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    Home » Recipes » Savory Salads

    The BEST Side Salad Recipe

    By: Jessica · Posted: Apr 24, 2023 · Updated: Feb 6, 2025 · This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

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    Jump to Recipe 100 comments
    4.18 from 553 votes
    The best side salad recipe, on a round plate, next to a red napkin.

    This is the BEST side salad recipe you’ll ever have! It’s the requested side dish at family gatherings and not your ordinary run-of-the-mill side salad.

    There’s a SECRET! How to cut the lettuce and add these two common spices that change your salad-making life, and you can see more about this below.

    Best Salad Recipe in White Plate with Red Napkin

     

    Of all of the salad recipes we’ve ever had, this is by far the favorite and easy side salad to serve alongside your favorite dinner recipes, whether it’s a steak in the oven recipe, creamy lemon chicken pasta, chicken drumsticks in the oven, air fryer fish, or whatever the main course is!

    Jump to:
    • Expert Tip:
    • What Makes it the BEST Green Salad:
    • Tips on How to Make the Best Salad
    • 1. How the Lettuce is Cut
    • How to Cut Romaine Lettuce (and Spinach)
    • The 2 Ingredients That Make It the BEST Salad
    • Side Salad Ingredients and Toppings
    • Making This Simple Salad Ahead of Time
    • Recipe FAQs
    • Homemade Salad Dressing
    • More Salad Recipes
    • More Side Dishes
    • Recipe
    • Comments

    Expert Tip:

    If you’re making this salad as a main dish, you should try making this tuna salad recipe to go on top of it! You won’t believe how delicious the creaminess of the tuna, adds to the salad… so much so, that you may not even need a dressing! It’s the perfect lunch or light dinner!

    What Makes it the BEST Green Salad:

    I have to thank my mother-in-law for teaching me how to make the BEST of the best when it comes to side salad recipes. The woman has some serious salad skills and I couldn’t wait to share her secret with you. Don’t worry, I asked for her permission!

    For this side salad, there are two ingredients and a certain way to cut the lettuce.

    I bet you even have the two ingredients in your pantry!

    Tips on How to Make the Best Salad

    So there are a few secrets to the best side salad recipe that has literally left people saying,

    I don’t know what it is, but it’s SO good! Why is it so good!?

    Well, it’s a couple of things.

    1. How the Lettuce is Cut

    Two image collage of cutting romaine lettuce.

    Romaine Lettuce:

    You’ll want to use romaine for a side salad. I’ve used other greens like, mixed greens, leaf lettuce and head lettuce and although they’ll do in a pinch, those types of lettuce don’t measure up to romaine. However, what’s even better than just romaine is a combination of TWO different kinds of greens…

    Using Spinach Too:

    Using fresh spinach along with romaine is definitely optional but it REALLY adds a delicious texture to the salad.

    Even as someone who’s not a huge fan of spinach salads, I always try to incorporate a small handful of chopped spinach in to this salad now because it makes a wonderful difference.

    How to Cut Romaine Lettuce (and Spinach)

    The key is chopping the lettuce into small pieces and removing the white part (the stem) because it can overpower and cause your salad to taste bitter.

    Have you ever eaten a “chopped salad” at a restaurant and found the texture and flavor to be so much more amazing than a head-lettuce or romaine salad with all of the white crunchy pieces like you typically find on a salad bar?

    This is why it’s so good. The lettuce is easier to eat, less bitter and so much more enjoyable.

    Side salad with toppings in clear bowl.
    There are 2 ingredients that make this salad the best!

    The 2 Ingredients That Make It the BEST Salad

    Basil & Garlic Powder.

    Isn’t that EASY?

    This combination on a salad is dynamite. I’m talking dried basil and garlic powder that you probably already have in your pantry. (But if you have fresh basil, chop a few leaves up instead of dried and the flavor is even more incredible!)

    Sprinkle on your desired taste preference, and toss.

    By FAR one of my favorite touches to this side salad. It’s easy, and it makes a HUGE difference for your salad…. making it the BEST salad recipe of all time. At least in our house! 🙂

    Side Salad Ingredients and Toppings

    Salad ingredients on plate with dressing on the side.
    Pick your favorite salad ingredients and dressing

    Along with the right lettuce and the garlic powder and basil, we love adding our favorite toppings!

    Feel free to use what you like and take out what you don’t!

    • Carrots
    • Celery
    • Hard-Boiled Eggs
    • Shredded Cheese – bagged is just fine but fresh shredded block cheddar is amazing!
    • Bacon (or Air Fryer Bacon)
    • Tomato
    • Cucumber
    • Radish
    • Sunflower Seeds
    • Green Onions
    • Croutons (especially these brioche croutons)

    Or turn your side salad in to a main dish by adding proteins like:

    • grilled chicken (These chicken bites are incredible in this side salad.)
    • baked chicken
    • buffalo chicken
    • steak
    • salmon
    • shrimp (like this grilled shrimp recipe)
    • crab
    • pork (like this slow cooker BBQ pulled pork)
    • leftover meats (smoked brisket, roast, etc.)
    • lunchmeat (ham, turkey)

    Toppings Tip: Cutting the lettuce in to small bite-size pieces is important. But if you chop all of your toppings too, it makes it even better!

