This Easter salad is made with vibrant spring veggies, juicy berries, and maple ginger candied almonds, then topped with a zippy raspberry vinaigrette. It's perfect for Easter...or any other spring celebration!
Looking for the perfect side dish for your Easter celebration? Well, I've got lots of fantastic options listed in my massive post on vegan Easter recipes. But this salad is, in my opinion, the side dish that you absolutely need at your table.
This salad was inspired by my vegan Thanksgiving salad. You could totally serve that one for Easter dinner too, if you'd like! But whereas that salad features hearty fall flavors, this one includes lighter, springier flavors. It's so delicious you might even want to make a meal of it (I did!) and you'll probably continue making it on repeat all spring long.
Tip: This salad isn't just for Easter. It's perfect for all kinds of spring celebrations, including Passover, Mother's Day, and even Memorial Day.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Sliced almonds. Feel free to use another variety of nut if almonds aren't your thing. Pecans and walnuts would work great. Sunflower seeds are an option for anyone with nut allergies.
- Maple syrup. Another liquid sweetener like coconut nectar or agave nectar could be used if needed.
- Ground ginger.
- Salt & pepper.
- Berries. We'll be using raspberries for the dressing, and both raspberries and blueberries in the salad. While I can't say if the dressing will work with any substitutes, you can certainly replace the berries in the salad with other varieties like strawberries or blackberries.
- Olive oil.
- Red wine vinegar.
- Garlic powder.
- Spring mix. Just about any salad greens can be used in place of spring mix. Try baby spinach, kale, arugula, or your favorite lettuce.
- Snap peas.
- Radishes.
- Avocado.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
To make the maple ginger roasted almonds, simply combine the sliced almonds with some maples syrup, ground ginger and salt in a small bowl. Stir everything up well, then arrange the almonds on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and roast them until they're browned and crisp.
Make the dressing while the almonds cool.
Place some raspberries into a blender along with olive oil, red wine vinegar, maple syrup, garlic powder and salt.
Blend everything together to create a creamy emulsion. Taste-test the dressing and make any adjustments you'd like, which could include more vinegar, maple syrup, or salt.
Tip: If raspberry vinaigrette isn't your thing, try making this salad with my poppy seed dressing, tahini dressing, or maple balsamic vinaigrette instead.
Place your spring mix into a large bowl, along with fresh berries, snap peas, sliced radishes, and avocado. Top everything with the maple ginger roasted almonds, drizzle it with raspberry vinaigrette, and give the salad a good sprinkle with black pepper.
Tip: This recipe makes a generous amount of dressing, so feel free to use as much or as little as you'd like.
Leftovers & Storage
Ideally, you'll want to store each of the components of this recipe separately — one container for the salad, one for the almonds, and one for the dressing. If you've combined everything, it's not the end of the world. Things just might get a little soggy!
The salad will keep for about three days in an airtight container in the fridge. The dressing will keep for about a week in an airtight container in the fridge. The almonds can be stored at room temperature, in a sealed bag or airtight container, and they'll last for about two weeks.
More Vegan Salad Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Easter Salad
Ingredients
For the Maple Ginger Roasted Almonds
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Raspberry Vinaigrette
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- â…“ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Salad
- 5 ounces spring mix
- ½ cup fresh raspberries
- ½ cup fresh blueberries
- 1 cup snap peas
- 4 medium radishes, sliced
- 1 avocado, diced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine all ingredients for the maple ginger roasted almonds in a small bowl. Stir well to combine the ingredients and evenly coat the almonds.
- Arrange the almonds in an even layer on the baking sheet. Bake the almonds for 7 to 8 minutes, until golden brown. Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack when it comes out of the oven.
- While the almonds cool, place all of the ingredients for the dressing into a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste-test the dressing and make any adjustments to suit your taste (Note 1).
- Place the spring mix into a large salad bowl, then add the raspberries, blueberries, snap peas, radishes, avocado, and maple ginger roasted almonds. Drizzle with dressing, using as much as you'd like (Note 2), and generously sprinkle the salad with black pepper. Toss the ingredients to combine them.
- Serve.
Notes
- Add more maple syrup for sweeter dressing, more vinegar for less sweet/tangier dressing, or more salt if desired.
- Alternatively, serve the dressing on the side and let your guests dress it themselves.
- This recipe generously serves 6 as a side, or 3 as a main dish.
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This is a lovely salad. I made it for easter. However, I have some strong recommendations:
On the color wheel, green and pink/red combined make BROWN. If you combine this vinegarette with the greens even a few minutes prior to serving, it all looks brown. Tastes lovely but doesn’t look good. So I would serve. it on the side so the prettiness of the salad can be seen. Also, too much dressing.
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Stunning salad recipe! Thank you! It's now my 'summer in a bowl' fix xxx
Delicious! This recipe makes more dressing than I needed and I'm looking forward to using it on other salads :)