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Drizzle your salad with a delicious Strawberry Poppyseed Dressing for a burst of sweet and tangy flavor. Made with fresh strawberries and the zing of fresh lime juice, this easy homemade salad dressing recipe takes just seconds to make in your blender.
Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Salad Dressing
Delicious Details
- Cuisine Inspiration: American
- Primary Cooking Method: No-cook
- Dietary Info: Gluten-free, Dairy-free
- Skill Level: Easy
After a trip to the strawberry patch or when you see the store shelves and farmers’ market overflowing with fresh berries, it’s easy to end up with an abundance. After you’ve made Strawberry Crumble and Gluten Free Strawberries and Cream Cake and Strawberry Shortcake, you might still have some more to use up. So it’s time to make strawberry poppyseed dressing! It’s so fresh and summery that you are going to love it. Here’s why…
- So quick and easy. All you have to do if toss everything in a blender, puree, and then stir the poppyseed into the strawberry salad dressing.
- Perfect consistency. Blending this dressing not only breaks down the strawberries into a puree, but also emulsifies the oil and vinegar to keep it from separating. This gives you a vinaigrette that is actually smooth and somewhat creamy even without any dairy ingredients like yogurt.
- Great flavor. The sweet, fruity dressing is balanced by the zing of fresh lime juice to really brighten it up. It adds delicious sweet and tangy flavor to your salads, from a simple side salad of arugula or spinach and goat cheese to a heartier salad topped with chicken or shrimp that you can enjoy as a meal.
What You’ll Need
Here’s a list of the ingredients in this strawberry poppyseed dressing, along with some information that might be helpful to you. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full amounts and instructions.
- Fresh strawberries. Remove the hull, then coarsely chop them so you can fit them into your blender or mini food processor. This simple tool makes quick and clean work of all those berries.
- Lime juice. Fresh is best as bottled can have a bitter flavor. I’m a big fan of a simple handheld juicer to get the most juice out of them.
- Olive oil.
- Honey. You can substitute maple syrup or agave nectar for vegan.
- Salt and pepper.
- Poppy seeds. You can skip these to just make a plain strawberry salad dressing, but they add a nice texture, a slightly nutty flavor, and look gorgeous.
How to Make Strawberry Salad Dressing
It really couldn’t be any easier. I’ll go over it here, but it’s also in the recipe card along with the ingredient amounts further down.
- Blend the dressing. Combine all of the ingredients except poppy seeds in a blender or mini food processor, and puree till smooth and emulsified.
- Add the poppy seeds. Transfer the salad dressing to a jar or bowl and stir in poppy seeds. Then enjoy it on your favorite salads!
Salads to Serve With Strawberry Dressing.
This vinaigrette is perfect to blend together and pair with so many light, summery salads. Try these ideas:
- Go classic. A traditional pairing with poppyseed dressing is spinach, like this Strawberry Spinach Salad, but you can also go with more crunch like Strawberry Wedge Salad.
- Showcase summer fruit. This Summer Grilled Shrimp Salad makes a great meal and Blackberry Mango Salad with Goat Cheese is a lovely light side dish.
- Serve with dinner. This strawberry salad dressing complements Strawberry Balsamic Salmon whether you serve it over salad or rice, and it would be good on a side salad paired with some Black and Blue Steaks.
Dressing Recipe Variations
This strawberry poppyseed dressing recipe is so versatile that you can easily change it up with whatever flavors you love or ingredients you have on hand. Here are some ideas:
- Switch the berries.You can make a delicious and gorgeous dressing with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or a combination.
- Try a different citrus. Pair it with lemon or orange juice for a different zippy flavor.
- Add some herbs. Try a bit of fresh mint or basil.
- Swap the sweetener. Maple syrup or agave makes it vegan-friendly and adds a slightly different flavor.
- Infuse some superfoods. Try using chia seeds instead of the poppy seeds.
- Make it creamy. While it does emulsify well, you can stir in some plain Greek yogurt if you want a richer texture.
Proper Storage
You can store this strawberry poppy seed dressing in a tightly covered jar in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days. While it won’t completely separate, you might want to give it a quick stir or shake before serving to make sure it is homogeneous.
More Salad Dressing Recipes
Just like this Strawberry Salad Dressing, these easy dressing recipes are also made in the blender.
- Blueberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing has more fresh berry flavor with the tang of balsamic vinegar.
- Avocado Ranch Dressing is rich and creamy, and adds a little something special to the usual Ranch dressing.
- Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing is thick and sweet and adds amazing flavor to a steak salad.
