I’m sure we’ve all seen the memes about buying a package of spring mix just so we can throw it away at the end of the week, completely untouched. And I’m sure we’ve all been able to relate. But I hate wasting food, so I wanted to share my formula for making a simple side salad and why you should make one with dinner tonight (and most nights). Because side salads are very underrated and often over complicated. So let’s break it down.
Why Simple Side Salads Are Awesome
Simple side salads have become one of my favorite quick side dishes to make with dinner because…
- The light texture and zingy flavor of the dressing can really lighten up a heavy meal (like pasta, meatloaf, lasagna, or casseroles)
- They take five minutes to assemble
- They’re a great way to use up leftover vegetables in your fridge
- They add so much color, texture, and flavor to your plate
- They instantly make your meal feel “put together”
- It’s an extra dose of vegetables!
My Formula for the Perfect Side Salad
I think the biggest mistake when making side salads is overthinking them. Keep it simple, use as few ingredients as possible, and don’t spend more than five minutes on it. Because if you do, you’ll probably just end up avoiding making the salad altogether, and that’s when your spring mix ends up in the trash without ever making it to your plate.
So, to prevent over thinking your salad, use this formula:
Greens + one vegetable + dressing + topper
That’s it. That’s all you need. Now let’s go into more detail on each of those elements.
1. The Best Greens for Side Salads
There are a lot of options for salad greens out there, but for simple side salads I like to go with a green that is light, delicate, and that has a lot of color and texture. So that means that my favorite is spring mix or baby greens. Of course you could use anything from kale to spinach, or even finely shredded cabbage.
Just don’t use iceberg because while it does have texture, it’s totally lacking in the flavor and color department. It’s better suited for situations where it is utilized solely for its texture.
How Much Salad Greens to Use
Remember, this is a simple side salad that will be served as an accent to your dinner, so you don’t need a lot. You’ll only need one large handful, or about one ounce, of greens for each serving.
How to Keep Leftover Greens
Since you’re only eating a little bit at a time, you’ll want to keep the rest of your greens fresh so you can make side salads for the next few days. But since that’s a subject large enough for its own article, I’m going to just give you a link to someone who’s already done the research. This article from The Kitchn compares three methods for keeping greens fresh, and they got great results!
2. Add A Vegetable (or Two)
This is the part of the formula where it’s easy to get out of control, but I’m here to tell you that you only need ONE vegetable to make the salad really good. Sure, if you have some leftover vegetables in your fridge that need to be used up, add them in there! But plan for one and call it a day. Here are some vegetable ideas for your side salad:
- Tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Red Onion
- Bell Pepper
- Zucchini or Yellow Squash
- Carrot
- Sweet Corn
- Radish
- Mushrooms
- Artichoke hearts
- Olives
You can also add fruit to your side salad. Here are some fruits that are awesome in salads:
- Avocado
- Apples
- Pears
- Peaches
- Nectarines
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Blackberries
- Mangoes
3. The Best Dressing for Side Salads
As with the salad greens and vegetables, you can technically use any salad dressing for your side salad, but my dressing of choice is a simple vinaigrette.
You want the dressing to just lightly coat or “kiss” the salad greens in your side salad, so a thicker or heavier dressing like ranch or blue cheese would be too heavy and overpower the salad. The acidic nature of vinaigrettes also provides that “light” element to your plate, which is really important when balancing heavier main dishes.
Bottled vs. Homemade Dressing
Side salads are one of the few occasions where I prefer a bottled dressing to homemade. Bottled dressing lasts longer in the fridge than homemade, so it’s nice to just have a bottle on hand that you can use a tablespoon or two of at a time without having leftovers go to waste. Look for a red wine vinaigrette, champagne vinaigrette, an Italian dressing, or a non-creamy Caesar dressing.
If you do want to use a homemade dressing for your side salad, check out my Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette, Tomato Basil Vinaigrette, or a classic like the Homemade Italian Dressing used in this Pizza Pasta Salad.
How Much Dressing to Use
The goal for the side salad is to have your greens just kissed with the lightest hint of dressing. This keeps the salad light and fresh, and doesn’t overpower the flavor of the greens, or steal the show from your main dish.
Drizzle only about ½ Tbsp dressing for each serving and toss the salad until everything is lightly coated. Make sure to wait to dress the salad until just before serving so the greens don’t go limp.
Salad Toppers
This is the fun part. I like to add one final topper to the salad that will add just a touch more texture and flavor. You just want to add a little pinch of your topper to each serving after tossing with the dressing. The dressing will help your topper “stick.” Here are some ideas for salad toppers:
- Freshly cracked pepper
- Flakey salt (like Maldon)
- Parmesan cheese
- Feta cheese
- Homemade croutons
- Toasted breadcrumbs
- French fried onions
- Nuts or seeds (walnuts, pepitas, sunflower seeds, etc.)
Here are the side salad combos pictured above:
- Spring mix + tomatoes + vinaigrette + freshly cracked pepper
- Spring mix + artichoke hearts + vinaigrette + Parmesan
- Spring mix + cucumber + vinaigrette + flakey salt
- Spring mix + red onion + vinaigrette + feta
How to Make a Simple Side Salad
Ingredients
- Salad Greens
- Vegetables (or fruit)
- Salad Dressing
- Salad Topper
Instructions
- Add your favorite salad greens to a bowl.
- Add one sliced or chopped vegetable or fruit.
- Drizzle lightly with a vinaigrette or a mix of olive oil and vinegar. Toss to coat the greens and vegetables in dressing.
