Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese
Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese also has almonds and optional cranberries, and this is perfect when you want a special salad! You can skip the dried cranberries if you prefer, but they don’t add many carbs.
PIN Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese to try it later!
Years ago I spent a couple of hours looking through food magazines (remember those?) and then marched into the kitchen and came up with this Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese without a recipe except the one I made up in my head. The salad also had almonds and optional cranberries, yum! I’ve served this many times for special dinners through the years, and it’s always been a hit so today I am recommending it for your Thanksgiving menu!
This beautiful salad has Dried cranberries and I think that really gives the salad a holiday feel if you want to serve it for a special occasion. You can skip the dried cranberries if you want an even lower-carb salad that will still be a wow with the almonds and goat cheese, but if you check the nutritional information you’ll see the the small amount of cranberries doesn’t add that many carbs per serving.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; for the full list of ingredients and amounts, please scroll down to the recipe card. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions.)
- baby spinach leaves
- dried cranberries (optional)
- slivered almonds
- goat cheese
- white balsamic vinegar (affiliate link)
- Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) other sweeter of your choice (see notes)
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- pinch of salt
What is Goat Cheese?
There are many kinds of cheese made with goat’s milk, but for this recipe you want the kind of soft goat cheese that comes in a log. The imported kind is Chevre (which means goat cheese in French) but the Kirkland Goat Cheese from Costco is really delicious and works perfectly well here.
What if you don’t have white balsamic vinegar?
Slightly-sweet white balsamic vinegar is perfect for the dressing for this salad. But if you don’t have that and don’t want to buy vinegar for one recipe, use any mild white vinegar (and possibly add a bit more sweetener when you make the dressing.)
How to make Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Whisk together the white balsamic vinegar, sweetener, olive oil, and salt to make the dressing.
- Measure out the salad toppings.(Thanks to Ree for the cute measuring cups that came in the mail!)
- Toss the spinach with the dressing (you might not need it all) and top each salad with the almonds, goat cheese, and dried cranberries.
- That’s all there is to this delicious salad.
- This salad will be a big hit on the Thanksgiving table or any special meal.
- If some people don’t like goat cheese, use Feta or Parmesan for a salad that will still be delicious.
More Spinach Salads to try:
- Balsamic Spinach Salad with Mushrooms and Feta
- Mediterranean Spinach Salad
- Spinach Salad with Bacon and Feta
- Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Spinach Salad with Shrimp
Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese
Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese is a delicious way to get some greens on the holiday table or serve this any time of year for a special meal!
Ingredients
- 5 oz. baby spinach leaves
- 2 T dried cranberries (see notes)
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 3 oz. goat cheese (the type that comes in a log; Costco brand is good)
Dressing Ingredients:
- 1 T white balsamic vinegar (could use regular balsamic)
- 1/2 tsp. Golden Monkfruit Sweetener or other sweeter of your choice (see notes)
- 2 T olive oil
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Wash spinach if needed and spin dry, then place in large bowl.
- Whisk together balsamic vinegar, sweetener and salt, then whisk in olive oil.
- Toss spinach leaves with dressing (you may not need all the dressing if you prefer your salads on the dry side).
- Arrange spinach on individual serving plates and sprinkle each salad with dried cranberries, sliced almonds, and goat cheese. Serve right away.
Notes
I would use Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) for this salad. Use more dried cranberries if you aren't being that careful about carbs!
Recipe created by Kalyn with inspiration from holiday food magazines.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 235Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 7gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 20mgSodium 254mgCarbohydrates 8gFiber 2gSugar 5gProtein 10g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Dried cranberries are relatively high in sugar, so keep that in mind if you decide to use more than the small amount specified in this recipe. With the limited amount of cranberries and the use of Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link), this Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese is not that high in carbs as a splurge for a special meal. If you don’t want to splurge or you’d prefer to use your carbs on other foods the salad will still be delicious (and very low in carbs) without the cranberries.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salads to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for This Recipe:
This Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese was first posted in 2007, yikes! Since then I’ve made it for many special dinners. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2024.
28 Comments on “Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese”
Will adding fresh strawberries work with this recipe?
I think small pieces of strawberry would be good in this. I do have a recipe on the site for Strawberry Spinach Salad too if you enter it into the search bar.
I love the goat cheese – it adds a creaminess and slightly tart flavor to balance the sweetness of the cranberries. Lovely salad!
Thank you! I think every salad needs goat cheese.
