This Spinach Salad topped with sautéed red onions and pine nuts, and dressed with a Pomegranate Balsamic Vinaigrette is the perfect combination of tart and sweet. If you’re looking for a simple salad with big flavors for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner menu, try this recipe!
Years ago, I used to make a delicious spinach salad with an apple juice and balsamic vinegar dressing. I found the recipe in a cooking magazine and saved it in a file on my computer.
Then about five or six years ago, my son took apart the computer. It was an older computer that we didn’t use much anymore (with the exception of the recipes). He wanted to see if he could put it back together again. He couldn’t.
Goodbye recipes.
On a positive note, that little experiment started a real interest in tinkering with computers, and since then my boys have built several computers from parts together, and they do fix things from time to time on our older computers.
But the recipes I had saved were gone. I was thinking about how good that salad was not too long ago and decided to try to re-create it. I never have apple juice in the house anymore though…the kids are older, and we just don’t drink it anymore. But I do usually have pomegranate juice. So I decided to play around with that.
The result was wonderful!
Spinach Salad with Pomegranate Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
This spinach salad is very easy to make. Cut 2 red onions into rings, and sauté in a little bit of olive oil until soft. While you’re doing that, toast your pine nuts on a piece of tin foil. Add both to your spinach.
For the dressing, you’re going to combine your pomegranate juice to your balsamic vinegar, then heat it on the stove until it reduces by a quarter to half…exactness is not a big deal here. Remove from heat and whisk in the olive oil and honey. Give it a few minutes to cool, and then go ahead and dress your salad.
I like to use honey as a sweetener, but if you’re vegan, you’ll want to substitute another sweetener.
You probably will have a bit of extra dressing you can use for another day. I store mine in Ball jars with plastic lids. We make homemade salad dressing all the time, so these come in quite handy for me.
This spinach salad will complement most dinner menus, but it’s also elegant enough for a holiday meal as well…perhaps the perfect start for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner?
Are you hungry yet?
Spinach Salad with Pomegranate Balsamic VInaigrette

This Spinach Salad topped with sautéed red onions and pine nuts, and dressed with a Pomegranate Balsamic Vinaigrette is the perfect combination of tart and sweet. If you're looking for a simple salad with big flavors for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner menu, try this!
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 5 oz package baby spinach
- 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
- 2 red onions, cut into rings
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Dressing
- 1/4 cup pomegranate juice
- 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Salad
- Cut red onions into rings. Sauté in olive oil until softened.
- Toast pine nuts.
- Add red onions and pine nuts with spinach.
Dressing
- Combine balsamic vinegar and pomegranate juice. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low until reduced by a quarter or a half (no need to be exact).
- Remove balsamic vinegar and pomegranate juice mixture from heat, and whisk in 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, and 2 teaspoons of honey. Allow to cool slightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle over spinach salad.
For more great salad recipes, check out my Pinterest board!
Follow A Dish of Daily Life ‘s board Recipe Box: Salads & Salad Dressings on Pinterest.
The following products were used in this post, and the affiliate links are provided for your shopping convenience.
- Ball Jars…perfect for homemade salad dressing storage
- Ball Plastic Storage Lids…great for refrigerator and freezer storage.
Tammy Lawrence
Monday 22nd of January 2018
Made this last night and that dressing was delicious! Everyone loved it.....thank you for sharing.
Michelle Nahom
Tuesday 23rd of January 2018
So glad you enjoyed it!
spabettie
Tuesday 22nd of December 2015
I love spinach salads, and these onions are EXACTLY my kind of thing! I love the sound of all of this - pinned to try soon.
Michelle Nahom
Tuesday 22nd of December 2015
Thanks Kristina! I love these onions too...this is one of my favorite salads! Hope you enjoy it too!
Tornadough Alli
Monday 2nd of November 2015
This sounds like such a refreshing salad! I haven't ever just had a spinach salad so I must try this. The addition of the pmegranate is great! Thanks for sharing with us at #ThrowbackThursday we hope to see you again this week.
creatively homespun
Monday 2nd of November 2015
This looks great!!! Thank you for linking up to Creative K Kids' Tasty Tuesdays Linky Party. I have pinned your recipe to our Tasty Tuesday's Pinterest Board
bunsinmyovenKarly
Saturday 31st of October 2015
This is a gorgeous salad! Thanks for linking up with What's Cookin' Wednesday!
Michelle Nahom
Monday 2nd of November 2015
Thank you for having me! And also thank you for your kind words about my salad...it's one of my faves!