- Lemon Blueberry Chia Seed Vinaigrette squeezes in superfoods and plenty of zing.
- Lemon Basil Vinaigrette Dressing from Rachel Cooks is fresh, healthy, and even Whole30 compliant.
Strawberry Poppyseed Dressing
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients except poppy seeds in a blender or mini food processor, and blend till pureed and emulsified.
- Transfer to a jar or bowl and stir in poppy seeds.
Did you make this?
Leave a rating below and tag @cupcakesandkalechips on Instagram and hashtag it #cupcakesandkalechips
This dressing is delicious! It also tastes a little different every time I make it…depending on how ripe the strawberries are. It’s so good!!!
This sounds yummy. Just want to clarify one thing. There isnt any vinegar listed in the ingredients, but you mentioned vinegar in your blog.
Oh, I’m sorry I saw that and must have copied and pasted from a similar recipe. It’s just the lime juice.
Delicious! Just made it! Added it to a salad with berries, mandarin oranges pecans , red onion. Avocado And gardien ck’n strips. Sooo good!
That sounds like my kind of salad! Yum!
This dressing is SO GOOD!!! I made a salad with Spinach, Strawberries, Swiss Cheese and candied pecans and this dressing is the PERFECT addition! Love it!!
I’m so happy to hear that you love the dressing recipe, Bonna! Thank you for your comment and recipe rating. 🙂
Will this be enough dressing for a large salad that would feed about 6 people, or should I double it?
Addie, the recipe makes about 3/4 cup of dressing, so you might want to consider doubling it to assure that there is enough for 6 people. Any excess dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for about a week.
This looks delicious! And I must be strange as well. Because I to would try and sneak the amoxicillin when I had ear infections. Lol. I always thought I was the only one! I will be making this. Strawberry picking is right around the corner.
I’ve never made my own dressing before, so I’m really looking forward to trying this one. I just happen to have some strawberries on hand!
JUST WHIPPED UP SOME OF THIS AND IT IS GREAT! MY TODDLER WANTED ME TO PUT IT IN A CUP FOR HIM TO DRINK 😉 JUST WONDERING THOUGH, HOW LONG DO YOU THINK THIS WILL SAVE FOR? I MADE WAY TOO MUCH! THANKS!!!
Sorry I hadn’t replied. Took a major post-baby blogging break. Hopefully you enjoyed your dressing, and I would think it would have kept well for a couple of days in the fridge.
Oh my, what a PERFECT summer vinaigrette!! And so gorgeous! Would love for you to link it up at my Sunlight Sunday, along with any other recipes you’d like! 🙂
http://www.thegardengrazer.com/p/sunlight-sunday.html
Thanks for the invite. I will head over.
Oh my gosh, I’ve always thought I was the only person who freaking loved amoxicillin. Still love anything strawberry flavored…which is why I’m about to go try this awesome-looking dressing. Thanks.
Nope, you are not alone 🙂 Hope you like it!
I always had a lot of ear infections when I was a kid too. I think I mostly looked forward to them so I could get out of school, but I did love what I referred to as “the bubblegum medicine” too. (And how weird is it that I’m actually craving it right now? Ha!) I’m loving the addition of lime to this–sometimes strawberry poppyseed dressing is a little too sweet for me, so adding lime is perfect!
We called it “bubblegum medicine” too! Yes, the lime is a nice, tart contrast to the strawberries.
Such a lovely dressing! I love the pink color … and btw I have a little something for you over on my blog: http://sumptuousspoonfuls.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/blogger-inspiration-sunshine-award/
Thank you!! You are so sweet. Now that I am back in business over here, I’ll share the love soon.
Not weird at all…I loved amoxicillin. I was sad when I had to take it in pill form. It was the only redeeming part of getting an ear infection.
All of these replies are making me feel less weird! 🙂 I was sad about having to switch to pills, too.
You’re not the only one. I liked it as a kid, and when I worked as a pharmacy tech as an adult, I still loved mixing it up for customers!
Haha! I can picture it – you hear stories of pharmacists and doctors getting arrested for getting their hand on painkillers and stuff like that. Next you’ll see them getting in trouble for sneaking some amoxicillin.
This looks amazing, the whole salad does, nice and refreshing, I think I’ll try it this weekend. Oh and BTW your not strange, my daughter comes running for amoxicyln LOL…we call it “bubble gum in her belly” LOL!!
OK, good, I am not totally wacky 🙂 Thanks. I really thought it was so pretty.
Looks delicious. I made a berry salad and homemade dressing last week, too!
I love incorporating berries into salad dressings. I might try something with peach and riesling tonight.