Love this recipe Kalyn–so glad you reposted it!
Thanks Letty; it's always such a hit!
This is just like one that I make often, I just never had a recipe. Would like your permission to share this on my site (giving you credit, of course).
Dawn, I give permission to share the photo if accompanied by a link to get the recipe from my site (and as long as the recipe itself is not reprinted with the photo.) Thanks; glad you like it.
I buy all ingredients for this at Trader Joe's. Delicious salad! I make it often.
Yum! I love all these ingredients & especially like the addition of cranberries. Cheers! Heather
Looks great! I love dried cranberries in my salad…I usually do one with feta, almonds, and craisins, with a maple mustard dressing! So pretty for fall/winter too!
Very good. I make a baby spinach salad with craisins (well, fruit-sweetened organic dried cranberries these days), the occasional grape tomato, nuts (sliced almonds are my fave) and crumbled blue cheese with a maple-balsamic vinaigrette (equal measures balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and olive oil–but agave nectar would be a perfect sub). I’m actually planning that salad to go with my Tgiving meal–along with another favorite: pureed white beans instead of mashed potatoes! Mmm!
ohhhhhhhhhhhh I am certainly going to do this salad it looks fabulous.. our wedding is the weekend before Tgiving .. so this will be an easy salad to make… for Tgiving.. not too much work.. and I love stuff that looks and tastes like I worked harder than I did LOL
That’s just the way I cook – “er, um, what needs using up in the fridge? Oh I know, we’ll make this!” The only problem is that selection of ingredients seldom coincides so fortuitously in my fridge again 😉 Salad looks awesome. I’m a late arrival on the cranberry scene but am now addicted to dried cranberries…
I love dried cranberries! I just made a similar salad (right down to the goat cheese). I’ve found that grape seed oil is a really nice alternative to olive oil in salad dressings. My dressing for my similar salad was white basalmic, grape seed oil, a little bit of all fruit raspberry jam (the natural sugars might now work with the diet you are on), and a squirt of a course ground mustard.
I don’t usually comment here but I’ve recently fallen in love with dried cranberries so I thought I would say hi.
i am always at a slight loss when it comes to making salads and coming up with interesting ingredients for them.
this one sounds delicious. perfect for thanksgiving indeed!
Yum! This is a salad I could grab onto! I love dried cranberries. Funny thing is – I remember interning at an ad agency in college in Boston on the Ocean Spray account…They had me in an office once, glueing a “new product” to fill a map of the US – a product they called Craisins. If I knew then what I know now!
Meeso, thanks! I try to find interesting things to cook.
Joanna, I agree, perfect for winter.
Chigiy, agave nectar is really very tasty, and it’s completely natural. The amber type tastes a lot like honey.
Helene, great idea. I didn’t think about the colors, but it looks very Christmas-like.
Gloria, me too, thanks.
Tanna, laughing here. I usually have 100+ photos, so it does take a while. I will try to eat more slowly and not wolf down my food! I promise!
Kalyn I really hope you were downloading a LOT of photos or your downloading is really slow otherwise you’re really woofing your food ;))
The salad looks and sounds really fabulous and one I know I will be making. I can never be getting too much spinach or cranberries.
I like this recipe Kalyn, I lke spinach so Gloria
Looks really good. Anything with goat cheese. This could probably be on a Christmas buffet also.
This looks yummy. I’ve made salads that are similar using toasted pinenuts or candied nuts instead of almonds. Almonds are probably way more healthy.
I’ve never tried agave necture though.
Looks good.
What a lovely recipe, Kalyn … definitely one to try, even though we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a beautiful looking winter salad, full of goodness – just what’s wanted when there’s no lettuce or other salad greens
Thanks for sharing!
Joanna
You’re the best resource for fresh food recipes…they are always amazing!!!
Peter, never too many spinach salads. Please post yours and I will add it to my links!
Great salad Kalyn and it’s funny how 2 people can be thinking about the same foods. I was going to post my spinach salad today but now I’ll wait a bit!
I love dried cranberries, and hats off, really, to Ocean Spray for marketing them now as “craisins.” You can find them in my local markets in the produce section, near the nuts and other dried fruits.
Kalyn, this looks really fantastic.
Here, cranberries are not common and dried ones are only just making it onto the scene. Also goats cheese is relatively expensive. But the dish looks so delicious, so simple yet really inviting. I am going to save it for our summer holiday season (Dec – Jan).