Tangy Date Salad with Baby Spinach and Crisp Pita Chips

Name: Tangy Date Salad with Baby Spinach and Crisp Pita Chips
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar; ½ cup red onions (thinly sliced); ¼ cup slivered almonds; 3 tablespoon olive oil (divided); 1 large pita (cut into small pieces); 8-10 medjool dates (pitted and sliced); 5 ounces baby spinach; 1 tablespoon date syrup (see notes); 1 teaspoon ground sumac (plus more); ¼ cup olive oil; 3 tablespoons lemon juice; 2 cloves garlic (pressed); 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses; ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

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A simple but elevated date and baby spinach salad loaded with sumac onions, toasted almonds, and the most delicious pomegranate dressing. This is the best way to use medjool dates! Serve with grilled chicken, steak, kebobs or anything else you like!

Dates!

I wasn’t always a fan. But then I tried real Medjool dates, and went straight to heaven.

They’re soft and chewy and have a caramel-like flavor.

Speaking of caramel-like. Have you tried that TikTok trend where you pit a medjool date and add a little butter to the center and a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt? Oh my god. I was never on board with the cottage cheese and mustard trend, but this? I can totally get behind. It’s a little treat that taste like a chewy caramel cookie and it’s HEAVENLY.

But I digress. All this to say that I’m obsessed with dates. It’s what makes my Moroccan-inspired power salad amazing. And this date salad loaded with baby spinach, sumac onions, toasted almonds, crisp pita chips totally delivers. It’s a riff off of a green salad I had at an upscale Middle Eastern restaurant here in town. And I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve spend laying in bed dreaming about making a homemade version so that I could eat said salad every week.

And it’s here! This date salad is just as delicious as the restaurant I was inspired by.

pomegranate dressing dressing on baby spinach date salad

Ingredients for Date Baby Spinach Salad
How to Make a Date Salad
Tangy Date Salad with Baby Spinach and Crisp Pita Chips Recipe

Ingredients for Date Baby Spinach Salad

Dates: I like to use medjool dates for this salad. They work beautifully with the sumac and pomegranate molasses as well as the other ingredients in this recipe.
Baby Spinach: I like to use a box of baby spinach leaves as they hold up really well to all the acid in the recipe. If you prefer to swap them for something more robust, you could do a combination of baby spinach and baby arugula. This will give the salad a more peppery flavor.
Pita: I buy large flatbread pitas from my local Middle Eastern grocery store. They have pita in all sizes. I typically like a lot of crunch in this side salad so I use a large pita. I usually just slice it with a sharp knife, but hand torn pieces that are roughly all the same side would look more rustic!
Slivered Almonds: Not to be mistaken with sliced almonds. Sliced almonds usually have the skin on and slivered almonds are usually in larger pieces with the skin off.
Red Onion: I use a red onion because that’s typically what I use to make sumac onions. But for a less harsh bite, you may want to swap this for a shallot. If you’re averse to the bite in onions, try soaking them in a little water for a few minutes before adding them to the white wine vinegar. This will help reduce the bite.
Wine Vinegar: I like to use white wine vinegar for this recipe because it has a lower acidity level. If you don’t have this on hand, swap it with sherry vinegar, or apple cider vinegar.
Ground Sumac: This tangy red powder is a staple in Middle Eastern cuisines. It’s what I use for my pomegranate and sumac dressing in my Fattoushrecipe. It’s also used in my chicken over ricerecipe, amongst many, many others.
Olive Oil: You’ll need a few glugs of olive oil for the dressing and to fry the pitas in so they get nice and crispy. You could even use extra virgin olive oil for the dressing since it won’t be cooked.
Lemon Juice: we’ll use a few tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice to whisk into the dressing. This is the tangy and acidic element in our vinaigrette.
Garlic: You’ll need 1-2 garlic clove for this recipe. I like to press them through a garlic press and then blend them in my bullet blender so that you don’t get harsh pieces. You could also just whisk the vinaigrette in a bowl if you don’t mind bits of garlc throughout the dressing. The restaurant I this salad at served the dressing extra smooth, so that’s what I’m going for here.
Pomegranate Molasses: Another delicious ingredient that should be a staple in your pantry if you make Middle Eastern food often, along with being a key component in a fattoush salad, it also helps flavor the meat for our Lebanese Arayes (crisp meat-stuffed pita pockets.)
Date Syrup: Add the perfect amount of sweetness and balances out the tangy lemon juice and sumac. You can find date syrup at a lot of grocery stores now, or buy it online here. You can also sub this with a date and I’ll include directions in the recipe on how you can do so.
Kosher salt: Pretty self explanatory on this one! You’ll need ¼ teaspoon for the dressing!

How to Make a Date Salad

Start by pickling the onions. We’ll slice the onions nice and thin and then add them to a bowl with a ¼ tsp of sumac and drizzle in the vinegar. Give the ingredientstoss and allow them to pickle for as long as it takes you prep the other ingredients and assemble the salad.
Blend the dressing. In a bullet blender or a traditional blender, combine the sumac, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, pomegranate molasses, honey, and kosher salt until smooth. Blending it will help emulsify the dressing better and it won’t separate as quickly. You could also whisk the dressing together in a bowl, but it will separate a bit faster and will need to be whisked again before dressing the salad.
Toast the nuts. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the almond slivers and dry toast them in a pan until golden and fragrant on all sides. Remove them to a plate and then we’ll fry the pita chips in the same skillet.
Fry the pita chips. Wipe the skillet down if there are bits of almond slivers remaining the pan. Then add the olive oil and let it heat through. Add the pita pieces and cook them, flipping as needed to brown them evenly all over. Remove them to a plate and season with flakey salt and even a pinch of Za’atar if you wish.
Assemble the salad. Add the baby spinach to your serving bowl. Add half of the dressing and toss to combine.Then top it with the drained sumac onions, toasted almonds, dates and pita chips. Drizzle the salad with more dressing if you’d like, and serve it immediately.

FAQs for this recipe

Can I air fry the pita chips?

You can. I have directions on how I make the crispiest pita chips in the air fryer here. You could cut them into small pieces and air fry them for a shorter amount of time, or crush up the larger wedges once they are cooled.

Can I swap the nuts for something else?

The recipe I’m sharing with you is the one that I make and love. You can always use this recipe as a guideline and make it your own by swapping the almonds for ¼ cup walnuts, pecans, or even sunflower seeds.

Can I use sliced almonds instead of slivered almonds?

Keep in mind that if you swap the slivered almonds for sliced almonds, they will toast up much faster in the pan because they are cut much thinner. So make that swap if you need to, but watch them closely!

How do I slice my dates easily?

Refrigerate the dates it makes them easier to slice. You can also spray the blade of your knife with a light coating of cooking spray.

I don’t have date syrup, how do I sub with a date?

Add one pitted date to a small bowl and cover with a tablespoon of hot water. Allow the date to soften for 10 minutes. Then drain the water, add the date to the blender, and blend with the other ingredients.