When the temperatures are soaring and the days are long, there’s nothing better than a fresh and light salad for lunch served in your garden or balcony! One of our all-time favourites is a Summery Strawberry Cucumber Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette. All vegan and using the seasonal watercress and strawberries, this is a brilliant salad that screams British summer! Light and low in calories, we serve this salad with crusty sourdough bread, which is simply perfect to mop up the leftover strawberry vinaigrette dressing!
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Fruit in Summer Salads
I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love scorching hot summer days (which in North Wales is anything above 20°C)! When the sun is out, we use every opportunity to soak up that vitamin D, and always spend the whole day outside, including an al fresco lunch. And it doesn’t get much better than light but flavoursome strawberry walnut salad!

One of our favourite things to do is incorporate fruit into our summer salads. We make Watermelon and Feta, Mandarin & Halloumi and of, course, this Cucumber and Strawberry Salad that to us are ultimate summer lunch treats.
Method
How To Make Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing?
First, make the vinaigrette. Place 50 g of roughly chopped strawberries, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, a tbsp of honey, 2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and some salt and pepper in a powerful blender (or food processor) and blitz to a smooth dressing. Place in the fridge until you are ready to use it. Learn more in our dedicated post for Strawberry Balsamic Dressing.
How To Make Cucumber & Strawberry Salad?
Roughly chop the walnuts. In a small dry frying pan, toast the walnuts until they just start to brown and smell nutty. Then remove from the pan and set aside to cool down.
Dice the cucumber into small pieces. Then slice the strawberries into rounds. Wash and thoroughly dry your watercress. Place the watercress in a serving dish or divide between bowls for individual portions.



Peel, stone and slice the avocado and drizzle a tablespoon of lemon juice over it to prevent it from browning. Scatter the avocado, alongside the strawberries and cucumber on top of the watercress. Add the walnuts. Drizzle the strawberry vinaigrette and enjoy!
What To Serve With Strawberry Walnut Salad?
We recommend adding some extras to this delicious salad with strawberries and walnuts to make it into a full meal. Serve it with some hearty crusty bread on the side to mop up the dressing at the bottom of your bowl. Or better yet, make out Walnut Sourdough (recipe coming soon) – it pairs so well with this vegan strawberry salad! Alternatively, serve it with some lovely nibbles including:
Other Recipes For A Light Summer Lunch
For other salad ideas for the light summer lunch, have a look at our favourite recipes below:
- Tuscan Style Panzanella Salad
- Watermelon & Feta Salad with Balsamic Reduction
- Vegan Sweet Potato Tex-Mex Bowl
Recipe Card

Cucumber and Strawberry Salad
Equipment
- Blender, Food Processor or a Smoothie Maker
Ingredients
- 80 g watercress
- 200 g strawberries sliced
- 1 avocado
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 120 g cucumber diced into small cubes
- 30 g walnuts roughly chopped
For Strawberry Vinaigrette:
- 50 g strawberries roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- First, make the vinaigrette. Place all the ingredients in a powerful blender and blitz to a smooth dressing.
- In a small dry frying pan, toast the walnuts until they just start to brown and smell nutty. Then remove from the pan and set aside to cool.
- Place the watercress in a serving dish or divide between bowls for individual portions.
- Peel, stone and slice the avocado and drizzle a tablespoon of lemon juice over it to prevent it from browning. Scatter the avocado, alongside the strawberries and cucumber on top of the watercress. Add the walnuts. Drizzle the strawberry vigaigrette and enjoy!
Nutrition

Amanda Wren-Grimwood
This is a perfect balance of sweet and sour and the crunch of walnuts is perfect!
Ieva
Thanks, Amanda! 🙂
Alisha Rodrigues
Salads recipes are my thing and I’m loving this new edition to my recipe diary. Love the combination of ingredients used
Ieva
Wow, thanks, Alisha! We are very proud to have made it into your recipe diary 🙂
Iryna
What an unusual combination of ingredients in this salad! Strawberries and cucumbers. Mmm. I love it. Thank you!
Danielle
Such a nice refreshing salad. It was perfect for a warm summer day! Loving the strawberries.
Ieva
Definitely! We absolutely love this salad on a hot summer afternoon 🙂