This Spring Mix Salad Recipe is one of my favorite go-tos for turning a container of baby greens into a quick dinnertime side dish. It comes together in less than 10 minutes with a simple mix of Spring greens, sliced carrots, radishes, and cucumber. Dress it with a simple Dijon vinaigrette and you've got a salad that's beautiful, delicious, and elegant enough to serve to company.
The beauty of this salad is its freshness and simplicity. With a small ingredient list and a stellar dressing, it truly allows the flavor of each individual vegetable to have its moment. I recently served this at a friend's birthday dinner alongside grilled steaks, scalloped potatoes, and balsamic brussels sprouts. The tender greens, crisp veggies, and tangy Dijon made for an incredibly easy side dish addition that lightened up the entire meal.
Table of Contents
Why This Spring Mix Salad Works
- Texture | Spring greens are soft and tender. To balance that texture out, the cucumber, radishes, and carrots give the salad the perfect level of crunch.
- The Dressing | Dijon vinaigrette adds plenty of flavor without weighing down the lettuce. It also gives the salad gourmet flavors without gourmet level of work.
- Goes With Anything | You can serve this salad alongside chicken, pork, steak, soup, or even sandwiches.
Spring Mix Salad Ingredients
- Spring Mix | Use one 5-ounce container of spring mix. Look for greens that appear fresh and crisp with no signs of wilting.
- Cucumber | Baby cucumbers work best in this mix because they are crisp, slightly sweet, and less watery than full-sized cucumbers, adding crunch without weighing down the greens. No need to peel them. Just slice on a ¼-inch bias and add to the mix.
- Radishes | Thinly sliced radishes add a peppery, crisp contrast to the sweet, delicate leaves.
- Carrots | Small carrots sliced on a bias add a great deal of natural sweetness and crunch to the salad.
- Dijon Dressing | It's especially important to choose a light dressing for spring greens, one that won't weigh the lettuce down. Tangy, savory, garlicky, and slightly sweet, this dressing is perfect for dressing spring mix salads. Its acidity and Dijon cut through the bitter, peppery leaves, while the sugar softens their flavor without making the salad sweet.
What is Spring Mix?
The greens in a Spring Mix container can vary but the combination delicate sweet and bitter greens is what makes this mix so craveable. Baby green leaf lettuce, oak leaf lettuce, and baby spinach are mild, tender, and slightly sweet. Spinach, along with baby chard, gives the mix an earthy flavor. Then you have arugula, frisée, radicchio, and mustard greens add that peppery, sharp, and somewhat bitter note.
How to Make Spring Mix Salad
Prep the Vegetables
Slice the cucumber at a ¼-inch bias, slice the radishes as thin as you can, and cut the carrots into 1-inch pieces on a bias.
Combine
Add the spring mix and vegetables to a large salad bowl.
Dress and Toss
Right before serving, add about 3 tablespoons of Dijon dressing to the salad and toss until combined. Taste and add more dressing only if needed.
Serve Right Away
Spring greens wilt faster than a sturdier lettuce, like Romaine. It is important you do not dress this particular salad until right before serving.
4 Tips for the Best Spring Mix Salad
- Make sure your greens are dry. If you wash the greens yourself, dry them thoroughly. Water not only dilutes vinaigrette, but it also weighs down greens and keeps the dressing from adhering properly.
- Cut the vegetables for easy bites. This recipe calls for specific cuts on each vegetable. It makes them both more palatable and easier to eat while still giving plenty of crunch.
- Don't overdress spring mix. Spring mix is a very delicate blend. Start with a small amount of dressing to ensure you don't overpower the greens.
- Dress the salad right before serving. The acidity and moisture in a vinaigrette will begin softening the baby greens quickly. Wait until just before serving to add the dressing.
Variations and Add-Ins
This salad is intentionally simple, but it's an easy base to build on if you're looking to add more texture and flavor.
- Cheese: Feta, goat cheese, or Parmesan
- Crunch: Chopped walnuts, Marcona almonds, sunflower seeds, or croutons
If you're looking for a spring mix salad with sweet elements, I use a base of spring mix in my pear and walnut salad with apricot dressing and for my strawberry and goat cheese salad. You can also use spring greens interchangeably with spinach in this strawberry spinach salad.
Can I Make Spring Mix Salad Ahead?
After 20 years of hosting, one of my favorite hostess hacks is a homemade salad kit.
To make this spring mix salad ahead, simply place the greens in the bowl you'll be serving from and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Then, prepare all of the toppings and the dressing, and store each separately in an airtight container. Store everything in the refrigerator, and just before serving, pull it all out and combine.
It minimizes the prep work on hosting day and keeps all of your ingredients perfectly fresh for serving.
What to Serve with Spring Mix Salad
With Beef: This salad is excellent alongside richer beef dishes thanks to the vinaigrette and fresh greens keeping everything light and fresh. Try it with air fryer filet mignon for a quick and easy dinner, as a side to lighten up braised beef, or serve with prime rib or roasted beef tenderloin for an elegant holiday dinner.
With Chicken: Serve it with simple baked chicken breasts, lemon chicken, roasted chicken, or marinated chicken.
With Pork: This spring mix salad also works extremely well with a variety of pork dishes. Stuffed pork chops, parmesan crusted pork chops, and pork tenderloin would be great with this salad.
Seafood: And then, of course, there's seafood. We love this salad paired with baked lobster tail, salmon with dill sauce, crab stuffed salmon, and even garlic butter shrimp.
Spring Mix Salad
Ingredients
- 1 5-ounce container spring mix
- 2 baby cucumbers sliced on a ¼-inch bias
- 4 radishes thinly sliced
- 2 small carrots cut into 1-inch pieces on a bias
- 3 tablespoons Dijon Dressing plus more as needed
Instructions
- Add the spring mix, cucumber, radishes, and carrots to a large salad bowl.
- Just before serving, drizzle with 3 tablespoons of Dijon Dressing and gently toss to combine.
- Taste and add more dressing only if needed. Serve right away.
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