This Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette combines baby spinach leaves, dried cranberries, fresh mushrooms, chickpeas, and crumbled bacon, all tossed with a lemon basil dressing. This dish is easy to throw together and serves as the perfect lunch or dinner!

This Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette combines baby spinach leaves, dried cranberries, fresh mushrooms, chickpeas, and crumbled bacon, all tossed with a lemon basil dressing. This dish is easy to throw together and serves as the perfect lunch or dinner! #spinachsalad #cranberries #mushroom #mushroomsalad #cranberrysalad #saladrecipes #healthysalad #thanksgiving #lunch

When I was younger, I remember eating a side salad filled with spinach leaves at a relatives house and thinking that it tasted like grass. I’m pretty sure I gagged on the salad and then refused to eat the rest.

For the next ten or fifteen years, I refused to eat anything other than regular leaf or romaine lettuce. I just couldn’t get the taste of grass and weeds out of my mind.

Luckily, my tastes have evolved over the years and I now love spinach salads. Although, there are still certain types of lettuce that tastes like grass to me…I guess I’ll never grow out of that phase.

This Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette combines baby spinach leaves, dried cranberries, fresh mushrooms, chickpeas, and crumbled bacon, all tossed with a lemon basil dressing. This dish is easy to throw together and serves as the perfect lunch or dinner!

But spinach salads, I could eat them all day, every day. I love the texture and the nutritional ingredients that it carries. And I love adding spinach to a hot skillet and watching it wilt. The flavor is amazing!

So needless to say, I’m happy that I found my love of spinach salads, because I could eat a salad just about every day (along with a big bowl of soup). And because it’s winter, I’ve been doing that a lot lately. Soup and salad make a delicious lunch or lighter dinner.

Especially when it comes to this Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette. This flavorful salad combines baby spinach leaves, dried cranberries, fresh mushrooms, chickpeas, and crumbled bacon, all tossed with a lemon basil dressing. This dish is easy to throw together and serves as the perfect lunch or dinner!

This Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette combines baby spinach leaves, dried cranberries, fresh mushrooms, chickpeas, and crumbled bacon, all tossed with a lemon basil dressing. This dish is easy to throw together and serves as the perfect lunch or dinner!

If you love spinach salads, then this dish was made for you. The dried cranberries and fresh mushrooms make the best flavor combination, especially when paired with the smokey bacon. And chickpeas goes with just about everything, so I couldn’t resist adding those in.

And let’s talk about this lemon basil vinaigrette. It’s simple to prepare and so full of flavor! It add the perfect touch to this salad because of the combination of the sweet and tangy flavor. The vinaigrette also keeps in this salad on the ligther side, without overpowering the other ingredients.

Cranberry anything may remind you of the fall or winter, but for me, it makes me think of fresh and healthy dishes. I just couldn’t resist adding dried cranberries to this salad, as I snack on them quite often.

This Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette combines baby spinach leaves, dried cranberries, fresh mushrooms, chickpeas, and crumbled bacon, all tossed with a lemon basil dressing. This dish is easy to throw together and serves as the perfect lunch or dinner!

I also love this Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad because it’s a breeze to whip up. Simply toss the ingredients together, mix the lemon basil vinaigrette, and your salad is ready to be devoured. What could be easier than that?

So the next time you’re in the mood for a spinach salad, try out this Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette. It makes a delicious lunch or dinner and is jam-packed full of nutritious (and delicious) ingredients!

This Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette combines baby spinach leaves, dried cranberries, fresh mushrooms, chickpeas, and crumbled bacon, all tossed with a lemon basil dressing. This dish is easy to throw together and serves as the perfect lunch or dinner!

Looking for more salads? I’ve got you covered!

This Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette combines baby spinach leaves, dried cranberries, fresh mushrooms, chickpeas, and crumbled bacon, all tossed with a lemon basil dressing. This dish is easy to throw together and serves as the perfect lunch or dinner!

Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

Yield: 2
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
 

  • 4 cups baby spinach
  • 1 cup fresh sliced raw mushrooms
  • 1 cup chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry
  • 5 slices bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries

FOR THE LEMON BASIL VINAIGRETTE

  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, juice from about 1 lemon
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon dried basil
  • Pinch garlic powder

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, combine the spinach, mushrooms, chickpeas, bacon, and cranberries.
  • To make the dressing, in a medium bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, honey, sea salt, pepper, basil, and garlic powder. Whisk until combined.
  • Pour over salad just before serving.
Cuisine: American
Course: Salad
Author: Gayle
Did you make this recipe?Let me know! Mention @pumpkin_n_spice on Instagram or tag #pumpkin_n_spice.