Strawberry Bacon Salad With Honey Lime Balsamic Vinaigrette

By Becky Hardin

Published Aug 16, 2017

This STRAWBERRY BACON SALAD with HONEY LIME BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE salad dressing is the perfect salad for summer. Fresh, sweet, savory, and rich, with feta, pecans, and mint on top. - 2

This Strawberry Bacon Salad with Honey Lime Balsamic Vinaigrette is utterly delicious and oh so flavorful. You won’t believe how the mint pops! Salty and sweet at its best! A salad made of fresh strawberries, bits of bacon, feta cheese crumbles, and more, and finished with a drizzle of homemade honey lime vinaigrette salad dressing.

Strawberry Bacon Salad

This strawberry bacon salad recipe is fresh, sweet, and savory. The mix of ingredients creates the perfect flavor for a simple summer salad , and the balsamic vinaigrette really completes it.

It’s hard to decide which salad I’ve posted this week that I love best; this Strawberry Bacon Salad or the Peach Tomato Corn Salad from the other day. Both scream Summer, have bright and fresh Summer flavors, and are topped with easy and flavorful vinaigrette salad dressings you can make at home.

I wish you could taste them side by side like I did, fork in hand and stomach getting fuller by the minute. I ate SO MUCH salad that day, and it was so worth it. This Strawberry Bacon Salad has it all…fruity, salty, sweet, fresh, the list goes on and on. Topped with dried cranberries, honey pecans, feta, and mint…the combo is out of this world! And of course the honey lime balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing takes it to the next level.

Who knew crispy bacon would taste SO amazing paired with strawberries? And by so amazing, I mean OUT OF THIS WORLD. The great thing is even though this salad definitely feels and tastes like Summer, you can make it year round. Sure the farmers market strawberries are where it’s at, but trust and believe I’ll be making this during winter as well.

Enjoy this Strawberry Bacon Salad with Honey Lime Balsamic Vinaigrette for the perfect summer salad!

Strawberry Salad with bacon, feta, cranberries, and more - 5

Strawberry Salad with bacon, feta, cranberries, and more - 6

Honey Lime Balsamic Vinaigrette

This entire strawberry bacon salad is amazing, but truth be told, the star is this homemade balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing! The honey lime vinaigrette adds a kick of extra flavor to the fruity salad. Drizzle it on top of the fresh strawberries, bits of bacon, feta cheese crumbles, pecans, and dried cranberries, and you’ve got the perfect salad. And don’t forget the fresh sprigs of mint!

How to Make Balsamic Vinaigrette

I love vinaigrette salad dressings. They’re bold and flavorful without being overwhelming or taking over the entire salad like creamier options do. The dark, intense flavor of balsamic vinegar is what makes balsamic vinaigrette salad dressings SO rich and flavorful. You really need just a drizzle to liven up the salad, and this one pairs perfectly with the light flavor of the strawberries. The honey lime vinaigrette is just so tasty mixed with the rest of the ingredients!

How to Make Honey Lime Balsamic Vinaigrette:

Whisk together the lime juice, lime zest, honey, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper, smoked paprika, & red pepper flakes in a bowl
Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking the mixture vigorously
Continue mixing until oil and vinegar have emulsified
Refrigerate dressing until ready to use

You can store this balsamic dressing in an airtight container for a couple of weeks, so make extra and try it on some other salads too. Just be sure to shake before using.

Strawberry Salad with homemade honey lime vinaigrette - 9

Strawberry Salad with homemade honey lime vinaigrette - 10

Strawberry bacon salad with balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing - 11

Strawberry bacon salad with balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing - 12

Just Add Mint

Mom and I waffled over which herb to add to this Strawberry Bacon Salad at the end. At first, we thought about adding basil…and although that would be super tasty as well, MINT was a game time decision. YOU GUYS. It was such a good decision. The mint adds such a pop of flavor and just the perfect amount of zip. Fresh mint is a MUST in this recipe. You can’t beat it!

Strawberry, bacon, feta, cranberry, mint salad - 13

Strawberry, bacon, feta, cranberry, mint salad - 14

I hope this strawberry, feta, pecan, cranberry, bacon salad makes you feel like Summer is rockin year round. I cannot wait for you to try it! Of course the homemade honey lime balsamic vinaigrette will complete is perfectly. Let me know what you think! And give that Peach Tomato Corn Salad a try while you’re at it.