    Dinner salad on white plate with red and white cloth.
    The perfect dinner salad

    Making This Simple Salad Ahead of Time

    We have this salad at least a couple of times a week at home. It gets in our veggies, and it takes a lot of guesswork out of what we are going to have alongside our main dish because it goes with almost everything!

    I’ve never been a huge fan of making a large salad in bulk because I’ve been told that cut lettuce won’t “keep” as long in the refrigerator.

    But I AM a fan of pre-chopping the ingredients and putting them in containers ahead of time, so my side dishes get easier and easier throughout the week.

    See more make-ahead salads that we love!

    Recipe FAQs

    What kind of dressing is best for a side salad?

    Feel free to top it with the dressing of your choice, but we are HUGE fans of making the Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk Dressing, with the seasoning packet that you can make with mayo and buttermilk! See below.

    What is a side salad?

    A small green salad to serve alongside a main dish recipe, that usually includes a house dressing or favorite salad dressing like ranch, blue cheese, or oil & vinegar!

    How big is a side salad?

    Plan on 1 to 1 ½ cups of salad for a side salad to go with dinner.

    Homemade Salad Dressing

    For this salad recipe, there’s no better dressing than this homemade salad dressing, using Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch, Restaurant Style!

    Ingredients:

    • 1 package of Hidden Valley Buttermilk Recipe (Restaurant Style)
    • 1 cup mayo
    • 1 cup buttermilk (you can use regular milk if that’s all you have but the buttermilk is thicker and is much better!)

    Mix all three ingredients together and chill for about 30 minutes. Drizzle on this green salad and enjoy!

    Store any remaining salad dressing in the refrigerator in an air-tight container or mason jar!

    Or, if you love a spicy kick, you may love this homemade jalapeno ranch dressing instead!

    Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Packet.
    Our favorite dressing for a salad – Hidden Valley Ranch Restaurant Style Dressing

    More Salad Recipes

    We’re BIG fans of salad around here, whether that’s pasta salad, a quick lettuce salad, savory salads, or dessert salads. If you love them too, here are our favorite salad recipes, that I think you’ll love, especially this crab salad that we’re addicted to!

    More Side Dishes

    You may also love these side dishes that are popular with others:

    • two tuna salad sandwiches stacked on top of one another
      The BEST Tuna Salad Recipe
    • Chicken macaroni salad in a bowl.
      The BEST Chicken Macaroni Salad
    • Old fashioned ham salad on white bun, next to pickles and potato chips
      Ham Salad Recipe
    • Pistachio Salad in white bowl on pink background
      Pistachio Salad

    Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!

    More Lettuce Salad Recipes You’ll Love:

    • Summer Side Salad
    • Italian Chopped Salad
    • Apple Cranberry Salad

    Recipe

    side salad on white plate drizzled with ranch

    The BEST Side Salad Recipe

    Jessica Burgess
    The BEST Side Salad Recipe: There’s a SECRET to this salad, and it tops all salad recipes we’ve tried!
    4.18 from 553 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Total Time 15 minutes mins
    Course Side Dish
    Cuisine American
    Servings 5 servings
    Calories 222 kcal

    Video

    Ingredients

    • 3 heads romaine lettuce See how to cut and remove stalk
    • 2 cups chopped fresh spinach optional
    • 1 tablespoon dried basil or fresh!
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder or more/less if you prefer!
    • ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese For best results, shred your own block cheese
    • 1 roma tomato chopped
    • 3-4 slices cooked bacon chopped
    • 2 boiled eggs chopped
    • ¼ cup celery chopped
    • ¼ cup carrots chopped
    • 1 radish chopped
    • 1 stalk green onions chopped
    • 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds hulled

    Instructions
     

    • Slice romaine leaves off of white stems, (discard white stems) and chop lettuce into small pieces and pour in large serving bowl. If also using fresh spinach, chop and add to romaine in bowl.
    • Next layer on your favorite toppings, such as chopped tomato, bacon, eggs, radishes, green onions, celery, carrots, sunflower seeds and cheddar cheese.
    • Sprinkle the garlic powder and the dried basil on top.
    • Serve with choice of dressing. (Our favorite is to make the Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch dressing, with the seasoning packet, buttermilk and mayo.)

