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.
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
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.
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
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!
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
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.
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!
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!
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:
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:
Recipe
The BEST Side Salad Recipe
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
- 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.
Nutrition
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.
Jennifer says
I’m making this for Easter brunch!!! Looks delicious!
Jessica says
Oh good!!! It is perfect for Easter! Thank you! 🙂
Erin says
This is so great with just about any dinner. I love the bacon in there! I always forget about hard boiled eggs on salad, but they are so good.
Jessica says
Right? And the eggs are so easy to make with the Instant Pot! Even better. 🙂
Beth Pierce says
This really does look like the best side salad to serve with dinner! I’ll be giving this a try this week for sure!
Jessica says
It is SO SO good. Thank you Beth!
Jen says
The seasonings really do make a difference! I love having this for lunch. So easy and filling.
Jessica says
Totally agree!!! BIG difference, and making a big batch for lunch is one of my favorites!
Rachael Yerkes says
This salad is so great! goes with everything
Jessica says
YES! I couldn’t agree more! 🙂 Thank you Rachael!
Kathy says
Hi. This looks perfect for Thanksgiving. Do you purchase romaine in a bunch or in the bag? Can I make this in the morning for a 5pm dinner? Thanks!
Jessica says
I grab the bunch of romaine. It’s MUCH easier to cut off of the stems than using the pre-cut in a bag. Yep! I’d go ahead and make it in the morning. You may just want to keep some of the ingredients separate until close to serving, just in case you’re using something that can get soggy, and then don’t dress it yet either! But other than that, making it ahead of time should be just fine! 🙂
Sherry says
This salad looks beautiful and has all the ingredients I love. I want to serve it to my dearest friends at a luncheon this week. Do you serve it individually or in a large bowl? If you serve it in a large bowl, do you toss it? I agree about cutting the large center rib out. I also do this. Much nicer.
Jessica says
You can serve it either way. I actually like to serve it in a large bowl when serving to a large crowd, and I would say it would be best to toss it, just so everyone can make sure to get a little bit of the herbs and toppings… just so the flavor will pack a punch for everyone and not just the first few of those who grab some salad. 🙂
I hope you enjoy it and thank you so much for sharing!!
Brittani says
Made this last night and it was AMAZING. I added some Texas toast croutons and both my bf and I loved it! Will definitely be using this as my go to salad from now on.
Jessica says
Yay!!!! Thank you so much Brittani! I’m thrilled to hear that you loved it. Mmmmmm, the Texas toast croutons sound amazing on it! Thank you for sharing. XOXO
Terry says
Sounds good!
Terri says
Looks delicious. Going to try!
Temple Berry says
I will be making this salad, for sure. Please send me more recipes!
Leslie Mitchell says
Going to try iy
Kelly Moore says
This is wonderful! Also, if you want to turn this into a main meal, add some grilled bbq chicken and add some bbq sauce to your homemade hiddenvalley buttermilk ranch dressing. *Amazing*. I would maybe substitute the boiled egg with grilled corn for that recipe though. You could even add black beans… avocado… SO good!!
Jessica says
I LOVE all of these ideas Kelly! Thank you so much!!!
Noreen says
Thanks for this recipe. Was looking for a way to “jazz up” the usual tossed salad for the holidays. Have added the ingredients to my grocery list. Sounds great
Jessica says
Oh good!! I’m taking this salad to our Thanksgiving this year too! I hope you enjoy! 🙂 XO
fannie s mitchell says
That salad looks out of this world, Yum Yum can’t wait to taste it and serve it to my friends and family. I would love to receive your recipes by E-mail. They all looks so good . Thanks again for your wonderful recipes I love them.
Deliciousos !!!
Jessica says
Aw, thank you so much Fannie! If you’d like to receive emails you can enter your email address here! 🙂 Thank you!
Kathy L Jones says
This looks delicious! I am using cut pieces of chicken breast instead of the bacon because my son can’t eat pork. I am also going to add cabbage because it is sweet. Thank you for this recipe.
Jessica says
Thank you Kathy!! Using chicken is a great idea! I may have to try that myself! 🙂 Thank you for coming by! XO
Jo Tell says
Ya know, from someone who used to call a salad “rabbit food” you sure do have a way of making them really look scrumptious. Thanks for revving up my taste-buds interest!
Jessica says
Awww yay!!! You’re so welcome! Thank you so much for coming by, and leaving such a sweet comment!
Sylvia says
I love everything about your salad! Because those are what I do! I don’t like romaine because of the rib. I do like romaine without the rib in a salad. I use fresh crispy iceberg lettuce because I don’t like taking out the rib, too much time for me, but great idea and yummy just the same! We don’t use celery because I don’t like it, just never been a fan. But one thing for sure, I don’t like having to fix my salad when we eat out! And seasonings make the taste!
Jessica says
Yaaay! So true, so true! The rib makes me (blah!) Lol! I was an iceberg girl too for sure, until I tried this. You’re right, it takes some time to cut it out! I went with “leaf lettuce,”for a while, but it never had the taste that my mother-in-law’s did. (It was too bitter.) So now I’ll try to make a lot at a time to eat on it for days! 🙂 Thanks so much for coming by and dropping a note!
Aras Androck says
What a yummy recipe. I simply must try it.
Jessica says
Thank you! I hope you get to try it! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Jessica says
I hope you do! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
A Cup Full of Sass says
Yum!! This sounds so yummy! I will have to try some of your ideas. 🙂
Jessica says
You totally should! I promise you can’t really go wrong! XOXO!
Mary Viadero says
Jessica how many people is this salad recipe supposed to serve please ?? I’d like to buy the ingredients but don’t want to go crazy with ingredients I’m making for two adults and three teenagers
Jessica says
Hi Mary! I’ve found that it works great to serve 5 or so, as a side dish! I hope that helps! 🙂