Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Ranch (2024)

This tasty Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Ranch is the perfect blend of savory sweetness and one of my favorite salads of all time!

Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Ranch (1)

Sit back folks, I’m feeling chatty!

I have a little chickpea-centric story for y’all today, and I 110% understand if you want to scroll right on down to the recipe.

In fact, I’ll make things easy peasy and slap the recipe right here at the top of the post, and if you want to partake inour daily dose of craziness, scroll down for the goods.

MWAH!

Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad

Though it looks like it’s straightout of a gourmet bistro, this simple (and speedy) salad is easily thrown together with just a few flavorful ingredients at home! Snag your go to pre-made dressing or try my homemade poppyseed ranch!

Oh and I’m totally awarding bonus points toanyone who adds extra veggies to their bowl. Scratch and sniff cupcake stickersfor all of you!

Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad

Channeling the flavors of some of some of my favorite restaurant salads, this tasty Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Ranch is the perfect blend of savory sweetness!

4.88 from 48 votes

Ingredients

▢ 4 oz fresh baby spinach
▢ ½ cup chopped broccoli
▢ ½ a ripe avocado
▢ ¼ cup blueberries
▢ ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
▢ 2-4 TBSP dried cranberries
▢ 2-4 TBSP roasted sunflower seeds (I used unsalted)
▢ black pepper to taste (optional)

POPPY SEED RANCH DRESSING:

▢ ½ cup of plain greek yogurt or sour cream
▢ ¼ cup of buttermilk extra if desired
▢ ¼ cup good quality mayonnaise homemade or store bought
▢ 1 clove garlic
▢ ½ tsp lemon juice or white vinegar
▢ 1 tsp poppy seeds
▢ ½ tsp dried parsley
▢ ½ tsp dried dill
▢ ¼ tsp onion powder
▢ ¼ tsp paprika
▢ 1/8-1/4 tsp garlic powder to taste
▢ ⅛ tsp sea salt
▢ ⅛ tsp black pepper

Instructions

Start with the dressing (skip if using premade)
Ranch dressing always tastes it’s absolute best made ahead of time. Whisk and chill for a few hours before serving or make things simple by tossing it together the night before.
Peel 1 clove of garlic, then smash and mince it into a paste.
Season with salt.
Combine salted garlic paste with remaining dressing ingredients and whisk well.
Pop in the fridge to chill for a few hours for flavors to set.
Wash + dry spinach.
Combine with broccoli, blueberries, dried cranberries, avocado, feta cheese, and sunflower seeds.
Toss with dressing and serve.
Season with black pepper, to taste.

Notes

This dressing works with both fresh and dried herbs, so absolutely use what fresh herbs you have on hand. I’ll include measurements for dried, which are a little stronger in flavor, so when using fresh you’ll simply increase the amount to taste. Enjoy!

Making more dressing for later? Typical food safety rule of thumb is that homemade dressings will keep in the fridge for 4 days.

Nutrition facts below are an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. Values calculated for the salad pre-dressing. Add dressing to taste and adjust as needed.

Nutrition

Calories: 265kcal, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 266mg, Potassium: 696mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 5610IU, Vitamin C: 43.1mg, Calcium: 173mg, Iron: 2.6mg

Did You Make This Recipe? Leave a Comment and Rating!

special diets and swaps

I used a feta made of goat and sheep’s milk, but you can also use straight up goat cheese or cow’s milk feta.
Need to make this dairy-free? I gotcha! Skip the cheese, sub your favorite dairy-free dressing (this fruity blueberry balsamic isamazing!) and treat yourself with some tasty candied walnuts in place of the cheese.
No blueberries? Try strawberries, raspberries, or even chopped apple as a fruity sub.
I adore sunflowers in this salad, but pepitas would be great too!

Feel free to customize thisBlueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad with all your favorite salad mix-ins and I’d love it if you stopped by and told me what tasty extras rocked your socks!

Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Ranch (4)

Not surprisingly, recipes are a hot topic of conversation around here.

Whether I’m brainstorming for aweek’s worth of meals with the pilot, recipe developing for the blog, testing said recipes, jotting down random ideas in my handy dandy notebook, or writing up my completed masterpieces for the blog… recipes are kind of my thing.

As a result, Mia has become OBSESSEDwith the idea ofrecipes.

This kidLOVES creating recipes. Her version of a recipe, is a little list of what she can expect from the day. Her “recipes” typically include things like meals, naps, play dates, outings + activities, baths, story time, and sleep.

Let us pause why I laugh maniacally over the inclusion of naps inher lists. Right. We should add unicorn riding to the recipe while we’re at it ?

Also, I just shouted “Where’s my unicorn emoji?!” to Paul and Mia legit just handed me a stuffed unicorn. Well played, chickpea.

Each day around here is drastically different, thanks to my erratic schedule and the craziness that comes with having a flight instructor for a daddy. His work/home schedule changes daily and will flip flop from working all night and sleeping all day to extra-long day shifts that often result in a certain tot staying up past her bedtime to catch a glimpse of her marine.

To help us make eachday feel a bit more routine for our nugget, started doing a little morning game plan for the day, based on the location of our favorite pilot, my work/play schedule, and rotating errands, playdates and such. She’s taken to calling them her recipes and it wasn’t long before she began creating her own for the day.

I think they’re her way ofand finding her calm making sense of our inability tograspa set routine… It wholeheartedlykicks me in the feels. I love that crazy kid and all the recipes we create together.

This concludes my hormone-induced cheesiness for the day.

Oh look! More salad!

Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Ranch (5)

I flipping LOVE this salad!

Loving this sassy spinachsalad?

Try my Almond Crusted Goat Cheese Salad with Strawberries and Kiwi or Spring Mix Salad with Blueberry Balsamic Dressing next!

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