This Spinach and Fruit Salad is one of our favourite hot-weather meals. First we’ll add sliced strawberries, halved grapes and blueberries to the spinach. Next, sprinkle in some chopped walnuts for a deep nutty note and then we are going to dress it in a homemade silky honey mustard dressing. But we’re not stopping there. We’re going to sprinkle it with grated cheddar which will balance out the sweetness from the fruit just perfectly. Finally, we are going to adorn it with homemade brioche croutons for a sweet carb crunch. And we are going to do all that in under 25 minutes.

Spinach and fruit salad with walnuts - family meals

If you are thinking this salad sounds great, but you don’t think your kids will eat or you’re unsure how to serve it to your weaning baby - I’ll show you how you can tweak their servings especially for them here.

Making my Spinach and Fruit Salad

If you have a mini food chopper you can use it to chop the walnuts. Just do short sharp pulses, keeping an eye on the walnuts and don’t over pulse or you’ll end up with a lot of walnut dust. Otherwise, just add the walnuts to a resealable food bag and smash them down with a meat mallet or rolling pin, until they’re in small pieces.

Prep Ahead

Everything in this Spinach and Fruit Salad can be prepared in advance and just compiled when you are ready to serve. You can prepare it before you go out and then come home, pull it altogether and serve within minutes.

If you make the brioche croutons way in advance, leave to cool completely and then store in a resealable bag or air-tight container. Just pop in a sheet of paper towel to absorb any moisture coming off the croutons, to keep them nice and crispy. If using a bag, you’ll need to make sure you get as much of the air out as possible before sealing it.

Spinach and Fruit Salad - family Meals 3

You can make the dressing, chop all the fruit and grate the cheddar earlier on too, just cover your prep bowls and refrigerate. You can chop or crush the walnuts in advance, just leave in the food chopper or resealable bag until ready to use.

Kids Cook Too

Younger children can get stuck in and help you make the dressing, toss the brioche cubes in oil and compile the salad.

Feed a Crowd

This Spinach and Fruit Salad can easily be doubled, you will need to large bowls to compile and toss the salad though. If you are serving this as part of a buffet or as a side salad, this 4 person serving should feed 8-10 people as it is.

Storing My Spinach and Fruit Salad

You can store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for the next day. The spinach will go limp and the strawberries a bit mushy but it will be fine to eat. The salad undressed (and without croutons) will last longer in the fridge, up to 3 days, as long as it’s stored in an air-tight container.

To store the brioche croutons, cool completely then store in an air-tight container or resealable bag (squeezing all the air out). Add a piece or two of paper towel to the bag or container to absorb any moisture the croutons give off and keep them crispy. Then store them in a cool dark place and they should be good for up to 2 weeks. They will always be the freshest and crispiest for the first few days however. They can also be frozen for up to 6 weeks. Defrost on the kitchen counter laying on paper towel to absorb moisture.

The dressing can be kept in an air-tight container for up to 10 days. Just take it out of fridge at least 15 mins before serving and shake or stir well.

For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >

Diet Details

MySpinach and Fruit Salad is vegetarian and egg-free. You can make it gluten-free by using shop bought gluten-free croutons or making your own using gluten-free brioche. You can make it diary-free or vegan by using a dairy alternative cheddar. Go nut-free by leaving out the walnuts.

Spinach and Fruit Salad - family meals suitable for baby led weaning

Adapting Spinach and Fruit Salad For Your Family

Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this Spinach and Fruit Salad recipe for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, to help make it easier for you to eat together as a family.

Keeping Young Kids & Picky Eaters Happy

This salad is super adaptable and can be served and tweaked for kids in many different ways.

Serve it Un-dressed

Fussy eaters and even some non-fussy eats don’t like dressed salads, which is fine, remove some salad before you dress it for them.

Leave out the Nuts

If your child is happy with dressed salad, but not keen on nuts then instead of tossing them through the salad, you can add them to the table instead for everyone else to sprinkle on their own servings.

Deconstruct it

Some picky eaters don’t like salad at all, and often they prefer their food in a more separated way. If this is your child then we can make this much less daunting and serve it not as a salad at all but as separate piles of food. To serve in this way, make their plate up as you are preparing the fruit, giving them separate heaps of each fruit, a pile of spinach, a pile of cheddar and some croutons. If they like nuts then give them a heap of chopped walnuts too.

Be Selective + Add on

You don’t have to give your picky eater every element in this Spinach and Fruit Salad, you can pick and choose the fruits and you might want to swap their spinach for a different salad veg that you know they like or don’t mind.

If you want to get your kids eating mixed salad with dressing with the rest of the family, have a read of my How to Get Kids Eating Salad article >

See more from me on fussy eaters here >

Making it Baby & Toddler Friendly

Little one’s can eat everything in this Spinach and Fruit Salad, minus the dressing, it’s just about preparing it in the right way for them.

