32 delicious and healthy ways to spice up your salads all year round

Featuring proteins, crunchy carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, these exciting salad toppings are equal parts delicious and nutritious, offering additional vitamins and minerals, and keeping you full throughout the day.

In the summer, you might like to opt for fruits like berries, melon, or pomegranate seeds in your salads. When winter rolls around, cheese, croutons, and warm vegetables should be on the menu for healthy lunch ideas.

To help inspire you and your shopping list, we've collated ideas to spice up your salads and your lunchtimes.

Delicious and healthy ways to spice up your salads

Add crunchy toppings

Peanuts, parmesan crisps, pumpkin or sunflower seeds - all great options to scatter over the top of your salad. Crispy bacon, wasabi peas, and roasted chickpeas are more exciting options.

If you have a moist salad, one with mozzarella and lettuce, a crunchy topping can cut through and offer a welcome texture combination.

Add warm vegetables

When the weather feels a little cloudier or chillier, most people take salad off their weekly rotation of lunches. It doesn't have to be this way.

Add warm vegetables - like charred peppers, courgettes, aubergine, and carrots - to your leaves for a warming feel, no matter the season.

Adding a bit of warmth to your salad can also help bring out unique flavours, so it's one to go for if you've got complex ingredients that deserve their time to shine.

Add berries

Whether it's a fruit salad or a summer salad, berries belong here. Good options include blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and cranberries.

You might like to try a berry rocket salad. This one uses rocket, blackberries, grilled chicken (you could use halloumi as an alternative), avocado, and chopped almonds for a perfect blend of sweet and savoury, crunchy and smooth.

Add cheese

Feta, blue cheese, goat cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan are all perfect cheeses to top your salad with. They go perfectly with rocket and lettuce, as well as proteins like chicken, beef, and even cheese.

The key ones to try are a Greek salad (with feta), a Caprese Salad (with feta), a Caesar salad (with Parmesan), and a Cobb salad (with blue cheese).

Add some beans

A bean salad is a great choice in itself, often served cold and using vegetables alongside black or pinto beans, but you can also add beans to your regular mix.

Beans are also rich in fibre and protein, key to improving gut health and keeping our digestive systems moving. As two of the most filling nutrients, a bean salad will also keep you fuller for longer.

Add microgreens

Microgreens are tiny shoots, the immature leaves of regular vegetables. They have a unique flavour, rich in nutrients, and include popular salad ingredients - but ones you might not have thought of.

Peas, broccoli, kale, rocket, and basil all count as microgreens.

Throw in some pasta

If you're looking for a salad addition that can help keep you full throughout the afternoon, pasta is perfect.

As pasta is relatively bland in taste until you add other ingredients, it works well with most types of salad as well, from a Caprese to a Waldorf.

Use an infused oil

Infused oils have become very popular in recent years - from garlic and chilli to coriander and onion, or even blood orange.

These infused oils are very easy to make at home as well by adding the infusing ingredient to regular store-bought olive oils.

Make it spicy

An easy way to add flair to a salad is with simple spices that you'll likely already have in your kitchen cupboards.

Favourites include chilli flakes, garlic granules or powder, paprika, and the obvious salt and pepper. Herbs like basil, oregano, mint, and rosemary also work.

Add seaweed

Seaweed is a rich source of nutrients like fibre and antioxidants. Adding it to a salad offers benefits for the heart, digestive, and immune systems.

Whether you go for fresh or dried seaweed is up to you. Fresh seaweed has a distinct briny flavour and chewy texture, so it may go better with crunchier salads. Dried seaweed has that crunchy texture and shreds easily.

Use fresh citrus as a dressing

If you haven't got time to make a dressing from scratch, just squeeze some citrus over the top for a zing of flavour. Lemon is best, but lime or grapefruit also works.

You could also try using orange, but this will deliver a much stronger flavour, and it pairs best with carrot, tomato or celery.

Add an egg

Boost the protein in your salad in just a few minutes by adding a boiled egg. An egg has about 6g of protein per serving, so adding two eggs to your salad can give your lunch a serious boost.

In general, boil the egg for five minutes if you want it runny, 6 for a slightly thicker consistency, and 8 minutes for hard-boiled.

Make a layered salad

Taking your salad to the office? A layered salad is the perfect way to change things up for a little variety, but also convenience.

All you need is a mason jar and a little more prep time, as a layered salad requires you to add the ingredients all separately. They come together when poured out into a bowl.

Add in some grains

Wholegrains are rich in carbohydrates and fibre, and have a nutty flavour, making them the perfect way to bulk up and add depth to an otherwise leaf-heavy salad.

Quinoa, brown rice, and barley are all good options.

Throw in some pickled vegetables

Looking to boost your gut health and add some zing to even the most plain salad? Fermented and pickled vegetables sit among the best gut-healthy foods and include popular options like homemade pickled cucumbers and gherkins.

But think outside the box as well. Radish, peppers, asparagus, carrots, green beans are all good options too, along with fruits like blueberries, cherries, and grapes.

