If you’re looking for a side salad for any occasion, look no further! This Blueberry Avocado Sunflower Seed Chopped Salad with balsamic vinaigrette is the perfect side dish to any main entrée and is sure to impress!
Make this Blueberry Avocado Sunflower Seed Chopped Salad any time you’re looking for a fresh and healthy side dish!
Fresh blueberries, tangy feta cheese, creamy avocado, and crunchy sunflower seeds come together magically with fresh greens for a flavorful crunchy salad.
Pair it up with the perfect grilled steak, the best grilled chicken thighs, grilled salmon, you name it!
My top tips for making the best salads are: 1.) use plenty of crunchy and creamy elements like crunchy nuts, seeds, avocado and cheese, and 2.) make the dressing homemade whenever possible.
The Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette I shred recently is a lovely compliment to this salad.
Everything comes together in a lovely celebration of sweet, savory, tangy flavors, and crunchy and creamy textures for a blissful salad. This is a great way of complimenting your main dish for an unforgettable meal!
Let’s discuss the fresh ingredients for this blueberry avocado salad.
Ingredients for Blueberry Avocado Salad:
Fresh Baby Spinach & Hearts of Romaine: I use both baby spinach and hearts of romaine to get a huge infusion of nutrients from the spinach, and a lovely crunch from the romaine.
Fresh Blueberries: Bringing a pop of sweet berry flavor, fresh juicy sweet blueberries liven up any salad!
Ripe Avocado: Creamy, perfectly ripe avocado lends amazing texture and creaminess to any salad it touches. Plus it adds healthy fats for a nutrient boost.
Feta Cheese: A burst of tangy flavor, feta cheese is so lovely combined with the berries and avocado. I like using sheep’s milk block feta, which I chop into small cubes, but any type of feta cheese crumbles works too.
Sunflower Seeds: Roasted sunflower seeds bring a salty, delectable crunch, which makes the salad so enticing.
Pumpkin Seeds (optional): Raw pumpkin seeds (or roasted pumpkin seeds) add more crunchy texture and nutrients.
If you’re a woman who is into seed cycling, this salad is ideal for tailoring to your seeds. Just swap them out depending on which phase you’re in.
Balsamic Vinaigrette: Make my homemade balsamic dressing to dress the salad, or use your favorite homemade or store-bought vinaigrette.
The balsamic vinaigrette I make is a combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pure maple syrup, fresh garlic, dijon mustard, and Italian seasoning.
Optional Recipe Adaptations:
- Use any type of leafy greens you like in this fresh salad. Spring greens, kale, and power greens are all great options.
- Mix in your favorite veggies, like grated carrot, bell peppers, celery, etc.
- Swap out the blueberries for chopped strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries.
- Dress the salad with my Creamy Raspberry Vinaigrette.
- Swap out the sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds for your favorite nuts, like walnuts, pistachios, or pecans.
- If you’re a woman who seed cycles, use flax seeds and pumpkin seeds during your follicular phase (Days 1-14). Use sesame seeds and sunflower seeds during your luteal phase (Days 14-28).
- Add in 1/4 cup of finely chopped red onion for a little zing.
- If you have fresh herbs like fresh basil or fresh mint on hand, chop them up and add them in!
- A simple combination of avocado oil or olive oil and apple cider vinegar or lemon juice works well as a simple dressing that requires zero effort.
- If you love quinoa salads, add in 1 cup of cooked quinoa to make this a spinach blueberry avocado quinoa salad.
- Swap out the feta cheese for goat cheese or blue cheese crumbles.
Now that we’ve covered the simple ingredients for this salad recipe, let’s make this delicious summer salad!
How to Make Blueberry Avocado Sunflower Seed Chopped Salad:
Chopped salads are called such because everything is chopped into a similar size and dressed together in some sort of salad dressing or vinaigrette. In this sense, the goal is to chop the greens finely, or shred them finely.
Transfer the baby spinach to a large cutting board and use a sharp knife to chop it into small pieces. I aim for thin ribbons. Transfer the chopped spinach to a large serving bowl. You’re going to want an extra large bowl because this makes a lot of salad.
Similarly, chop the hearts of romaine and transfer them to the serving bowl.
Dice the avocado and feta cheese (if using block feta) and add them to the bowl.
Add in the blueberries, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds.
Drizzle in your desired amount of dressing and use salad tongs to toss everything together until the salad has a nice coating of dressing. Taste the salad for flavor and if desired, add more dressing or mix in additional avocado or cheese.
Serve blueberry avocado sunflower salad with your main entrée and enjoy!
Store leftover salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.
While cabbage salads tend to save very well, I wouldn’t say the same about spinach salad or romaine salad. For this reason, I recommend serving the salad immediately.
This avocado blueberry salad salad makes enough for four very large portions or 6 medium-sized portions. If you’re serving less than six people, you can halve the salad ingredients so that you don’t have leftovers (unless you want them).
If you’re preparing this salad ahead of time, leave the avocado out until you’re ready to serve it and store the dressing in a mason jar. You can toss everything together the next day.
Enjoy this refreshing, flavorful salad during berry season, or any time of the year. It’s so simple to put together that you can make it last minute, no problem!
If you love side salad recipes like this one, here are more delicious side salads.
More Side Salad Recipes:
- Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
- Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Avocado Salad
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash
- Pea Salad with Bacon
- Black Bean Corn Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
- Massaged Kale Salad with Rosemary Walnuts and Blueberry Vinaigrette
Blueberries + Avocado Forever!
Ingredients
- 5 ounces baby spinach, thinly chopped
- 5 ounces hearts of romain, thinly chopped
- 1 large ripe avocado, diced
- 6 ounces feta cheese*
- 1 ½ cups fresh blueberries
- ½ cup roasted salted sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds
- Balsamic Vinaigrette
Instructions
- Transfer the baby spinach to a large cutting board and use a sharp knife to chop it into small pieces. I aim for thin ribbons. Transfer the chopped spinach to a large serving bowl. You're going to want an extra large bowl because this makes a lot of salad. Similarly, chop the hearts of romaine and transfer them to the serving bowl.
- Dice the avocado and feta cheese (if using block feta) and add them to the bowl. Add in the blueberries, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds.
- Drizzle in your desired amount of dressing and use salad tongs to toss everything together until the salad has a nice coating of dressing. Taste the salad for flavor and if desired, add more dressing or mix in additional avocado or cheese.
- Serve blueberry avocado sunflower salad with your main entrée and enjoy! Store leftover salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.
Notes
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.