Family meals suitable for Baby-led weaning

How to Serve My Spinach and Fruit Salad to Babies & Toddlers

As well as serving the brioche croutons prepared different, you are going to have to prep their fruit according to their age. It’s best to serve their salad elements separately, and as mentioned above, undressed.

Serving salads with dressing can be really tricky to introduce later on, so I would recommend serving weaners from 10 months+, and definitely from 12 months, their salad with dressing to avoid salad refusal when they are older.

6-8 months

Serve very large very soft strawberries whole with the top removed. Serve regular size ripe strawberries mashed.
Blueberries need squashing down flat with the back of a teaspoon.
Leave off the grapes at this age.
Grated cheddar an be served as is.
Very small chopped or crushed walnut pieces can be given to those without a nut allergy. If this is the first time giving nuts, keep a watchful eye for an allergic reaction.
When you make the croutons, cut a thin slice of brioche and slice it into finger size strips, or you could leave it whole. Coat it/them a little in the oil but don’t sprinkle over any salt.

9-12+ months

Thinly slice the strawberries you prepare for this salad, they will then be fine to serve to little one.
Squash down the blueberries a little with the back of a teaspoon.
Quarter the grapes lengthways.
Grated cheddar an be served as is.
Again, very small chopped or crushed walnut pieces can be given to those without a nut allergy. If this is the first time giving nuts, keep a watchful eye for an allergic reaction.
Cut a thin slice of brioche and slice it into finger size strips, or you could leave it whole. Coat it/them a little in the oil but don’t sprinkle over any salt.

Toddlers

You can either serve soft large strawberries or chopped or quartered smaller strawberries.
Can serve small blueberries whole, halve large ones.
Continue to quarter the grapes lengthways until around 2 years old when you can start to halve the grapes instead (again lengthways). Even at that age though, very large grapes should still be quartered.
Grated cheddar an be served as is.
The small pieces of chopped walnuts you prepare for the salad will be fine for this age.
Cut a thin slice of brioche and slice it into finger size strips, or you could leave it whole. Coat it/them a little in the oil but don’t sprinkle over any salt.

I’ve also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook.

For more info on how I keep my family meals baby & toddler friendly, read here >

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SPINACH AND FRUIT SALAD

This Spinach & Fruit Salad with honey mustard dressing is studded with berries and grapes, homemade brioche croutons & sprinkled with cheese.

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Prep Time 12

Cook Time 10

Total Time 22

Course Main Course, Salad

Cuisine American, British

Servings

Equipment

Bread knife + pairing knife + chopping board
Large baking tray + baking paper if you like
Measuring spoons and jug
Prep bowls + large mixing bowl
Food chopper (if using)
Cheese grater
Salad spoon + fork

Ingredients

200 g red grapes washed & halved
200 g blueberries washed
400 g strawberries tops trimmed and sliced
2-3 large handfuls baby spinach leaves
100 g walnut halves or pieces
Grated cheddar cheese

FOR THE BRIOCHE CROUTONS

Half a brioche loaf
3 tablespoons olive oil
A little salt

FOR THE HONEY MUSTARD DRESSING

4 tablespoons / ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 ½ tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard or French mustard
1 tablespoon honey
Little salt & white pepper

For Baby & Toddler tweaks see Notes

Instructions

MAKE THE CROUTONS Preheat the oven to 180ºc/160º fan/350ºf/gas 4. Slice your brioche loaf in half. Then dice into ½ inch cubes. Add the oil to a large baking sheet, and toss through the brioche cubes. Sprinkle with salt. Arrange in an even layer and bake for 9-10 minutes, until deep golden brown all over and crispy.
TO MAKE YOUR DRESSING Compile the ingredients in a small bowl and stir well using a mini wire hand whisk.
TO CHOP THE WALNUTS either add them to your mini food chopper and pulse gradually until in small pieces (being careful not to overdo), or add them to a resealable bag and smash with a meat mallet or rolling pin until in small pieces.
TO ASSEMBLE Combine all the fruit, walnuts and spinach in a large bowl and add about half the dressing. Toss through and taste, add more dressing to your liking or add it to the table so everyone can add more to their taste if they like. Plate up the salad and sprinkle with the grated cheddar cheese and the croutons.

Notes

Double the dressing to make enough for other salads and store in airtight container for up to 10 days. Take it out of fridge at least 15 mins before serving.

FUSSY EATERS

Serve theirs undressed. Leave out the nuts (add to a bowl for the table). Deconstruct it, give them each element in separate piles. Be selective + add on, remove elements you know they really aren’t keen on and you can add in one or two things they’d prefer instead.