More Collections: Pasta Salad Recipes, Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes, Grilled Dinner Ideas
SALADS to Love!
I love salad all year long, but I especially crave it during the spring and summer. Salads are great for so many reasons, they can hold their own as a main dish, or be a great supporting dish. Why we love them:
From sweet to savory, there are so many kinds of salads, and in my book – they’re all winners. The best kind, however, are the ones that are EASY to make too! An easy side or meal. While some salads are more complex, all the easy salad recipes in this collection are simple to make (and pretty darn delicious, too)! Flavor and texture. These include in-season produce and incorporate lots of colors, flavors, and textures.
Types of Easy Salads
There are 5 types of salads that I make regularly.
Dressings
“Dressing” is the perfect word for salad dressing. For a classic try lemon juice, or a lemon vinaigrette, olive oil, or balsamic vinaigrette. Or try some of our favorites:
Vegetables: When adding vegetables to a salad, you often do not need to cook them. Simply wash, chop, and toss. Can’t get easier than that! Leafy greens: iceberg, butterhead lettuce leaves, romaine lettuce, baby spinach, kale Green veggies: broccoli florets, celery, brussel sprouts, green onion, cucumber Colorful veggies: carrots, cauliflower florets, beets, bell pepper, red onion, roasted butternut squash, olives, cherry tomatoes Fresh herbs: basil, cilantro, chives, dill, mint, parsley, thyme Fruits: berries, cranberries, melons, diced apples, peaches, or pears, grapes, tomatoes, or avocado. Salad proteins: Adding grilled chicken or beef to a salad is an easy way to make it more filling and turn it into a main side rather than a side. Or try shrimp, bacon bits, black, kidney, or white beans, boiled eggs, buffalo chicken, or chickpeas. Cheese is often added to salads counting any combination of vegetables. Use a simple cubed cheddar, mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, goat cheese, or feta cheese. Crunch: Add some crunch with croutons or nuts like walnuts or toasted almonds.
Homemade Ranch Greek Dressing Pesto Dressing Caesar Salad Dressing Lemon Poppyseed Dressing Cafe Rio Cilantro Ranch Dressing
Our Favorite EASY SALADS
These are our go-to salad favorites and all are delicious! Use these tips to serve it as a side or main dish. When serving as a side dish, plan to serve ½-1 cup (4-6 ounces) pasta salad per guest. For green/vegetable salads plan to serve 1-2 cups (2-5 ounces) per person. Finally, plan to serve 1 cup (3.5 ounces) of fruit salad per person. If the salad is the main dish, plan to serve 1½-2 cups of pasta salad or 2-2½ cups of green salad per person.
More Simple Salad Recipes
For even more easy salads enjoy these as a perfect side dish or a light dinner. These sweet options could even be used as a dessert!
Quick and Easy Cobb
The classic Cobb Salad is one of my all-time favorite salads. It’s the perfect salad for dinner because, beyond the greens, it’s got so much more. This version uses cubed cheddar cheese, but blue cheese crumbles are also a popular addition to this salad. The great thing is you can add or change it up to make it your own! Here is the recipe:
All Easy, All Delicious!
Even if you don’t enjoy green salads, I’m sure there’s at least one easy salad recipe here that you will like! These are the easiest salads out there, and they all taste amazing. Be sure to check out all of our Salad Recipes. More Collections: Summer Salad Recipes, Best Green Salads, Fall Salad Recipes
