Real talk: Is there anything better than spring produce? We think not. Now that we’re shaking off that winter chill, we’re so ready to spring forward… right into these salads. ‘Tis the season when fruits and vegetables start being at their peak, so definitely take advantage with these recipes for spring-y salads like our strawberry spinach salad, spring Cobb salad, and tzatziki potato salad. These 50 fresh and exciting salad recipes also work well as side dishes or the main event too.

There will always be room at our table for the uncomplicated classics, particularly when we’re serving a more involved main dish. Arugula, spinach, and kale salads with bright and easy vinaigrettes can be so lovely in their simplicity. That said, our hearts really belong to the FULL salads, the kind that can stand alone as a meal and has tons of texture and flavor. Here, we’re filling or topping our salads with everything from fried halloumi to sweet spring strawberries on a spinach salad. Feel free to get creative and add your favorites too; we’re pretty partial to our roasted cauliflower salad and our beyond gorgeous super-green pasta salad.

Also, we’d be remiss if we only focused on the greens here. Macaroni salad is always a summer crowd-pleaser, but for spring, we like to go outside the box and try out different “pasta” shapes, like the orrechiette in our bruschetta pasta salad, the ramen in our crunchy Mandarin orange chicken salad, and the papaya in our green papaya salad. And they’re not all mayo-based! We think spring is a great time to focus on bright, vibrant flavors, so we’ve relied on vinegars and citrus to add some brightness to our salads.

We’ve also got a couple warm options for those cold spring nights when the temperature unexpectedly drops, like our lentil salad or Tuscan tortellini salad. The best part? They make for great cold leftovers the next day too.

Speaking of chilly evenings, nothing pairs better with salad than soup, so make sure to check out our favorite springy soups to complete your meal.

delish!