28 Healthy Salads with Strawberries

Simple, sweet and ruby red to their core, strawberries are universally loved. These little berries are spring staples, showing up in everything from savory strawberry recipes to the prettiest and pinkest strawberry desserts. But the most underrated use of strawberries has to be in salads, where their just-sweet-enough flavor complements dressings, meats, nuts and vegetables.

These healthy salads with strawberries show how versatile this little berry can be. It’s a star ingredient that doesn’t overpower. We’ve included strawberry salad entrees that are filled with proteins like nuts, meats, cheese and quinoa—great for a weekday lunch or light summer dinner. But there are tons of side salad options, too, whether that’s simply strawberries tossed with a few crispy vegetables, or an entire fruit salad with a refreshing dressing. With just 550 calories or less per serving, these salads will fill you up without weighing you down.

Before tossing them in a salad, clean the strawberries well, especially since you’ll be eating them raw. Take care to store the strawberries properly if you’re not using them right away, and keep a careful eye on them so they don’t become overripe. And if they accidentally get a little too soft for a salad, use overripe strawberries to make a strawberry vinaigrette instead—so you can still work strawberry flavor into your salads.