20+ Heart-Healthy Salad Recipes For Summer

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Avocado & Walnuts

Serve this summery strawberry spinach salad alongside soup or a half sandwich, or top with grilled chicken or roasted salmon for a complete and easy healthy meal.

Summer Shrimp Salad

Use an array of colorful tomatoes to make this healthy shrimp salad pop. Cooking the shrimp with fresh herbs and garlic infuses them with flavor without coming off too strong for a light dinner salad that’s perfect for summer entertaining.

Citrus-Arugula Salad

This easy salad recipe makes a stunning side dish for anything you’ve got cooking for dinner. The bright flavor of the citrus pairs perfectly with peppery arugula and avocado, plus a bit of jalapeño for a slight kick.

Big Beautiful Summer Salad

This gorgeous and healthy summer vegetable salad is loaded with pretty produce, including golden beets, avocado, corn, microgreens and radishes. Chickpeas and edamame add substance, and an herb-filled buttermilk-avocado dressing makes this salad really special. 

Cabbage, Tofu & Edamame Salad

Craving crunch? Bite into this salad loaded with crisp red cabbage, edamame, bamboo shoots, and chow mein noodles. This salad is slightly sweetened with baked tofu, mandarin oranges and sesame vinaigrette.

Couscous & Chickpea Salad

Cooked couscous and canned chickpeas come together in this quick salad. The basil vinaigrette makes it taste anything but basic! When in season, we recommend adding fresh chopped tomatoes for a spin on tabbouleh.

Tomato, Peach & Feta Salad

This juicy salad is the perfect snack in the height of summer when tomatoes and peaches are at their best.

Tofu, Snow Pea & Carrot Wild Rice Salad

Sesame oil and nori (dried seaweed) give this healthy grain-salad recipe a depth of savoriness and flavor. Serve as a vegetarian main dish or as a side for grilled shrimp or baked chicken.

Smashed Cucumber Salad with Lemon & Cumin

Don’t skip salting the cucumbers in this quick cucumber salad recipe—just 10 minutes pulls out some of their excess moisture, concentrating the flavor and keeping the salad from being watered down. Serve this smashed cucumber salad at a summer cookout alongside burgers and hot dogs.

Mixed Greens with Lentils & Sliced Apple

This salad with lentils, feta and apple is a satisfying vegetarian entree to whip together for dinner. To save time, swap in drained canned lentils—just make sure to look for low-sodium and give them a rinse before adding them to the salad.

Tomato Salad with Lemon-Basil Vinaigrette

Seek out several varieties of heirloom tomatoes for this simple salad. Sweeter and juicier than conventional tomatoes, they add the perfect pop of color.

Green Goddess Salad with Chickpeas

In this cucumber, tomato, Swiss cheese and chickpea salad recipe, a healthy green goddess dressing is made from avocado, buttermilk and herbs. The extra dressing is delicious served with grilled vegetables.

Tofu Cucumber Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

To make this tofu and cucumber salad recipe a meal, add rice noodles and double the Sichuan-inspired peanut dressing. Serve with an extra drizzle of sesame oil and sliced scallions.

Chopped Cobb Salad with Chicken

This healthy chopped salad is a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken. You can reserve the remaining hard-boiled egg half for a snack.

Crunchy Chicken & Mango Salad

This salad has terrific crunch, thanks to sugar snap peas and napa cabbage. Give the dressing a kick of heat by adding a bit of sambal oelek, an Indonesian hot sauce that you can find in most large supermarkets and Asian grocery stores.

Fiber-Packed Spicy White Bean & Spinach Salad

In this light and refreshing salad, we season white beans with ras el hanout, a Moroccan spice blend which features cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, ginger, cardamom and ground black and red pepper. 

Spicy Cucumber Salad with Cilantro & Peanuts

1. This sweet and tangy salad of cucumber, scallions and pepper gets a bit of extra crunch from dry-roasted peanuts. If possible, use a red jalapeño (or chile) to brighten the salad with a few specks of red. Cut the heat by removing the seeds before chopping.

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

This scrumptious and healthy salad combines elements of Caesar salad, pasta salad and chicken salad for an easy weeknight dinner that comes together in less than 30 minutes (and most of the prep can be done ahead). Use your blender to whip together the tangy buttermilk-based dressing, which would also be great on a salmon or chickpea salad.

Sweet Potato, Kale & Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing

These hearty kale salads hold up well for 4 days, making them perfect for meal-prep lunches. To keep the ingredients from getting soggy, dress this salad and top it with peanuts just before serving.

Baby Kale Breakfast Salad with Bacon & Egg

Breakfast salad? Oh yes! Start your day off right with this healthy breakfast recipe. A bowl of good-for-you greens, such as baby kale, will knock out half of your daily veggie quota with the first meal of the day.

Salmon Caesar Salad

This easy Caesar salad subs creamy Greek yogurt and buttermilk for the traditional egg yolks and olive oil and mixes in mildly bitter radicchio in addition to classic romaine. Using just a small amount of flavorful Parmigiano-Reggiano shaves calories and sodium too.

Kale Salad with Beets & Wild Rice

Beets and kale, speckled with chewy wild rice and crunchy sunflower seeds, make a satisfying, colorful dinner salad. The beets are nicest when they are sliced paper thin. Use a mandoline or vegetable slicer, if you have one.

Mixed Vegetable Salad with Lime Dressing

Using potatoes and green beans gives this gorgeous and healthy vegetable salad a Niçoise salad feel, but you can use whatever suits your fancy.