Recipes Salads Green Salads 25 Green Salads to Serve with Any Meal By Food & Wine Editors Updated on September 2, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Photo by Eva Kolenko / Food Styling by Carrie Purcell / Prop Styling by Jillian Knox The green salad is a timeless mealtime staple, equally at home as a decadent brunch side, the main dish for lunch, or as an appetizer course for dinner. The salads featured here are flavorful, simple, and sure to please. From Classic Caesar to Lemony Waldorf to Charred Cabbage Salad with Pecan Dukkah and Chile-Lime Butter, this is Food & Wine's collection of our favorite green salad recipes. 01 of 25 Escarole Salad with Red Quinoa and Hazelnuts © Con Poulos Chef Marco Canora likes quinoa because it mimics the satisfying texture and starchiness of a grain. He uses the red variety in this crunchy and fresh winter salad. Get the Recipe 02 of 25 Charred Cabbage Salad with Pecan Dukkah and Chile-Lime Butter Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Chef Nick Cobarruvias draws on his Mexican heritage, layering complex flavor combinations into dishes like this crisp-tender cabbage salad. He seasons the charred cabbage with chile-lime butter, made mildly spicy from árbol chiles and bright from lime zest. The pecan dukkah adds earthiness from the cumin and pops of citrus from the coriander, plus a lovely nutty flavor and texture from toasted pecans and sesame seeds. Get the Recipe 03 of 25 Classic Caesar Salad © Marcus Nilsson This classic Caesar salad is loaded with plenty of garlic, anchovies, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It's also fast and easy to make. Get the Recipe 04 of 25 Little Gem Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette © Sara Remington Chef Nancy Silverton's lovely salad, adapted from her Mozza Cookbook, features Little Gem lettuce, a smaller, sweeter variety of romaine. If you can't find it, use hearts of romaine instead. Get the Recipe 05 of 25 Lemony Waldorf Salad © Quentin Bacon For this refreshingly crunchy salad, chef Mark Peel adds romaine lettuce, frisée, and sliced radishes to the classic Waldorf salad mix of apples, celery, and walnuts. In place of the traditional mayonnaise-based dressing, he makes a lemon-walnut oil vinaigrette flavored with cumin. Get the Recipe 06 of 25 Greens, Avocado, and Blueberry Salad Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Food scholar and cookbook author Jessica B. Harris keeps specialty salts and vinegars on hand to bring instant interest to salad dressings. Here, a honey-ginger white balsamic is the backbone of a sweet, fragrant dressing that adds a mildly piquant kick to the fresh peppery greens and creamy avocado in this colorful side salad. Get the Recipe 07 of 25 Grilled Asparagus Salad © Christina Holmes Chef Bobby Flay makes this delightful grilled asparagus salad with sweet grape tomatoes, briny kalamata olives, and sharp white cheddar. Each bite brings out a different combination of ingredients. Get the Recipe 08 of 25 Spinach and Smoked Salmon Salad with Lemon-Dill Dressing CHRISTINA HOLMES This refreshingly crunchy, tangy salad makes for an excellent spring lunch or super-quick dinner. It's ready in just 15 minutes. Get the Recipe 09 of 25 Chopped Italian Salad © Karen Mordechai Antipasto ingredients are sliced and diced to make a fun, flexible chopped salad. We've thrown in our favorites, and so should you. Add the dressing ingredients to the bowl and mix them when you toss the salad — it's the Italian way. Get the Recipe 10 of 25 Arugula Salad with Olives, Feta, and Dill © Maura McEvoy To jazz up arugula salad and give it a slightly Greek twist, chef Michael Symon tosses it with chopped fresh dill, briny Greek feta cheese, and kalamata olives. He finishes the salad with extra-virgin Greek olive oil, which he says has a pure flavor and is generally more affordable than olive oil from Italy. Get the Recipe 11 of 25 Chopped Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing © Quentin Bacon This is the perfect salad for people who love blue cheese. Cheese expert Laura Werlin whisks some cheese into the vinaigrette, then sprinkles more on top of the salad before serving. Get the Recipe 12 of 25 Boston Lettuce with Cilantro and Walnuts © Martin Morrell Chef Katya Drozdova