This Asparagus Salad with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette is not your average salad – it is loaded with delicious ingredients like asparagus, tomatoes, radishes, feta, and almonds. It’s healthy, flavorful, and perfect for spring or summer.
Salads are the perfect side dish for any meal and eaten almost daily in our home. We are always looking for ways to switch up our side salads to keep them fresh and interesting.
The best part of any salad is the toppings, if you ask me – though a super tasty dressing always helps! This Asparagus Salad with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette has both of those. Basic greens get topped with a whole bunch of asparagus as well as plump little cherry tomatoes and crisp radishes. These veggies get an extra flavor boost from crumbled feta, almond slices, and a good drizzle of a homemade lemon and herb vinaigrette.
We love making this asparagus salad during the spring and summer months when asparagus is in season. It is the perfect side dish for barbecues or any meal, really. You can also add protein like grilled chicken or shrimp to make this a filling lunch salad.
If you love asparagus season as much as I do, be sure to check out my favorite asparagus recipes for more inspiration.
Why we love this recipe
- This asparagus salad is perfect for spring and summer meals.
- Asparagus salad is loaded with toppings – no boring salad here!
- It is a healthy side dish for a wide variety of meals. It goes with pretty much any meal.
- You can prep this salad ahead of time, making it perfect for potlucks or meal prepping.
- You can easily change things up to suit your own tastes or ingredients you have on hand. You can add veggies or swap for your favorite dressing.
Ingredients in Asparagus Salad with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette
- Veggies: Salad greens, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, and radishes.
- Feta: Crumbled feta makes an extra tasty topping for this salad. If you are not a fan of feta, crumbled goat cheese or even blue cheese make good substitutes. If you wish to keep this salad dairy-free, you can omit the feta or use a non-dairy feta cheese alternative.
- Almonds: Almond slices add a little crunch to this salad. Other nuts can also be substituted such as pecans, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, or pine nuts. If you cannot include nuts due to dietary restrictions or allergies, seeds like pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds can be used or just omit these altogether.
- Olive oil: Used to saute the asparagus as well as to make the vinaigrette. Use a good quality olive oil.
- Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice brightens up this salad.
- Dijon mustard: Used in the vinaigrette.
- Honey: This sweetener is added to the vinaigrette. If you wish to make this salad vegan, you can replace the honey with another sweetener like granulated sugar.
- Herbs: I use thyme for this vinaigrette but you can easily use a different herb like rosemary, oregano, or basil. Fresh or dried herbs can be used.
- Seasoning: Salt and pepper to taste.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to make Asparagus Salad with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette
- Cook the asparagus. Cut the asparagus into halves or thirds (depending on the length of your asparagus). Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus and cook for 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally to ensure all sides cook evenly, until they are starting to become tender (but still retain some crisp). If you prefer them completely tender, you can cook them more. [Note: cooking time will depend on the thickness of the asparagus, so adjust the cooking time accordingly.]
- Assemble the salad. In a large salad bowl, add the crisp salad greens. Top them with the asparagus, cherry tomatoes, radishes, feta, and almond slivers.
- Make the vinaigrette. To make the vinaigrette, combine all of the ingredients in a jar with a secure lid. Shake until the dressing is emulsified. Taste and adjust seasonings to suit personal preference.
- Toss. Drizzle the salad with the vinaigrette and toss to coat evenly. Serve.
Preparing the salad ahead of time
You can easily prep this salad ahead of time to bring to potlucks, cookouts, or just to have ready to go for a family dinner. The entire salad can be prepped, but do not add the vinaigrette until just before serving.
To prepare ahead of time, you can cook the asparagus and cool it, then assemble the salad with all of the toppings as described in the recipe card. Cover the salad bowl with plastic wrap and store in the fridge. You can also prepare the vinaigrette ahead of time and store it in a glass jar with a secure lid. Everything can be kept in the fridge overnight.
When you are ready to serve your salad, give the jar of vinaigrette a good shake and then drizzle it over the salad. Toss everything and serve immediately.
What to serve with this asparagus salad
This salad is a great side dish with pretty much any main dish you can think of. We especially enjoy this salad with:
- Meat dishes like Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Peach Glaze, Homemade Hamburgers, Pork Souvlaki, Oven Roasted Lemon Chicken Drumsticks, Crispy Chicken Cutlets, or Baked Breaded Pork Chops.
- Pasta dishes like Creamy Pesto Pasta, Lemon Parmesan Pasta with Spring Peas, or this Easy Boursin Chicken Orzo Bake.
- A light brunch (or light dinner) quiche. This Bacon and Leek Quiche or Asparagus and Pea Quiche are always hits.
Looking for more delicious side salad ideas? Check out:
Mediterranean Couscous Salad
Corn, Bacon and Arugula Pasta Salad
Green Bean Salad with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette
Radish Cucumber Salad
Mixed Berry Arugula Salad
Cucumber Feta Salad
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Asparagus Salad with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 1 bunch asparagus woody ends trimmed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups crisp salad greens chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup radishes thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 3 tablespoons almond slices
For the Lemon Herb Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut the asparagus into halves or thirds (depending on the length of your asparagus). Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus and cook for 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally to ensure all sides cook evenly, until they are starting to become tender (but still retain some crisp). If you prefer them completely tender, you can cook them more. [Note: cooking time will depend on the thickness of the asparagus, so adjust the cooking time accordingly.]
- In a large salad bowl, add the crisp salad greens. Top them with the asparagus, cherry tomatoes, radishes, feta, and almond slivers.
- To make the vinaigrette, combine all of the ingredients in a jar with a secure lid. Shake until the dressing is emulsified. Taste and adjust seasonings to suit personal preference.
- Drizzle the salad with the vinaigrette and toss to coat evenly. Serve.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
