Strawberry Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
By Carine Claudepierre
Published on 03/30/2021 - Last updated on 01/19/2023
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You will love this strawberry spinach salad with hot bacon dressing! It has it all, crunchy fresh greens, juicy warm bacon bits, toasted walnuts, creamy feta cheese, and just a touch of sweet strawberries!
Bonus, this healthy salad recipe is also low-carb, keto-friendly, and gluten-free! The best healthy side salad for a summer BBQ party.
Are Classic Spinach Salads Keto-Friendly?
Unfortunately, an authentic spinach salad is not keto-friendly because it contains high-fructose apples or sugar in the dressing like honey or balsamic vinegar.
However, it’s very easy to make a keto spinach salad with an easy keto-friendly salad dressing.
How To Make A Keto Spinach Salad With Strawberries
This strawberry spinach salad recipe is the easiest to make in just 10 minutes and the perfect side dish to feed a crowd.
If you love to share salads at your BBQ party, this is the best keto spinach side salad that even non-keto eaters love!
Ingredients
All you need to make this keto strawberry spinach salad recipe is:
- Baby spinach leaves
- Fresh strawberries – you can also use fresh raspberries. Both are keto-friendly fruits, and raspberries contain even fewer carbs.
- Walnuts or pecans – finely chopped and toasted for 2-3 minutes in a hot skillet with a teaspoon of olive oil and salt.
- Bacon pieces – cut bacon strips into small cubes and fry for 3-4 minutes in a saucepan just before serving the salad.
- Feta cheese – goat cheese or blue cheese works as well. Most cheeses are keto-friendly.
Assembling The Salad
In a large bowl or long salad serving board, lay the baby spinach leaves, fresh strawberry slices, crumbles feta cheese.
Set aside while cooking the remaining two ingredients.
Toasting The Nuts
First, add the finely chopped walnuts into a skillet and toast the nuts for 2-3 minutes, often stirring until all sides are toasted.
Add a pinch of salt onto the nut if desired and set aside in a bowl.
Frying Bacon
In a small skillet, add the bacon bits and fry for 3-4 minutes until crispy and fragrant.
Remove the bacon bits with a slotted spoon leaving the bacon fat in the skillet to make the hot bacon dressing sauce.
Keep the cooked bacon bits in a bowl and cover the bowl with foil to keep the bacon warm.
Assembling
To make this bacon keto spinach salad dressing, bring
- Crushed garlic
- Sugar-free maple syrup
- Dijon mustard
- Apple cider vinegar
- Salt
- Pepper
First, return the skillet with the bacon grease to medium heat. Then, stir in crushed garlic cloves.
Immediately add the remaining dressing ingredients: apple cider vinegar, sugar-free maple syrup, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
Finally, Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 1 minute until the dressing thickened and cover the back of a spoon.
Serve on the side of the salad.
Serving the keto spinach salad
Serve this keto warm bacon spinach salad immediately to enjoy the combination of fresh vegetables and hot toasted nuts and warm juicy bacon.
You can serve the keto dressing for this spinach salad on the side to prevent the salad from wilting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Make A Cold Salad Dressing?
Yes, you can make a keto spinach salad dressing recipe without bacon fat. To make a simple cold keto spinach salad dressing, first, prepare a small mixing bowl or mason jar.
Next, whisk together the ingredients below and store them in the fridge while you prepare the keto strawberry spinach salad.
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Dijon Mustard
- Salt
- Pepper
- Chives – finely chopped
- Erythritol – this is an option but a great add-on if you want to add a touch of sweetness to your keto spinach salad dressing recipe3
Can I Add More Toppings?
There are so many ways you can make this salad! Be creative and add your favorite keto vegetables or more meat.
For example, what you can add to this keto spinach salad recipe are:
- Cooked grilled chicken breast
- Shredded parmesan
- Toasted seeds – like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds
- Red onion slices
- Fresh greens of choice like cucumber, kale
- Tomatoes
- Hard-boiled eggs – Follow my Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs Recipe to have perfectly hard-boiled eggs every single time.
- Jammy Eggs – Making jammy eggs is really easy and adds taste and texture to the salad.
- Pecans – spinach, strawberries, and pecans go very well together. Other keto-friendly nuts you can use are macadamia, sliced almonds, or pecans.
Allergy Swaps
For a vegan keto spinach strawberry salad, skip the bacon and use some vegan protein instead, like:
- Fried tofu or tempeh
- Toasted hemp seeds
- Toasted pumpkin seeds
Use the cold salad dressing for your salad. It’s 100% keto vegan approved.
More Keto Spinach Recipes
If you love spinach on your keto diet, I have plenty more keto spinach recipes for you to try:
Made this bacon spinach salad keto recipe? Share a review or comment below. I love to hear your feedback on my recipes.
Did You Like This Recipe?
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Keto Strawberry Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
Ingredients
- 5 oz Baby Spinach
- 4 strips Thick Cut Bacon cut into bite-size pieces
- ⅓ cup Walnuts roughly chopped, 1.4 oz
- 1 oz Fresh Strawberries cored, sliced thinly
- 3.8 oz Feta Cheese or goat cheese
Dressing option 1 : hot bacon dressing
- 1 Bacon Grease from cooked bacon
- 3 Garlic Cloves peeled, crushed
- 2 tablespoons Sugar-Free Maple Syrup
- 3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
- ¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
Dressing option 2 : Keto cold spinach salad dressing
- ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 teaspoons Erythritol – optional, only for a sweet touch!
Instructions
- In a small skillet, toast the walnuts for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Set aside into a bowl.
- Return the skillet to low-medium heat and fry the bacon pieces for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until bacon is crispy and bacon grease release into the skillet.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon from the skillet and set it aside in a small bowl. Cover bowl with foil to keep bacon warm and juicy.
Make the hot bacon dressing
- Return the skillet to heat, keeping the bacon fat in it to make your hot bacon dressing.
- Quickly stir in the crushed garlic cloves, then immediately add the remaining dressing ingredients: apple cider vinegar, sugar-free maple syrup, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 1 minute, until the dressing thickens and covers the back of a spoon.
- Set aside in a bowl, cover the bowl with foil to keep the dressing warm.
Assemble the keto strawberry spinach salad
- In a large mixing bowl add the baby spinach leaves, strawberry slices, crumbled feta cheese, and top with the warm toasted walnuts and bacon bites.
- Serve the salad with the hot dressing on the side. Drizzle the hot bacon dressing on top of the salad just before serving.
Tools
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About The Author
Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook and many ebooks, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
Disclaimer
The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. You must consult with your doctor before starting on a keto or low-carb diet. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only.
The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sweeteners from the total Carbohydrates. As an example, a recipe with 10 grams of Carbs per 100 grams that contains 3 grams of erythritol and 5 grams of fiber will have a net carbs content of 2 grams. Some sweeteners are excluded because they are not metabolized.
You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.
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I love this salad! Any idea how long the cold salad dressing will last in the fridge? I want to make it for meal prepping.
It can last for a couple of weeks in an airtight container. You will need to shake it as the ingredients will split.
Wow this is AMAZING! I was missing my favorite salad from a restaurant I used to frequent. After making this I have a new favorite salad that I think is even better. I made the hot bacon dressing and it was perfect. I love how it slightly melts the goat cheese on the salad. I will be making this salad often this spring and summer.