serves simple salads like this one at her Moscow restaurants. The combination of cilantro and walnuts is a distinctly Georgian touch. Get the Recipe 13 of 25 Seaweed and Greens Salad Photo by Eva Kolenko / Food Styling by Carrie Purcell / Prop Styling by Jillian Knox This hearty salad blends sea greens and land greens. Fresh salad greens, carrots, radishes, and cucumber get a boost of salinity and texture from three different types of delicious seaweeds: kelp, dulse, and Irish moss. The trio of mineral-forward sea vegetables is nicely balanced by rice vinegar dressing. Get the Recipe 14 of 25 Celery, Grilled Grape, and Mushroom Salad © Con Poulos "Celery is a vegetable people either love or hate, and we try to get people to love all their vegetables," says chef Amanda Cohen. She sets off celery's bitterness and crunch with meaty oyster mushrooms and grapes that have been grilled until almost bursting. Get the Recipe 15 of 25 Watercress Salad with Verjus Vinaigrette © Anson Smart Chef Corey Lee fries almonds and peels grapes for his compelling salad. At home, use roasted marcona almonds and unpeeled green grapes. Get the Recipe 16 of 25 Big Italian Salad © Quentin Bacon Part green salad, part antipasto salad, this recipe combines lettuce, celery, onion, peperoncini, olives, and cherry tomatoes — all tossed in a dressing made with olive oil, vinegar, and a little mayonnaise. Get the Recipe 17 of 25 Asian Pear and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese © Rinne Allen This simple salad has a perfect mix of bitter (arugula), sweet (Asian pear), tangy (lemon dressing), and crunchy (pumpkin seeds). Try it with green apples or Bosc pears if Asian pears are hard to find. Get the Recipe 18 of 25 Antipasto Salad with Bocconcini and Green-Olive Tapenade © Greg DuPree Chef Nancy Silverton's smart and delicious play on a classic antipasto plate is quick to prepare and hits all the right notes. A crunchy base of shredded iceberg lettuce is topped with creamy bocconcini (mozzarella balls), Genoa salami, spicy-tangy pepperoncini, and green olives. Get the Recipe 19 of 25 Mixed Greens and Herb Salad with Figs and Walnuts © John Kernick Using whole herb leaves adds bursts of flavor to this salad. If you can find good fresh figs, use them here in place of dried ones. Get the Recipe 20 of 25 Super-Simple Green Salad Ditte Isager This very easy salad is a staple on Nadine Levy Redzepi's table because it's fresh, tasty, and completely versatile. Get the Recipe 21 of 25 Bibb Lettuce Salad with Vinegar-Roasted Beets © Con Poulos Chef Jamie Malone roasts beets in vinegar so they're sweet and tangy all the way through, as if they were dressed from within. F&W Culinary Director at Large Justin Chapple takes Malone's vinegar-roasted beets and adds them to this tasty salad. Get the Recipe 22 of 25 Spring Gem Salad with Soft Herbs and Labneh Toasts Photo by Jennifer Causey / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn Chef Nancy Silverton says the first sign of spring is when she puts this salad on the menu at Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles. She dresses the asparagus, peas, radishes, and sugar snap peas with a lemon vinaigrette, then offers toasts topped with labneh alongside, turning this ode to spring produce into a light lunch or first course for dinner. 23 of 25 Kale Salad with Miso and Pistachios © Madeleine Hill Chef Andrew Zimmern breaks from the standard kale salad by adding pistachios and sesame seeds for rich nuttiness and a bright, vinegary miso dressing. Get the Recipe 24 of 25 Oma's Green Mountain Salad Eva Kolenko In this seasonal salad, Chicago chef Sarah Grueneberg takes inspiration from the translation of her last name and the translation of her restaurant name (both mean "green mountain," in German and Italian, respectively). She amps up a zesty buttermilk dressing with charred ramps (scallions would also be delicious), then drizzles the dressing over crisp Little Gem lettuce, celery, and baby turnips. Get the Recipe 25 of 25 Greens Pasta Salad © Con Poulos Food & Wine Culinary Director at Large Justin Chapple dresses pasta with a tangy and creamy mix of buttermilk, vinegar, and mayo, then mixes in plenty of greens to add a fresh, bright flavor. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit