Easy And Quick Salad Recipes

My favorite “everyday” salad recipe is quick and easy to make, tossed with a simple and delicious lemony dressing, and so versatile that it goes with just about everything!

Friends! Do you have a go-to side salad recipe in your repertoire that you absolutely love? This simple green salad — which we fondly call our “everyday” salad here in our house — is mine. ♡

A-winner green salad recipe that we make most often here in our house behind the scenes. And even after eating it literally hundreds of times, it’s one of those staple recipes that we somehow never grow tired of. It’s incredibly quick and easy to make with a bag of greens (we most often use spring greens), a veggie or two (we usually add red onion, plus cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, or whatever’s in the crisper drawer), a sprinkling of nuts/seeds for protein and crunch (we’re partial to pepitas or sunflower seeds), and my favorite “everyday” salad dressing (that’s super-simple to whip up). Best of all, this tossed salad comes together in less than 10 minutes and always tastes wonderfully light and fresh and flavorful. And it also happens to be naturally gluten-free and vegan — and somehow magically goes with just about any meal!

Simple Pasta Salad Recipe

The sky’s the limit, of course, when it comes to customizing this recipe with whatever greens, veggies, nuts, or even dressing ingredients that you happen to have on hand. And if you feel like making a meal out of this salad, it also tastes delicious with an extra protein (such as chicken or shrimp) and/or some croutons added in too.

Anyway, if you’re interested in working more salads into your weekly lunch and dinner rotations, I hope you’ll give this salad recipe a try. It is definitely a favorite here in our house!

As I mentioned above, the base ingredients in this salad are all incredibly flexible. So feel free to use whatever you love best or have on hand! You will just need some type of…

Easy Quinoa Salad Recipe

So many of you have made and loved my “everyday” salad dressing recipe over the past few years that I’ve since created a separate recipe post completely devoted to it if you would like to read more. ♡ But it’s basically just a great all-purpose salad dressing that comes together in minutes and goes with just about everything! To make it, you will need the following salad dressing ingredients:

*The recipe included below makes a small amount of salad dressing, which we find works great with the portions listed in the recipes. But some readers prefer to double the amount of dressing, or you can make a considerably larger batch (as shown in the photo above) if you would like to have some pre-made salad dressing ready to go in the fridge for later in the week.

Beyond the base ingredients mentioned above, there are all sorts of extra add-ins and variations you can try out with this salad. So please feel free to customize this salad recipe and make it your own! For example, you could…

The Best Simple Side Salad Recipe

If you’re looking for more side salad inspiration, check out the rest of our simple “everyday” salad recipe collection, which includes simple recipes for Kale Salad, Italian Salad, Mexican Salad, Mediterranean Salad, and Sesame Slaw. Or feel free to check out some of our readers’ other favorite green salad recipes, including…This green salad recipe is simple, but it's still packed with delicious textures and flavors. It's a perfect side dish - you can serve it with almost anything!

We all need a good green salad recipe in our back pocket…which is why I can’t believe that in almost 10(!) years of blogging, I haven’t shared a simple green salad until today. That’s not to say that there’s a shortage of salad recipes on the site (broccoli salad, pasta salad, or avocado salad, anyone?). But it has been missing a quick, refreshing salad that you can toss together at the last minute and serve with almost anything.

Well, let me introduce you to my favorite green salad recipe. It’s simple, but it doesn’t skimp at all on texture or flavor. I toss in avocado for creamy richness, Parmesan cheese for nutty, salty flavor, and tamari roasted almonds for crunch. To bring it all together, I drizzle on my go-to lemon vinaigrette. It makes this salad zingy, bright, and oh-so-versatile. It pairs just as nicely with pasta as it does with a veggie burger, and it tastes great with classic brunch fare too. If you need a last-minute side dish to round out your Easter menu this weekend, this green salad would be perfect.

Simple Italian Salad

Great green salad recipes start with great greens. Though I love a good kale salad or mixed greens salad as much as the next person, when I’m making a simple, refreshing side salad, I like to use lettuce as the base.

Look for lettuces that have soft leaves and crisp stems with no discoloration. I especially like the flavor and texture of Butter lettuces like Boston and Bibb, but tender leaf or romaine lettuce would work well here too. Use whatever looks best. The more varieties, the merrier!

When you’re ready to make the salad, pull the lettuce leaves apart, and wash and dry them well. To avoid bruising or tearing the leaves, I recommend using a salad spinner for this step (I have this one). With it, you’ll be able to get the leaves almost perfectly dry in no time!

Salad Recipes Everyone Will Love

If you don’t have a salad spinner, spread the washed lettuce on a kitchen towel to dry while you prepare the other salad components.

After I prep my greens, I finish this recipe with thinly sliced cucumbers, avocado, shaved Parmesan, and savory roasted nuts. My basic lemon vinaigrette ties it all together.

It’s a fantastic combination – the cucumbers are crisp and refreshing, the avocado is rich and creamy, the Parmesan is salty, and the toasted almonds and pumpkin seeds add a delicious crunch. That being said, this recipe is flexible. Feel free to experiment with different toppings or another salad dressing. Here are a few ways I like to change it up:

Simple Tossed Salad Recipe (quick, Easy, And Super Tasty!)

Because you’re working with tender lettuces and avocado, which has a tendency to brown, this salad is best if you assemble it right before you eat. If you want to get ahead, you can wash and dry the lettuce a day in advance and store it, well-wrapped, in the fridge. You can also roast the nuts ahead of time and store them, loosely covered, at room temperature. The dressing is make ahead-friendly, too! Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Serve this green salad as a side dish with almost any meal – a weeknight dinner, a special occasion dinner, a festive brunch, or a summer cookout. It pairs well with just about anything. I love to make it for dinner when I’m serving pasta, pizza, or cookout fare like veggie burgers, black beans burgers, or BBQ jackfruit sandwiches.

Round out the meal with something sweet, like Chocolate Chip Muffins, Blueberry Scones, Cinnamon Rolls, or a stack of pancakes or French toast. For more brunch recipes, check out this post! (Oh, and don’t forget the mimosas to drink…)

Fresh Vegetable Salad With Video • Bread Booze Bacon

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.A big, bountiful salad is the best way to celebrate delicious seasonal produce! Here are 51 stunning salad recipes I love to make again and again.

Salad recipes are my favorite way to showcase vibrant, in-season produce—fruits and veggies that taste so good on their own that it doesn’t take much to make them into a delicious meal. On cold winter nights, I like to brighten up our table with a colorful mix of root veggies and hearty greens. On beautiful, warm days when I’d rather be outside than in the kitchen, summer salads are the perfect lunch or dinner: they’re simple to toss together, but they’re super flavorful nonetheless.

Whether you want to add more plant-based meals to your diet or are simply looking to change up your salad game, you’ll find tons of inspiration in the salad recipes below. With everything from green salads to pasta salads and more, these recipes are perfect for passing at potlucks, serving as dinner side dishes, and enjoying as full meals on their own.

Healthy Egg Salad {greek Yogurt Recipe}

Green salads don’t have to be boring, and these recipes are here to prove it! I often make these salad recipes for a healthy lunch, but they’re great cookout and dinner side dishes too.

Crunchy roasted almonds and creamy avocado add amazing textural contrast to this simple salad. My zippy lemon vinaigrette ties it all together!

This chopped salad is so flavorful that even salad skeptics will pile their plates with seconds! The key ingredients? A punchy dressing, pepperoncini, and TWO types of cheese.

Quick Easy Red Cabbage Salad Recipe

Everything you love about the classic salad—crunchy croutons! crisp romaine! lots of Parmesan cheese!—but with an easier homemade Caesar dressing. Greek yogurt creates its