Food
21 Green Salad Recipes that will Get You Excited about Veggies
Aug
There’s nothing more refreshing than a green salad! I like to eat light, so salads are my absolute favorite. Best of all, there are so many different types of greens and lettuces to choose from. There are so many different toppings that you could add – raw veggies, roasted veggies, fruits, nuts, cheeses, proteins and dressings too. That means that each time you make a salad, you could make one that is completely different.
Here are 21 Green Salad Recipes that I love that will get you excited about this healthy, colorful dish!
1. Vegan Beet Walnut Salad
This salad is full of grated red cabbage and beets, in addition to walnuts and raisins. The beets are left raw so they have all that earthy fresh flavor that beet lovers can’t resist. And the dressing recipe that accompanies this is incredible too. It’s made with maple, dijon, vinegar and a few other ingredients. Best of all this recipe is vegan and gluten free so you know you are eating as healthy as you can!
2. Copycat Olive Garden Salad
Confession: I’m obsessed with this salad from Olive Garden, so making it at home is a must! It includes ingredients like pepperoncinis and black olives. But what gives this salad it’s distinctive flavor are the garlic croutons, parmesan cheese and the out-of-this-world dressing.
3. Peach Arugula Salad
What’s better than peaches when they are in season? That’s why this salad is a must. Plus it only uses 4 ingredients so it’s simple and easy to make. Ahead of Thyme has so many different salad recipes that sound incredible like this Arugula and Roasted Carrot Salad.
4. Loaded Cobb Salad with Chicken and Bacon
Now a Cobb Salad is not known for being a “healthy” salad, but that’s what makes it so fun! It’s loaded with blue cheese, bacon, chicken and eggs making this salad a crowd pleaser. It’s perfect for those days that you want to do a little bit healthy and a little bit guilty. This recipe has some awesome tips for how to add herbs to a salad and includes a perfect recipe for pan-seared or grilled chicken.
5. Irresistible Steak Salad
This isn’t just a steak salad, it’s a steak and potatoes salad! It also includes corn which makes this Steak Salad a fun way to eat a classic American meal. It’s perfect when you are craving a steak but are hoping for something a bit lighter.
6. Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed Broccoli Salad
This Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed Broccoli Salad is first salad that doesn’t use lettuce! Instead it’s broccoli based, still green because of the inclusion of this vegetable. So when you are tired of a lettuce based salad, this may be the perfect alternative. It’s crunchy, hearty, and full of fruit and nuts.
7. Caesar Salad with Garlic Croutons
A Caesar Salad is a classic, don’t you think? What’s so special about this recipe are the fresh homemade garlic croutons! This recipe for croutons is easy to follow and only takes 15-20 minutes to bake. The finished results will have your salad feeling extra special.
8. Lemon Parmesan Kale Salad
Kale is known for being one of the healthiest salad bases because it contains four times the vitamin C content and twice the selenium content of spinach. It has Vitamin A, K, and is rich in cancer-protective substances sulforaphane and indol-3-carbonol. But it’s best when macerated in something like this lemon based dressing to make it softer and easier to eat.
9. Pear Salad with Poppyseed Dressing
Pears are so perfect for salads! This salad is quite fruit forward because it’s not just full of pears, but includes apples and dried cranberries too. It’s a great salad to make in the fall and winter and will pair perfectly with Thanksgiving-style or other holiday dishes.
10. Strawberry Avocado Spinach Salad
Strawberry and avocado pair so perfectly together! And the blue cheese gives it a bite. Make this salad in the summertime when strawberries are in season. It’s a great way to eat a favorite fruit in something different than a dessert.
11. Asian Chopped Salad
This Asian Chopped Salad is a fun way to try some exotic flavors. The dressing is made with citrus, soy and Sriracha and it includes so many veggies that we haven’t seen in other salads like red and green cabbage, bell peppers, bean sprouts, and sugar snap peas.
12. Winter Salad with Maple Cider Vinaigrette
You had me at Maple Cider Vinaigrette! This salad includes homemade curried candied pecans which is a fun addition to otherwise simple ingredients. The vinaigrette recipe is easy to follow too and puts a delicious spin on a classic vinaigrette recipe. This is perfect for those days that you need something out of the box.
13. Farro Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Farro can actually be used to describe 3 different ancient wheat grain that originated from Mesopotamia – Einkorn, Emmer and Spelt. In this US you are most certainly getting spelt when eating farro. It’s heartier and chewier than rice but also have a complex texture that’s both soft and sticky at the same time. It’s so incredibly delicious. If you haven’t had it, trying this salad recipe is a must!
14. Classic Greek Village Salad
Olives, feta, cucumbers and all your Greek Salad favorites are included in this recipe. If you are ready to make one of your favorite restaurant salads at home, this recipe is perfect because it even includes the herb filled balsamic dressing that accompanies this salad.
15. Roasted Beet Salad with Pecans & Feta
I love salads with roasted vegetables. It’s something that isn’t done enough so it’s always fun to make and delicious to eat. This salad includes roasted beets which have a slightly sweet and slightly earthy flavor making them perfect for a salad. But there are salad with lots of other roasted vegetables too – think carrots, brussels sprouts and there’s even one below with sweet potatoes. So if you like this one, the sky is the limit!
16. Spicy Cashew Chickpea Broccoli Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing
Here’s our second no-lettuce broccoli-based salad on this list! And this salad is so much fun because it’s full of cabbage and carrots to give it lots of crunch and a ginger peanut dressing that is inspired by Vietnamese and Thai cooking.
If you are sick of lettuce then these broccoli salads are the perfect alternative.
17. Apple Gorgonzola (Buca di Beppo Copycat) Salad
I had not idea that other people also love the Buca di Beppo Apple Gorgonzola Salad! Since everything at the restaurant is family style, I never get enough of this salad and it turns out it’s easy to make.
What makes this salad special is the dijon vinaigrette that is full of both fresh and dried herbs like garlic, onion, and oregano.
18. Arugula Tomato Salad with Pine Nuts
This salad is so simple with only 4 ingredients! That makes it a perfect accompaniment to all your favorite proteins. I could imagine this served with pasta since it’s full of tomatoes and pine nuts. But I think it would be amazing with fish too. I had this myself as a light side salad one time when I had a few leftover pine nuts – one of my favorite nuts that I can’t resist because they are rich and fatty.
19. Berry Chicken Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette
Okay don’t get nervous but this salad has a lot of ingredients. But it’s so worth it. The chicken is skillet cooked with garlic, paprika and chili powder. And the salad is full of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cheese and almonds. Plus the dressing is fresh made as well – something you must do for a delicious salad. This salad is sure to get you excited about vegetables!
20. Classic Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese and Bacon
A wedge salad is my favorite on a super hot day. There’s something so cooling about the big brick of iceberg and it’s the perfect vessel for fresh homemade ranch or blue cheese dressing – anything that’s creamy. This is a salad that’s inexpensive to make at home because iceberg is affordable and there’s not a lot of ingredients.
That’s why I think this recipe is PERFECT to start with if you are new to making salads at home.
21. Sweet Potato Kale Salad with Creamy Honey Mustard Dressing
Now I promised you another salad with roasted vegetables and here it is! This salad is extra hearty not just from the sweet potatoes but because it’s a kale based salad too. So it’s the perfect thing when you are really hungry.
The honey mustard dressing is out of this world because it includes ingredients that I would never think to include like tahini.
So which of these 21 Green Salad Recipes is your favorite? Tell us in the comments below!
Let’s Stay Friends!
Insta | Pinterest | Enews | TikTok
Looking for something similar?