- Sprinkle a "topper" ingredient over the salad to add extra texture and flavor.
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What is Your Favorite Side Salad?
Let’s crowdsource some more easy side salad ideas! Leave a comment below with your favorite side salad ingredient or combination so we can all have new side salads to try every night of the week!
my favourite is little gem lettuce watercress and cucumber and if there`s any mustard cress needs using up that can go on top, dressed with a bought dressing. Love the peppery taste of watercress and it`s so good for us.
Thank you for the link to the keeping greens fresh. I have used the paper towels/plastic bag, but will switch to the container now.
My go to salad dressing is a squirt of olive oil–I keep the oil in a mustard/ketchup squirt bottle–toss and then add a little rice vinegar, toss. A crack of lemon pepper and done. Sometimes I’ll add a little grated cheese if I want to be fancy or add extra flavor.
A lot of great inspiration here! My favourite right now is chopped romaine lettuce with shredded carrot, roasted peanuts with a bottled Asian sesame dressing. A few thinly sliced green onions are a great addition but not necessary. This salad is a really good side to a simple stir-fry or Asian noodle dish.
Thanks for getting me out of my butter lettuce + tomatoes + greek dressing rut! This has inspired me to finish up the jars of artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, and lone carrot in the fridge.
I also prefer store-bought salad dressing, but when I discover at the last minute it’s expired (whoops!) my go-to easy dressing out of things I have on hand is:
-1 tsp olive oil
-1 tsp red wine vinegar
-1/2 tsp fancy mustard (dijon, champagne, whole grain, whatever–just not the bright yellow stuff)
-salt & pepper
Great post! Side salads here are always dressed in the bowl. I use a generous glug of EVOO, favorite salad seasoning (Penzey’s mural of flavor),
and a seasoned rice vinegar.
I love the large tub of spring mix from Aldi and always give it a quick chop so that the oil coats the greens better and is easier to eat! Once the salad ingredients are in the bowl, swirl on the oil, toss, then add a splash of rice vinegar, and toss again. Best salad ever!
This is what we do! We have lettuce in our garden that we are currently using and if I’m rushed for time sometimes I just use lettuce and a dressing. Garden grown lettuce is tastier than store bought so I can get away with it better. If I have spinach, I like to add a dried fruit like cranberries and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds, top with a dressing, and we are good to go. Sometimes simple is better.
Love your suggestion to keep things simple. I enjoy flavors that aren’t muddied by too many conflicting elements, ie only 1-2 spices or herbs instead of 4-6. Last night, taking your advice, we had a spinach salad–with orange segments, feta cheese, and pistachios dressed with your simple vinaigrette, meaning bitter, sweet, creamy, salty, and crunch in nearly every bite.
Tonight will be arugula with blueberries, diced cucumber, a sprinkle of goat cheese, and a grilled chicken entree. I don’t seem capable of dropping under 3 elements plus greens. Being budget conscious, I’ve been purchasing salad greens at Aldi and Walmart for way less than at my local supermarket–interesting cheeses are very affordable at Aldi’s. Prior to Covid 19, my supermarket salad bar was an economical place to pick up salad greens for low prices, but that option is long gone.
My husband and I have been adding bagged salads to meals to make our kids eat more veggies, but I love the idea of making up a larger portion of homemade vinegrette and using up veggies so we don’t waste!
Favorite side salad: pre-washed arugula with red onion and sliced almonds. Add chopped apple or pear in winter, raspberries or sliced strawberries in summer. Dash of light vinaigrette and you have a winner!
Good idea as I always end up with too much once I add one veggie and another and another and another. I only intend to add a tiny bit but by the time I’m done it’s a main dish and there’s no way I can eat it all and the main dish. One of my favorite veggies for a salad is shredded carrots. Not slices or chunks but shredded. It seems to stick to the little bit of dressing and add a little bit more crunch to the spring greens. And one of my favorite toppers is sunflower seeds.
Love this! This is inspiration for me to get back to having a side salad with dinner each evening. It’s a great no-cook side option for the warm weather.
I like to shred a few carrots at the beginning of the week and mix a small jar of red wine vinegar, olive oil, brown mustard, salt, and pepper. Then it’s as simple as mixing the carrots with baby spinach, pepitas, strawberries or blueberries, and vinaigrette.
I had greens in my fridge today but I love a crunchy wedge so I picked up some iceberg to go with a thick med. rare burger no bun. I made a little ranch added red onion bacon bits diced tomatoes and slivered almonds and some boiled egg. I do like the greens but love a forkful of crunch!
Can I just say how much I love this? Salads are things that for some reason have always overwhelmed me, but this feels so manageable. Thanks!
Awesome! That was my goal, so I’m glad to hear that!
this sliiiightly deviates from the formula, but my favorite is arugula + halved cherry tomatoes + olive oil and lemon juice + salt OR parm, if i have it.
I sometimes make a little dressing in the bowl. A tiny bit of vinegar, dash of salt, a bit of Dijon mustard, and a drizzle of olive oil. It’s so easy for me and the only thing in the fridge is the mustard. So, this a huge money saver over bottled dressing. I drop the greens on top, and toss.
This sounds like a great idea, are you using white vinegar or some other kind (red wine, balsamic, etc)?
I make the same simple dressing! So quick, easy and cheap. Sometimes I’ll add a little parm if I’m feeling fancy. I use it on my green+ apple+ whatever nuts I have on hand. Sometimes it gets goat cheese or feta depending on what I’m eating it with. Simple and tasty!