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    Cranberry Walnut and Spinach Salad in Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

    Dec 3, 2017 · 8 Comments

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    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    This Cranberry Walnut and Spinach Salad in Honey Mustard Vinaigrette is full of crunchy walnuts, sweet cranberries and fresh spinach, tossed in a quick honey and Dijon mustard vinaigrette. It is the perfect way to get these colorful super-foods into your diet!

    Cranberry Walnut and Spinach Salad

    Cranberry Walnut and Spinach Salad in Honey Mustard Vinaigrette can be eaten as a prelude to the main dish, or as a healthy lunch during the busy work week. Or, even as a light dinner! The homemade salad is super easy to make, the hardest part is making sure your walnuts and spinach are fresh! Everything else is super easy.

    Health Benefits of Cranberry Walnut Spinach Salad

    This healthy spinach salad is a power source of vitamin A that supports immunity, lowers cholesterol and keeps your bones healthy thanks to all the spinach. Spinach is also a great source of vitamin K, folate, magnesium, iron, copper, calcium, potassium and vitamin C.

    Walnuts provide a good supply of Omega-3 fatty acids, that support cardiovascular health and reduce inflammation in the body.

    And cranberries are an excellent source of iodine – an important nutrient needed for your thyroid health.  Cranberries as well as spinach are a very good source of dietary fiber. Great addition to your spinach salad!

    This amazing salad is such a perfect winter treat, when we seem to overeat with all the holidays and parties and forget to eat all the fresh veggies that are out there too!

    But you can enjoy the spinach salad in the summer months as well, when you don’t feel like using your oven. This healthy spinach salad is a good source of protein from walnuts that will keep you full and happy!

    Cranberry Walnut and Spinach Salad

    HOW TO MAKE HONEY MUSTARD HOMEMADE DRESSING

    In this walnut and spinach salad we use ⅓ cup olive oil and 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar. ⅓ cup equals 5 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon, so it’s slightly more on the vinegar side. If you prefer to go with less vinegar, start with 1 tablespoon, taste it and proceed to add more. Or add more oil.

    Why make homemade salad dressing

    Frequently we eat salads where we mix whatever we have handy in the kitchen at the moment and then just add bottled salad dressing.  We seem to forget how easy it is to mix a great dressing with ingredients that you already keep in your pantry.

    With just a little bit of planning you can always have the right dressing sitting in your fridge ready to be used, that’s not only very tasty, but is very healthy with no unnecessary additives that store bought dressings come with.

    Why use Dijon Mustard in a salad dressing

    Dijon mustard is such a great choice for many salad dressings. It’s tasty, creamy and easy to use.

    It also serves as an emulsifier and binds all the other dressing ingredients together very well.

    I seem to go through several jars of Dijon mustard in a span of only a couple of months. This Honey Mustard Vinaigrette is our “go to” dressing nowadays. It’s easy, healthy and never fails!

    This Cranberry Walnut and Spinach Salad in Honey Mustard Vinaigretteis quick, easy and flavorful!

    And if you like variety in your salads that add even more nutrients to your diet, you might also like these delicious and healthy salads:

    Shredded Brussels Sprout Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
    Brussels Sprout & Cranberry Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
    Olive Garden Copycat Salad
    Italian Salad Olive Garden Copycat Recipe
    Honey Mustard Brussels Sprout Salad with Cranberries, Apples and Pecans
    Honey Mustard Brussels Sprout with Apples, Cranberries and Pecans

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    Print Recipe
    4.46 from 11 votes

    Cranberry Walnut Spinach Salad in Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

    This delicious Cranberry Walnut Spinach Salad in Honey Mustard Vinaigrette is loaded with fresh spinach, sweet dried cranberries and crunchy chopped walnuts.
    Prep Time15 mins
    Total Time15 mins
    Course: Salad
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: spinach salad
    Servings: 4
    Author: Olya

    Ingredients

    • 5-7 oz bag/box baby spinach leaves, (or 5 cups)
    • ½ cup dried cranberries , chopped
    • ⅓ cup walnuts , broken into pieces

    Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

    • 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
    • 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
    • 1 tablespoon honey
    • ⅓ cup olive oil, (or 5-6 tbsp)
    • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
    • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
    • ¼ teaspoon sea salt

    Instructions

    • Arrange baby spinach leaves in the salad bowl (cut off ends if needed). Chop cranberries and add them to the bowl. Chop walnuts and add them to the bowl as well. Set aside
    • Honey Mustard Vinaigrette: In a small bowl, first combine the vinegar and mustard, season with salt, garlic and onion powder. Now whisk in honey. Next slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking the ingredients together for about 1 minute. You will get thick creamy texture.
    • Add cranberries and walnuts to the bowl with spinach. Drizzle in the Honey Mustard Vinaigrette from step 2 and mix well.
    Nutrition Facts
    Cranberry Walnut Spinach Salad in Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 301 Calories from Fat 225
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 25g38%
    Saturated Fat 3g19%
    Sodium 260mg11%
    Potassium 251mg7%
    Carbohydrates 20g7%
    Fiber 2g8%
    Sugar 14g16%
    Protein 2g4%
    Vitamin A 3325IU67%
    Vitamin C 10mg12%
    Calcium 49mg5%
    Iron 1.5mg8%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Patricia Rose says

      December 30, 2020 at 4:05 pm

      One of my favorite! And so healthy! I like to add a little fresh fruit or bacon broke into pieces! A few mozzarella balls or cut grapes! I make a meal out of it! It’s great by itself But I’m adventurest. love the dressing!

      Reply
      • Olya says

        December 31, 2020 at 12:54 am

        Patricia, I love that you added fresh fruit or bacon! I think it’s a very flexible salad:)

        Reply
    2. S Collier says

      December 09, 2017 at 1:04 pm

      If planning to take to a family dinner 2 hours away, would it be better to make the dressing on site, or can it travel already prepared, but not yet mixed with the greens?

      Reply
      • Olya at Whatsinthepan says

        December 09, 2017 at 4:16 pm

        Definitely prepare it ahead of time. Packing it with an ice pack while will do – the dressing has vinegar in it, which is an effective natural preservative a stalls food spoilage. It might be cold enough where you are to not even need an ice pack.

        Reply
    3. Christie says

      December 05, 2017 at 11:33 am

      Made this for with 5 ounce spinach bag – turned out perfect!!!

      Reply
      • Olya at Whatsinthepan says

        December 05, 2017 at 11:41 am

        Yes, 5 ounces is plenty for this!

        Reply
    4. Val says

      December 05, 2017 at 11:32 am

      Love spinach and honey mustard dressing combination!

      Reply
      • Olya at Whatsinthepan says

        December 05, 2017 at 11:42 am

        Glad you liked it. Honey mustard dressing on salads is amazing.

        Reply

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