salad in less than 10 minutes!
🥗Ingredients
Here are the ingredients we used for this recipe. You can find more information for substitutions below.
✨Note: Since there are so few ingredients, make sure to use good quality ones.
- Baby arugula & baby spinach leaves. We use about half and half of each, but you c an use any ratio that you prefer.
- Kosher salt & black pepper. A word of advice - always season your greens a little bit. It will really enhance the flavor of your salad!
- Lemon juice & zest. For a little zing of flavor. Definitely opt for fresh here.
- Parmesan cheese. Optional, and you can swap for any cheese you like or just leave it out.
- Basil. Optional, feel free to use any herbs you like or leave them out.
Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.
✨Substitutions ariations
Truly there are a lot of variations you can make to this salad since it's pretty straightforward, but here are a few suggestions!
- Use red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar instead of lemon juice if that's all you have on hand, or that's what you prefer!
- Use different cheeses. If you have a meal that lends itself a little better to a different cheese, feel free to swap that for the parmesan. Some of our favorites are feta cheese, blue cheese, or creamy goat cheese. Burrata or fresh mozzarella would also go great with this!
- Swap out the veggies. Not big on tomatoes? No worries. Leave them out, or add in other things like bell peppers or cucumbers instead.
✨Variations
- Add fruit. Love a little sweetness in your salads? Try using your favorite seasonal produce! Pomegranate arils or apple slices would be great in the cooler months, while peaches or fresh berries are lovely in the summer! Check out this blackberry salad or this grilled peach salad for inspiration.
- Sprinkle on some nuts and seeds. You can always add good healthy fats and proteins by adding things like hemp hearts, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, pecans, pepitas, pistachios, walnuts, or almonds.
- Add onions. Onions are never a bad idea in our book! Try some thin slices of red onion, or even caramelized onions if you are feeling fancy! These caramelized onions and mushrooms would also go really well with this!
- Add prosciutto. Prosciutto pairs so well with all of the ingredients in this salad - it would make a great addition if you're looking to add a little protein. You can of course use raw prosciutto, or this crispy oven prosciutto would be great too for a little crunch. You may also enjoy our burrata and prosciutto salad.
🔪Prep Work
- Wash and dry the greens if necessary.
- Halve or quarter the tomatoes.
- Grate the parmesan cheese. (optional)
- Zest the lemon.
📖Instructions
In a large bowl or on a serving platter, add fresh spinach and arugula. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add lemon zest, and begin layering on the tomatoes and parmesan. (Image 1)
✨Pro tip: We like to build our salads in layers to ensure each bite is perfect, with a little bit of everything. 😉
Drizzle on a little olive oil. (Image 2)
Add basil, and lemon juice then continue layering on the ingredients (Image 3).
Sprinkle on a bit more cheese, salt, and pepper. (Image 4)
Add more dressing if you like! We used a little bit of our homemade honey lemon vinaigrette dressing (Image 5).
✨Pro tip: If you're making this salad ahead of time, simply dress it with lemon juice and olive oil right before serving, rather than in advance. This will help keep the salad from getting soggy.
Serve and enjoy! (Image 6)
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💭Frequently Asked Questions
If possible, do not dress with olive oil or lemon juice ahead of time, but just before serving. It's also best to store the tomatoes separately from the greens.
These ingredients will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
🍋Dressings for this salad
You don't actually need to prepare a dressing for this salad since we lightly dress it, but in case you wanted to take it to the next level, this salad is a great base for some of our dressings.
- Honey lemon vinaigrette. This dressing is simple, lemony, lightly sweet, and versatile! It's one of the most popular recipes on our site!
- What's not to love about pesto? Try this pesto vinaigrette to bring your salad to the next level.
- Love a good ranch dressing? Try our Wingstop ranch copycat recipe! It's so good!
- This creamy balsamic dressing is also classic and very versatile.
🍴What to eat with this salad
We don't think you can go wrong, and the serving options are endless, but here are our top suggestions.
- Chicken. This mozzarella stuffed chicken wrapped in parma ham is the perfect main course to go with this salad. You may also enjoy this lemon herb chicken!
- Creamy and rich meals. Having a hearty, creamy meal like this chicken and butternut squash skillet, this duck pasta, this steak and seafood skillet? This salad is an ideal way to break up all the richness of all that cream and cheese.
- Beef. This salad pairs with beef really well, including this air fryer ribeye, this bavette steak, these air fryer short ribs, and these air fryer steak tips!
- Fish and seafood. You can't go wrong with serving it with fish or seafood either! Try it alongside this rich butter poached lobster, these baked crab legs, and this baked Chilean sea bass. This baked cod in tomato sauce, pesto butter salmon, lobster ravioli sauce, and creamy salmon pasta would also really benefit from this light and bright salad.
- Pork and sausage. Try it alongside these Italian sausage stuffed peppers, Italian sausage soup, or this rich and hearty baked rigatoni!
🍴More Serving Ideas
More Recipes to Consider
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📖 Recipe
Arugula Spinach Salad
Ingredients
- 2.5 ounces arugula
- 2.5 ounces baby spinach
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (zest of 1 lemon)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 10 whole cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
- 1 ounce freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (juice of half a lemon)
- handful of fresh basil (optional)
Instructions
- In a bowl or on a large platter, add spinach and arugula. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, then begin layering on tomatoes, lemon zest, parmesan, and basil.
- Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Repeat layers, and dig in! You can also top with dressing if you like.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. For best results, don't dress with olive oil or lemon juice in advance. It's also best to leave the tomatoes off until right before serving.
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Notes
- This salad is lightly dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper, but you can always omit the lemon juice and olive oil and use dressing instead, or do a mix of both.
- Parmesan is optional and can be replaced with any cheese you prefer.
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