15 Bright Spring Salads We Love

Asparagus and Spring Onion Salad with Seven-Minute Eggs

Spring onions are the sweetest alliums of the year, and they play well in this salad with first of-the-season asparagus and tender lettuces. Soy and ginger team up with sherry vinegar in the tangy dressing that's perfect with the rich, jammy egg yolks. If spring onions aren't available, you can substitute scallions. 

Spring Buckwheat Noodle Salad

British cooks Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley dress this vegetable-packed noodle salad with a deeply flavorful and tangy sun-dried tomato and Brazil nut pesto.

Spring Lettuce Salad with Roasted Asparagus

The rolling hills surrounding Lexington, Kentucky — some of the country's most expensive rural real estate — are used primarily for Thoroughbred horse grazing. "But outside that 15-mile ring are great farms," says Amber Huffman, the Jackson family's private chef. She features farmers' market lettuces here, which get warmed by roasted asparagus.

• Farro Recipes

Farro Salad with Radishes, Snap Peas, Olives, and Pecorino

Chewy, sweet, and earthy, farro makes the perfect base for a springtime salad. (This one tastes even better the next day.)

Quinoa Salad with Spring Vegetables

When she's cooking at home, Carla Hall likes to prepare whole-grain salads. "They're nutritionally awesome and really filling, plus they have a great neutral flavor that's a blank canvas for anything," she says. Here, she simmers red quinoa with white wine, tarragon and thyme, then tosses it with radishes, peas and lima beans. "It's important to drain the cooked quinoa or the finished dish will be watered-down and clumpy," Hall says.

• More Quinoa Recipes

Shaved Beet and Carrot Salad With Citrus-Scallion Dressing

This gorgeous, colorful salad takes late-winter produce like thinly shaved beets, carrot ribbons, and rounds of juicy clementine and dresses them up for spring with a citrus-scallion vinaigrette so delicious, recipe creator Leah Koenig says, "I sneak it straight from a spoon."

Spring Gem Salad with Soft Herbs and Labneh Toasts

Nancy Silverton says the first sign of spring is when she puts this salad on the menu at Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles. She dresses the asparagus, peas, radishes, and sugar snap peas with a lemon vinaigrette, then offers toasts topped with labneh alongside, turning this ode to spring produce into a light lunch or first course for dinner. The herbs are an important part of the mix; if you can't find chervil, substitute equal parts Italian parsley and tarragon.

Strawberry Burrata Salad

Creamy burrata is the centerpiece of this salad of strawberries marinated in a honey and balsamic vinaigrette and served over arugula and basil leaves.

Little Gem Salad with Toasted Spice Vinaigrette

This colorful, refreshing salad of Little Gem lettuce and edible flowers is dressed with a vinaigrette that include coriander, cumin, and fennel seeds. Pair it with a lemony Sauvignon Blanc.

Charred Avocado Salad with Cilantro Mayo

Searing firm-ripe avocadoes transforms them into slightly smoky, creamy treats that can be the star protein of any salad.

Grilled Asparagus Salad

Bobby Flay's sweet and smoky salad brings together sweet grape tomatoes, briny kalamata olives, and sharp white cheddar.

Warm Lamb Salad with Fresh Herbs, Feta and Artichokes

One of the best uses of leftover roast lamb is this salad, featuring leftover grilled leg of lamb, tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, and feta cheese.

Pea Shoot and Arugula Salad with Radishes and Hazelnuts

With their sweet, mild pea flavor and their juicy stems, pea shoots are becoming a popular salad addition. Here, they're the perfect foil for sharp arugula and radishes, herbal fennel, and toasty hazelnuts.

Pickled Garlic Scape and Radish Salad with Green Goddess Dressing

An herby Green Goddess dressing is the creamy, rich counterpoint to the pickled garlic scapes and peppery radishes in this springtime salad.

Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Sweet sugar snap peas give this light summer salad from Ivan Conill’s Branch Line in Boston a satisfying crunch, while whole-milk ricotta adds heft with its mild, creamy richness. Shredded rotisserie chicken may be omitted for a vegetarian version, or you can substitute with flaked hot smoked salmon.