See the recipe card below for details on how to make Strawberry Bacon Salad. Enjoy!

If you like this recipe, try these other salad recipes too:

Strawberry Poppyseed Salad
Creamy Taco Salad Bowl
Classic Caesar Salad recipe
Mandarin Orange Salad
Caprese Salad
Peruvian Chopped Salad
Grilled Corn Salad Recipe

Ingredients1x2x3x

Ingredients for the Balsamic-Honey-Lime Vinaigrette:

▢ Juice of 1 lime 2 tablespoons
▢ Zest of ½ lime
▢ 2 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar
▢ 3 tablespoons honey
▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
▢ ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
▢ ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
▢ ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
▢ ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
▢ 1 pint strawberries hulled & sliced
▢ ¼ cup goat or feta cheese crumbled
▢ ½ cup dried cranberries
▢ 4 slices bacon crisped & crumbled
▢ ¼ cup pecans honey roasted or toasted
▢ 1-2 tablespoons mint leaves rough chopped

Instructions

For the Vinaigrette:

Place all vinaigrette ingredients EXCEPT the olive oil in a medium bowl and whisk until well incorporated. Then, while whisking vigorously, drizzle in the olive oil. Whisk until the oil and vinegar mixture has emulsified. (If preferred, whisk all vinaigrette ingredients together and then whisk or shake it immediately before using.) Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Arrange the sliced strawberries on a small serving plate or platter. Sprinkle the strawberries with the feta cheese, cranberries, bacon and pecans. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and sprinkle the pecans on top and garnish with small mint leaves.
Enjoy!

Becky’s Tips

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Strawberry Bacon Salad with Lime Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients

Ingredients for the Balsamic-Honey-Lime Vinaigrette:

Juice of 1 lime 2 tablespoons
Zest of ½ lime
2 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pint strawberries hulled & sliced
¼ cup goat or feta cheese crumbled
½ cup dried cranberries
4 slices bacon crisped & crumbled
¼ cup pecans honey roasted or toasted
1-2 tablespoons mint leaves rough chopped

Instructions

For the Vinaigrette:

Place all vinaigrette ingredients EXCEPT the olive oil in a medium bowl and whisk until well incorporated. Then, while whisking vigorously, drizzle in the olive oil. Whisk until the oil and vinegar mixture has emulsified. (If preferred, whisk all vinaigrette ingredients together and then whisk or shake it immediately before using.) Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Arrange the sliced strawberries on a small serving plate or platter. Sprinkle the strawberries with the feta cheese, cranberries, bacon and pecans. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and sprinkle the pecans on top and garnish with small mint leaves.
Enjoy!

Notes

Nutrition

By Becky Hardin

Published Jul 12, 2017

This Essential Grocery List is an absolute life saver for my family on the busy weeks. When I started this journey to learn how to cook, I quickly realized that the first step in cooking is having staple ingredients on hand. I want to avoid having to run out to the grocery store every single time I prepare a new recipe. Having a well-stocked pantry has made my life in the kitchen so much simpler, because when it’s time to cook, I have what I need.

Essential Grocery List

It’s so helpful to have a basic grocery list to help me remember which foods to buy at the store. This food shopping list is my go-to!

It’s better to stock up on things like grains, seasonings and spices, baking essentials, oils, condiments, canned and frozen foods, etc. so I can just grab them when I need them. These things have a long shelf life , so I keep them in my kitchen for convenience.

However, I do have to go to the supermarket sometimes, and there’s a way to make that trip easy and hassle-free: I keep a grocery list! If I go in blindly, I’ll leave with things I don’t need, and nothing that actually helps me prepare a good meal.

In the list below, I’ve compiled everything I always have on my stock-up grocery list.

I’ve got you covered! I created an easy grocery list filled with all of the essentials. Plus there’s a free printable version that you can take with you to the grocery store. It has everything you need to stock your pantry, your freezer, and your refrigerator.

Click to get my Free Printable Grocery List

What to Buy at the Grocery Store

This is the perfect grocery list filled with all the basics and essentials. It should help get you going if you’re new to cooking, or if you’re just left staring helplessly at an empty pantry and don’t know how to fill it.

When I first started cooking, things could seem overwhelming. I quickly realized that they more prepared I could be, the more confident I felt. If you already have the basics in your kitchen, then you can shop stress-free.

So print out our easy grocery list, stock up your pantry and fridge, and you’ll be cooking in no time!