    Notes

    TIPS to make this the best side salad:
    • Chop everything in to small pieces, including the lettuce.
    • We love using Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch for dressing (The packet that you make with mayo and buttermilk) and making this before starting the salad so it can sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, according to package directions.
    • If you want to make this ahead of time, chop up the toppings and store them separately so the toppings don’t make the lettuce soggy.
    Topping Ideas: 
    Carrots, radishes, green onions, tomatoes, cooked bacon, hard-boiled eggs, celery, sunflower seeds, and shredded cheddar cheese.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1salad (⅕ recipe; without dressing) | Calories: 222kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 95mg | Sodium: 233mg | Potassium: 1177mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 35288IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 256mg | Iron: 5mg

    Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.

    Keywords delicious side salad, easy side salad recipe, green salad
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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      Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad Recipe
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      Carrot Salad
    • egg salad on croissant
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      Crab Salad
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      4.18 from 553 votes (534 ratings without comment)

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    1. Jason says

      October 08, 2023 at 8:23 pm

      I have been looking for a good everyday type salad as a side and this is perfect as it makes for an easy way to build a salad to each persons taste. I will prepare the base lettuce and spinach and then this becomes one slald 5 ways as some of my household dont eat eggs or celery for example so its almost a build your own 🙂

      Reply
      • Jessica says

        October 11, 2023 at 9:32 am

        Absolutely! That is one of the best things about this salad recipe! Thank you so much for sharing.

        Reply
    2. Julianne O’Neil says

      July 24, 2023 at 1:19 pm

      5 stars
      Hello! I would like to try this and I would probably make it more like a meal by topping it off with grilled chicken or grilled steak. Have you ever done this?

      Reply
      • Jessica says

        July 25, 2023 at 9:49 am

        Oh yes, I do this all the time with this side salad. I add salmon, chicken, steak, tuna, shrimp… the options are endless!

        Reply
    3. Laurie says

      June 28, 2023 at 5:29 pm

      Jessica, question please, when you present the bowl of salad on the table ,do you have it all mixed up or let people take scoops out as is? Thank you

      Reply
      • Jessica says

        June 28, 2023 at 8:24 pm

        Hi Laurie! That’s a great question. I actually do have it all placed in the bowl. However, for presentation purposes, I love leaving most of the toppings on top, until serving, so it looks beautiful with all of the mix-ins!

        Reply
    4. Elizabeth W Mulgrew says

      August 13, 2022 at 5:30 pm

      4 stars
      Thanks so much for the tip about cutting the Romaine and spinach! I’ve been leaving the white portion in all this time! Unfortunately I didn’t have a plain Ranch Buttermilk mix on hand so used a Ranch Buttermilk Dill mix which did not mix well with the basil and garlic I thought. Since, this salad already has a lot of flavor from its ingredients, it only needs a very mild dressing that doesn’t overlie those seasonings, such as a plain Italian oil and vinegar or plain buttermilk (which is what the recipe recommends of course). Or maybe Creamy Italian? What do you think Jessica?

      Reply
      • Jessica says

        August 16, 2022 at 8:05 am

        Hi Elizabeth! Oh yes, I feel like a “dill” flavored dressing may be too much for all the flavors in this salad! Thank you for sharing!

        Reply
    5. Pam says

      May 23, 2022 at 11:46 pm

      5 stars
      Thanks for sharing! Great salad! The basil was a great addition! I LOVE garlic, but 2 teaspoons was a bit much for me. Thanks, again!

      Reply
      • Jessica says

        May 24, 2022 at 10:09 am

        Hi Pam! That’s very good to know, thank you so much for sharing. I may add that to the notes then, in case it helps someone! Thanks again!

        Reply
    6. Jess says

      November 12, 2021 at 7:34 am

      I made this last night and everyone RAVED about it. The best side salad, indeed!

      Reply
      • Jessica says

        November 12, 2021 at 9:30 am

        Awww!!! I’m so glad to hear that you all loved it too. Thank you so much!!

        Reply
        • Shanfl says

          July 27, 2022 at 7:59 pm

          What’s the secret please?

          Reply
          • Jessica says

            July 28, 2022 at 1:01 pm

            The herbs in the recipe! It explains in the post in case you missed it! 🙂

            Reply
    7. Karen G says

      March 20, 2021 at 9:48 am

      Do you use the 3 romaine hearts found packaged together? Or do you use actual 3 heads of romaine which are much larger?

      Reply
      • Jessica says

        March 21, 2021 at 4:46 pm

        The package of 3 romaine hearts is usually what I use! I hope that helps!

        Reply
    8. Tami says

      March 11, 2021 at 10:58 am

      About how much basil and garlic powder? I’m afraid if I put too much, that it will ruin it. Give me an idea of how much to start with and I can go from there. Thanks.

      Reply
      • Jessica says

        March 11, 2021 at 11:34 am

        Hi Tami! I have the measurements for all of the ingredients on the recipe card toward the bottom of this post in case that’s helpful! 🙂

        Reply
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