Spinach salad with apple and bacon

This Spinach salad is the perfect fall or winter salad.  It has crisp apples, crumbly bacon, and mushrooms to give the salad a great texture.  It is all dressed with a slightly sweet maple-dijon vinaigrette that is so very good!

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I discovered this spinach salad with apples and bacon recipe years ago in a Cooking Light magazine and just knew it would be good.  So I ripped it out and added it to my recipe collection.

I was right, it is delicious!

I did have to adjust the original recipe to remove the poor-quality oil and tweak the amounts on a few other ingredients.  The end result is the best spinach salad! 

Nutrition

Spinach is an excellent source of many nutrients.  It contains a large amount of vitamins A and K.  It is also a really good source of vitamin C, folate, and manganese.   

Apples are a pretty good source of fiber.  They also contain additional vitamin C which will help the body to absorb the iron present in the spinach.

Mushrooms provide trace amounts of some B vitamins, vitamin D, and folate. They also have potassium, copper, and selenium.

You might think maple syrup is just a sweetener but is actually packed with minerals. It contains smaller amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and copper. It is especially rich in zinc and manganese.

Ingredients for spinach salad

For the spinach salad with bacon and apples, you need the following ingredients:

Baby spinach: definitely choose organic to avoid pesticides.

Apple: pick a crisp and slightly sweet apple variety such as honey crisp, Braeburn, or fuji. 

Mushrooms: baby bells or white buttons both work great. 

Shallots: I like using shallot here because they have a milder flavor.  You could use red onion instead.

Bacon: If you can find it, purchase uncured pasture-raised bacon. 

For the maple-dijon vinaigrette, you need the following ingredients:

Maple Syrup

Red Wine vinegar

Olive oil

Dijon Mustard: Spicy brown mustard works great here too.

Shallots

Garlic

Equipment

• A large serving bowl
• Mason jar or small bowl for the vinaigrette
• A sharp knife
• Cutting board
• Cast-iron pan or stainless steel skillet
• Measuring cups and spoons

How to make spinach salad with apple and bacon

1. Combine all the spinach salad ingredients in a large serving bowl. 
2. In a mason jar or small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the vinaigrette
3. Pour vinaigrette over the salad and toss well to coat.

Meal prep tips

This spinach salad works really great for meal prep because most of the ingredients store really well once prepped. 

For the vinaigrette, add all ingredients to a Mason jar and shake to combine.  Store in the frig for up to three days.

As for the spinach salad, portion out the spinach and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  Cook and crumble the bacon.  Cut shallots and mushrooms. Store the bacon, shallot, and mushrooms together in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to serve the salad, put spinach, shallot, bacon, and mushrooms in a serving bowl.  Chop the apple, and add to bowl with spinach mixture.  Topped with vinaigrette, toss and serve.

How to store spinach salad

As with most salads, that spinach Salas with apples and bacon is best eaten fresh.  If you do have leftovers, store them in an airtight container for up to two days.

If you think you may not eat the entire salad only dress a portion of the salad and store the leftover salad and dressing in separate containers in the frig.

FAQs

Final thoughts

I really love this spinach salad and I know you will too.  It is versatile and complements many types of meat and other side dishes. 

As I mentioned above, roasted sweet potatoes taste great paired with this salad. They pair so well that I tend to toss them in the salad so they soak up some of the vinaigrette. So, so good!

If you make and enjoy this recipe, I would greatly appreciate a rating.  Remember to pin it to your Pinterest board for later!

Sources

All nutritional information above was found on this website.