This Spinach Orzo Salad is filled with cranberries, creamy goat cheese, tender pasta, and plenty of fresh spinach tossed in a tangy sweet dressing. The salad can be served immediately or kept in the refrigerator for 2-3 days – making this an awesome make-ahead meal for lunch or dinner.
Spinach Salad with Cranberries
The recipe was inspired by the Cranberry Orzo Salad that Princess Cruises serves in their International Cafe. It’s just so good! Tender pasta in a sweetly tangy dressing, with tart fresh cranberries and sliced almonds. Simple, fresh, and delicious.
I’ve included more cruise details at the bottom of the post here for anyone who is interested. As soon as I got home from our cruise through the British Isles, I immediately recreated the salad for my family.
As always, I loved the salad, but my guys? The kids decided that the fresh cranberries were too tart. (Crazy kids!)
So, the next time I made the salad, I went with dried cranberries and it was a win across the board. I like this salad every bit as much with dried cranberries as I do with fresh cranberries – and that’s an even bigger win, since fresh cranberries aren’t available more than a few weeks a year.
(And unless you’re lucky enough to have cranberries stashed in the freezer for this cake, you’ll be stuck waiting until the holidays to try this awesome salad.)
Spinach Orzo Salad
I took our salad to the next level by adding a generous portion of fresh baby spinach and warm chicken. Both the chicken and the spinach made it a heartier meal for my family.
And as far as my guys are concer