Wedge Salad Recipe

I’d like you to re-envision the wedge salad.

We all know what a wedge salad is. A quarter of a whole head of iceberg lettuce with (usually) blue cheese dressing, bacon and tomatoes sprinkled over the top.

But the standard wedge salad, while delicious, isn’t the only final destination of a salad wedge. Quite the opposite. A wedge of lettuce is a blank canvas for many types of flavors. Today, I’ll cover three of them. A standard wedge salad, a Chinese salad and finally a delicious version of this salad that definitely breaks aways from the standard wedge, but with amazing flavor.

The Lettuce

Let’s start with the most critical component of this salad. The wedge!

Please don’t limit yourself to a head of iceberg lettuce. If you are looking for more nutrition from your lunchtime salad, consider the humble cabbage.

Both have the round shape needed to cut a beautiful wedge, but one packs a considerably larger nutritional punch while also delivering on added flavor. In fact, cabbage has completely replaced most varieties of lettuce in my house, and nobody is complaining!

Wedge Salad Toppings

I’ll say it again. The standard wedge is delicious, but there is a whole world of wedge salads out there. Here are just a few of the types of salads you can create.

The Basic Salad

As mentioned above, the standard toppings for this salad are bacon bits, chopped tomatoes, blue cheese dressing and sometimes some fresh, chopped herbs. See recipe at the bottom of this post for measurements.

Chinese Wedge Salad

This salad uses an Asian dressing, shreds of carrots, chopped green onions and even some sesame seeds. And if you want protein, some properly shredded chicken will go nicely here. Something like Sesame Chicken or Teriyaki Chicken would be tasty.

To make this, you’ll want your wedge, about a ¼ cup of shredded carrots, 1 tsp. of sesame seeds and about 2 tbsp. of Asian dressing.

German Wedge Salad

This is best served with cabbage instead of lettuce. It has slices or bits of sausage, sauerkraut, shredded apples and a vinaigrette dressing. I used this Mustard Vinaigrette recipe and it was delicious!

To make this salad, use a wedge, about 2 tbsp. of vinaigrette, approximately a ¼ cup of sauerkraut, a ¼ cup shredded apple, and a ¼ cup chopped sausage.

Mexican Wedge Salad

This salad is wonderful topped with ground taco meat, fresh, chopped tomatoes, chopped avocado and some cilantro for garnish. You can even sprinkle a little corn on there if you’re feelin’ frisky. Either a cilantro dressing or an Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing would be good here.

To make this salad, use approximately 2 tbsp. ranch dressing, 2 tbsp. chopped tomatoes, 2 tbsp. corn and about a ¼ cup prepared taco meat. Cilantro is optional. Use as much as you like.

What You’ll Need

These are ingredients for the standard version of this salad. If you want to make the other varieties, see the descriptions above for those recipes.

¼ medium head lettuce or cabbage – If using lettuce, you will remove the stem from the lettuce first, then quarter the entire head. If using cabbage, you’ll need to quarter it first, and then remove the core and stem.

3 strips bacon – Cook these separately. I used Applegate Turkey Bacon (not paid to promote them, it’s just what I use.) Cook these in whatever way you typically cook bacon. I make mine in my air fryer set to 400 F. for 9 minutes.

¼ cup chopped tomatoes – These can be any type of tomato you prefer.

1 tbsp. fresh herbs – either basil or parsley would work well here. I used Italian (flat leaf) parsley.

2 tbsp. ranch dressing – see dressing recipe links above. I used the Diary Free Ranch Dressing here.

How To Make A Wedge Salad

Making a this type of salad is pretty basic stuff.

Cut your head of lettuce or cabbage into 4 equal wedges. (Slice core off at an angle if using cabbage) Place one wedge on a plate.

Top with dressing first.

Add the remaining toppings and serve.

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Wedge Salad Recipe