BEST Blueberry Salad with Avocado, Perfect for Summer

When blueberries are in season, you absolutely must make this Blueberry Salad with Avocado, the perfect balance of tastes and textures with sweet ripe blueberries, rich avocados, salty umami cheese, crunchy, nutty savory granola and bright lemon dressing. You'll be craving it all season. Shall we?

Jump to:

• Are Blueberries the Healthiest Berry?
• What Ingredients You Need for the Best Blueberry Salad
• When are Blueberries in Season? April, May and June!
• Instructions for How to Make the Best Blueberry Salad
• How Can You Store Blueberries for Longer?
• What Else to Serve with Blueberry Salad
• Blueberry Avocado Salad with Lemon Dressing

If you're trying to get all the health benefits of one of our favorite "superfoods," why not move blueberries out of the sugary desserts at the end of a meal and firmly plant them in the beginning as Blueberry Salad with Avocado and a bowl full of other nutrient dense ingredients? Blueberry Avocado Salad has all the antioxidants and fiber of blueberries along with healthy fats, plant-based protein and powerhouse nutrients of avocado, arugula, cucumber, nuts and seeds.

The salad, like most salads, is so easy and intuitive you don't even really need a recipe, but here are all the pro tips, tricks and info you need to make it the BEST.

Are Blueberries the Healthiest Berry?

I'm not one to play favorites with berries, but...maybe?

We all know that all berries are healthy! But they are healthy for different reasons as some are denser in certain nutrients than others. Here's where blueberries fall.

Of all the berries that are most commonly available to us at the grocery store—blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries—blueberries have the highest concentration of the antioxidant known as anthocyanin. (source: NIH) These particular antioxidants are what give blueberries their dark blue/purple color and have been shown to give blueberries these health benefits:

• promote gut health
• reduce overall inflammation
• cancer fighting properties
• protect against heart disease
• lower LDL cholesterol
• some research studies have also suggested improvement of memory and delay of age-related cognitive decline (source: Mayo Clinic)

At only 84 calories and virtually no fat per 1-cup serving, blueberries are nutrient-dense, lowfat, low calorie food. Blueberries provide:

• 4 grams of fiber
• 16% Daily Value (DV) of vitamin C
• 24% DV of vitamin K 
• 22% DV of manganese

Blueberries are slightly higher in natural sugar content than other berries, but the difference is not significant unless blueberries were the only berry you were eating.

This recipe for Blueberry Salad as published, is:

• lacto-vegetarian
• gluten-free
• refined sugar-free

What Ingredients You Need for the Best Blueberry Salad

Here are the ingredients you need to make THE BEST Blueberry Salad, most important of which is a few generous handfuls of sweet, snappy California blueberries. The rest of the ingredients are infinitely customizable and flexible making this more of a template than a recipe. Trust your instincts and the season.

Fresh/Refrigerator Ingredients for the Salad:

• California blueberries
• avocados
• arugula
• cucumbers
• goat cheese or feta
• red onions
• pumpkin seeds

For the Dressing:

• lemon juice and zest
• olive oil
• Dijon mustard
• garlic
• sea salt

When are Blueberries in Season? April, May and June!

Spring is the official start of the season in California for avocados and blueberries which are featured in today's Blueberry Salad. Blueberries have a somewhat short three-month season April-June, making them all the more special. California avocados are in season a little longer starting in March and ending in September. Peep this handy calendar to see what/when produce is in season in California!

The colliding blueberry and avocado seasons, along with a comprehensive tour of an avocado and blueberry farm in San Diego—yes! avocados and blueberries on the same farm!—inspired this Salad recipe.

Before getting to the recipe, let's get into California and California-grown produce.

California Grows Blueberries and a LOT More

California grows blueberries all over the state, with the most in the central San Joaquin Valley. Blueberry harvesting begins as early as April in the southernmost region of San Diego County, where I visited Fairfield Farms an organic avocado and blueberry farm.

Aside from the very obvious fact that I live here, I love California for its produce, both the variety across the seasons and the sheer volume. Because of its long, north-south geographical shape and varied topography, California has multitudes of growing climates that support not only different crops suited to different regions, but the same crop in different regions in different seasons.

For example, lettuces and leafy greens can grow in northern regions of California in the warmth of spring/summer, and continue to grow through the winter in southern California. Lettuces and leafy greens, along with all the brassicas, carrots, most citrus, and certain other crops are in season year-round in California. For a helpful visual guide seasonality of some key crops in California check out California Grown's Eat the Seasons chart. You can download and print it.

One thing you will ALWAYS REMEMBER that's in season year-round: wine.

California alone grows one-third of the vegetables and two-thirds of the fruit and nuts that we get here in the United States, making it the leading agricultural state in the country. California is also the sole producing state of almonds, walnuts, olives, artichokes, dates, raisin grapes, kiwifruit (who knew?!), clingstone peaches, pomegranates, and sweet rice.

Check out this article for more information and nerdy statistics on California-grown produce.

Additional Ingredients Notes and Resources

Arugula. The arugula variety that's most widely available in grocery stores is the small arugula leaves sometimes labeled "baby arugula" in plastic bags or clamshells. Arugula labeled "wild" is similar but has a sharper taste. Sometimes you may find large leaves of arugula, which has a similar flavor, but is much less bitter.

Feta Cheese. This kitchen goes through feta like it goes through avocados, so I get the largest whole block I can find at the grocery store, looking for organic goat or sheep's milk. Whole Foods Market's in-house brand has a 16-ounce block of feta in brine in a sealed white plastic container, which makes it easier to have delivered. It is not organic, and does not specify sheep's milk, but it works when I can't find anything else.

Olive oil. California, organic, cold-pressed, whatever producer is available off the shelf at Whole Foods

Best Dressing for Blueberry Salad

Lemon-based dressings are especially perfect for a salad with fruit in it like this Blueberry Salad. The natural sweet-tartness of lemon juice is a good match for the sweet, ripe blueberries, which is why we also see a lot of pastries, desserts, and baked good with the blueberry-lemon combination.

To add an extra dimension of flavor, toss a handful of fresh (or frozen) blueberries into a food processor or blender with the lemon dressing!

You can absolutely get away with dressing this Blueberry Salad with nothing but a loving squeeze of lemon juice, a generous drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of sea salt to let the flavors of the individual ingredients shine. That's because each of the salad's components will already hit three of the four major tastes: sweet from blueberries, salt from cheese and granola, and bitter from the arugula.

These are some additional dressing options for Blueberry Salad:

• Hot Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Basil Pesto Vinaigrette
• Ginger Lime Vinaigrette
• Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Instructions for How to Make the Best Blueberry Salad

Artfully arrange all the Blueberry Salad ingredients on a cutting board or serving platter with high sides so it's shareable for social media aaaaand ... you're done!

Pro-tip: Because arugula is a delicate green and wilts almost immediately after dressing, drizzle with vinaigrette just before serving, or let the people eating dress their individual salads themselves just before eating.

Ingredient Substitutions and Options

Baby Spinach is a great greens base for this salad if you can't find arugula, though spinach is much milder in flavor than arugula. If you want to stay in the family of "greens" that have some bite, try radicchio, which is a small round head of dark pinkish purple leaves.

Romaine Lettuce is always a great salad base, and though it doesn't have the same bitter, peppery flavor vibe as arugula, it is does provide a good deal of crunch, which balances the softer textures of the blueberries and feta in the salad.

Other Cheese Instead of Feta. You can substitute in essentially any cheese with a little bit of funk for the feta like goat, ricotta salata, or a mild blue cheese like cambazola. If you like goat cheese, try Humboldt Fog, my favorite goat cheese. It is a soft, ripened goat milk cheese produced in Humboldt County in northern California. I buy mine from either Bristol Farms or Whole Foods. Cheese is the only non plant-based ingredient in this salad, so if you want to make it vegan, substitute in any plant-based cheese.

Pepitas can be substituted with any single, toasted nuts or seed like almonds, pistachios, walnuts, or even a savory granola.

Lemon juice can be substituted with lime for that citrus vibe though with a different flavor, or with about ¼ cup of apple cider, champagne, red wine, or white wine vinegars.

Modifications for Dietary Needs

• Gluten-free—As presented, this recipe is gluten-free if the Savory Granola is made with ingredients that are certified gluten-free. Read the packaging/label to make sure the nuts and seeds are processed in a gluten-free facility.
• Dairy-free—To make the recipe dairy-free, substitute plant-based cheese for the goat cheese. There are quite a few brands that make plant-based feta and goat-style cheeses.
• Vegan—To make this recipe vegan, substitute plant-based cheese for the goat cheese. There are quite a few brands that make plant-based feta and goat-style cheeses.
• Reduced Sugar—As presented, this recipe is refined sugar free. If you leave out the optional sweetener in the Lemon Dressing, then this recipe has no added sugar.

How Can You Store Blueberries for Longer?

Of all the berries, blueberries prep the easiest and store the longest, making them a favorite. Unlike with raspberries and strawberries which you should wash just before eating, you can absolutely wash and gently dry blueberries in advance and store them in their own container in the refrigerator.

Advance Prep, Leftovers, and Storage

Make the Lemon Dressing up to a week in advance.

Wash and prep blueberries up to 3 days in advance. Make sure the blueberries are BONE DRY before storing them.

Wash and prep the arugula up to 1 day in advance. Make sure the arugula is BONE-DRY before storing in refrigerator.

Once the salad has been dressed, leftovers of the salad do not keep well.

Tools and Equipment

You don't technically need any special equipment to make this salad. You can simply use a large knife and cutting board to chop all vegetables. However, that doesn't mean there are a couple of gadgets and tools that might make this salad even easier to throw together than it already is.

• Salad spinner - this has saved my sanity because wet, soggy greens are the worst, and arugula in particular needs to be BONE DRY to keep it from wilting.
• Chef's knife - my daily workhorse knife
• Cutting board - large and sturdy so you have enough surface area for all the fluffy greens, and doesn't move around on the countertop

For the Lemon Dressing, these tools are also helpful

• BlendJet cordless personal blender - I don't know how I survived my salad days without this
• 2-ounce (4 tablespoons) liquid measuring cup
• Garlic press
• Mini whisk
• Wide-mouth mason jars and air-tight screw-on lids

What Else to Serve with Blueberry Salad

This salad is a perfect accompaniment to simple seared salmon, roast chicken, or anything pulled straight off the backyard grill. I have made a giant bowl that serves 4 and eaten the whole thing by myself as a meal including all the leftover cheese on the side thank goodness I ate it alone.

• Add cooked quinoa to give the salad a plant-based protein boost!
• Add 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast to make it a hearty main dish salad
• Top with omega-3-rich salmon to make this an antioxidant-rich meal.

Best Fruit to Add to Salads

Can you tell I love adding fruit to salads? Here are the best versions:

• Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Peach Salad with Hot Honey Balsamic sweet and spicy
• Fig Arugula Salad late summer never tasted so good
• Harvest Salad with Apples and Walnuts the ultimate fall salad
• Arugula Pear Salad perfect for an elegant dinner
• Persimmon Burrata Salad an Autumnal take on a Caprese

What to Do with a Extra Blueberries

No one ever has "extra blueberries" because don't you just eat them straight up standing at the counter? But if you do indeed have extras, here are a few of the best HEALTHY blueberry recipes:

• Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
• Blueberry Chia Jam
• "Black- and Blueberry" Power Smoothie
• Red White and Blueberry Cheese Board

Check out these California Blueberry recipes from friends!

• Avocado Blueberry Tarts by Becky at Baking the Goods
• Blueberry Lemonade by Meg of This Mess is Ours
• No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake by Vy of Beyond Sweet and Savory
• Blueberry Rhubarb Pie by Irvin of Eat the Love
• Sourdough Blueberry Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup by Alison at A Girl Defloured

^{This recipe and post are produced in partnership with California Grown. You can see more of my fawning all over California and California-grown produce on California Grown's blog, and TheDeliciousLife.com posts here.}