Add pear

A pear salad is its own dish, but you can also add pears to many types of salad for a refreshing and sweet kick of flavour.

This fruit pairs particularly well with blue cheese as well as walnuts, alongside classic salad ingredients like rocket and lettuce.

Include some fermented ingredients

Much like pickled ingredients, fermented foods are a winning way to add a little excitement to your salad with minimum effort.

Kimchi and sauerkraut are the most popular jarred foods, but you could also have a can of kombucha with you salad for the same flavour and benefits.

Turn it into a chopped salad

A chopped salad is exactly what it sounds like. Taking all the ingredients and chopping them together with a knife might feel like you're ruining the appearance, but it has benefits - like being easier to eat.

If you're prepping your chopped salad in advance, be sure to keep it in an airtight container to keep the leaves crisp.

Add some shaved vegetables

Carrots, courgette, cucumber, celery and Brussels sprouts are top contenders for a chopped salad, but don't underestimate them. Shave them with a peeler and add them to your salad for a slightly different texture and even more crunch.

Shaving your vegetables, rather than chopping them, could also add an interesting visual to your salad, particularly if you're laying it up in a jar.

Add canned fish

Canned fish is a cheap and cheerful way to get more protein into your salad without having to cook up chicken, beef, pork or fish, or prepare cheeses.

Salmon, mackerel, sardines and anchovies are all good options. They go well in pasta salads and with wholegrains.

Turn it into dessert

Who says you need to have your salad for lunch? Turn your salad into a dessert with some simple ingredient swaps.

Berries are best - adding blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries offers an instant fruity kick. Yoghurt makes for a good base, instead of leaves, and you can top it off with nuts and seeds for a crunch.

Use leftover pizza or bread for croutons

Now, hear me out. If the idea of cold pizza doesn't make you squirm, I have an idea for you - pizza croutons.

Chopping your leftover pizza slices into small chunks and throwing them in an air fryer for a couple of minutes can save you from shopping for croutons in your next supermarket trip.

Add grapes

While berries are a great fruit to add to salads as they offer a little something different, a kick of sweetness, grapes are a good option because they do the opposite.

Typical supermarket grapes are mild in flavour, so they offer a pleasant addition to a salad, brightening up the texture without becoming overpowering.

Toast up some coconut

Coconut chips are relatively easy to come by in most larger supermarkets, and there's a quick trick to make them even moreish. Toss them into a dry frying pan for a minute or so for a lightly toasted finish, then scatter over a salad for a nutty, fresh edge.

Add a spoonful of pesto

Pesto is a timeless kitchen hero, offering tonnes of flavour in a quick and easy serving solution. It also comes in several varieties aside from the green, and you can make it at home.

One of our favourite tips is putting a spoonful of pesto into your salad and giving it a good mix, coating everything in basil and pine-nutty goodness.

Swap in a peanut dressing

This one is a sure-fire path to a truly luxurious salad. Surprisingly easy to whip together, combine a couple of teaspoons of peanut butter in a bowl along with a dash of soy sauce and a drizzle of honey.

Add a teaspoon of sesame oil, and then anoint your salad for a rich, umami experience.

Add shredded chicken

Shredded chicken is a fantastic way to add some protein to your salad, and it can be easily adapted to fit your personal flavour preferences.

We recommend roasting chicken breasts in a light marinade of olive oil, paprika, oregano and black pepper, then shredding with a couple of forks. Work into your salad for a flavoursome and filling meal.

Throw in some figs

Figs are a staple sweet treat across the Mediterranean, native to the region and offering a source of dietary fibre and manganese.

Small but bursting with flavour, slice up a couple of ripe figs and throw them on top of your salad. If you're feeling adventurous, drizzle with a little honey and balsamic vinegar for a flavour sensation.

Sprinkle in some paprika

Paprika is a wonderful flavour boost in sauces and roasts, but it can also jazz up your salad.

Try adding a sprinkle across dark leafy greens and roasted vegetables for a comforting and nourishing meal with plenty of warmth without too much spice.

Add in capers or anchovies

When people bemoan salads, more often than not, they accuse them of being bland or boring.

May we suggest a salty kick in the form of anchovies or capers to liven things up a bit? This won't be to everyone's taste, but if you're looking for flavour, these pack a punch.

Add leftover potatoes

If you're someone who believes a salad could never be substantial enough to really fill you up, this one is for you. Retrieve those leftover boiled or new potatoes from the fridge, and chop roughly into small pieces.

Either throw the potatoes in cold or, if you fancy, chuck them in the air fryer to crisp up before adding for a crunchy, fulfilling salad.

Sprinkle salt over the top

We finish with the ultimate kitchen aid - salt. While it's of course important to moderate your salt intake, we'd always recommend throwing a small pinch of a good, high-quality sea salt over the top of your salad.

This works particularly well with root vegetables and can be further elevated with a light dash of lemon juice.