Salad
1270 recipes found
Grilled Corn Panzanella
Panzanella, the Tuscan bread salad of bread, tomatoes, oil, vinegar, basil, is already peak summer cooking, but this grilled, summer produce-heavy rendition might be even more so. The dish is best in the summer when tomatoes are at their juiciest, which is exactly when you don’t want to turn on the oven to toast bread. But dry bread is the key to the salad’s deliciousness because it soaks up the tomato juices and vinaigrette for a mix of crisp and soft bites. So head outside to the grill: Charring the bread brings a nutty, smoky edge to the sweet tomatoes, corn and cucumbers. Add mozzarella, too, for creaminess, or make the salad vegan by replacing the mozzarella with white beans.
White Bean Salad With Crispy Cheese
This hearty, no-cook salad has a range of textures and flavors that make it particularly satisfying, all without much effort from the cook. The canned white beans are dressed in a bracing red wine vinaigrette that enlivens their soft earthiness with a welcome tang. Slivers of fennel lend sweetness, while arugula and basil add pleasingly green and bitter notes. Then, just before serving, crumbled store-bought Parmesan crisps make the whole thing crunchy, salty and very fun to eat. Just be sure not to add the Parmesan crisps until right before serving; they soften quickly and may lose their snap.
Tomato and Peach Salad With Berkoukes
This refreshing summer salad of tomatoes, peaches and olives nestled in arugula, mint, cilantro and parsley comes together in less than 30 minutes and gets its sweet tang from a simple honey-vinegar dressing. While almonds provide crunch, it’s the berkoukes that bring that fun, chewy textural surprise. Also known as berkoukech or m’hamsa, it is a traditional North African ingredient particularly popular in Morocco and Algeria that consists of small, round pellets similar to large couscous pearls or tiny pasta balls. Typically made from semolina flour and water, the spheres are dried and then sometimes steamed before use; here they’re quickly toasted in oil, boiled and cooled. Though they’re traditionally added to fragrant stews and soups, this recipe showcases their versatility. The light, satisfying texture of berkoukes perfectly complements the fresh, juicy fruits and peppery arugula, creating an eclectic dish that is great on its own or as an accompaniment to grilled chicken, shrimp or fish. If berkoukes is not available at your local markets or conveniently online, swap in pearl couscous.
Pearl Couscous Salad With Shrimp and Feta
Bright lemon, mint and cilantro offset creamy feta and sweet corn in this crisp and crunchy salad. Pearl couscous, also known as Israeli couscous, is made of small pearls of chewy pasta that are a great base for so many flavors. Make sure to thoroughly drain the couscous after cooking to avoid a soggy salad. Sautéed shrimp make this into a meal, but feel free to add chopped chicken or your protein of choice.
Tomato and Farro Salad With Arugula
This fresh, summery salad comes together quickly and holds well, making it perfect for a picnic at the beach or a backyard barbecue. Sun-dried tomatoes add a punch of concentrated, tangy tomato flavor alongside bright and sweet cherry tomatoes. Peppery arugula serves as the base here, but you could certainly substitute any other soft green or lettuce. The grain is just as adaptable: Try quinoa, pearled barley or smoky freekeh if farro isn’t available.
Tomato Salad
The minimal ingredients in this salad allow tomatoes to shine through. Besides our star, salt is the most important element because it draws out the juices to leave the tomato with more concentrated flavor. The resulting pink-hued juices mingle with the shallot, olive oil and lemon juice to create a dressing that is so good, it is reason enough to make this salad. Use up every drop by dipping into it with grilled bread, or pour it over braised beans, grilled fish or roast chicken. While tomato salads are often dressed with vinegar, lemon juice is more gentle, working behind the scenes to help tomatoes taste like their brightest selves.
Green Bean Salad With Dill Pickles And Feta
Green beans, feta and dill are old friends, but using dill pickles instead of dill contributes acid, crunch and verve to the classic combination. For maximum flavor, use pickles that are brined with fresh dill or dill seeds, and chill the salad for at least 30 minutes for refreshing, snappy bites. Keep in the fridge for up to 2 days to dole out alongside roast chicken or hot dogs, or on top of salad greens or grain bowls.
Sweet Garlic Pork Chops with Chayote Som Tum
Chayote stars in this riff on Thai Green Papaya Salad, or Som Tum. The small squash with its refreshing crunch and delicate flavor pairs beautifully with juicy, sweet garlic pork chops.
Chicken Pasta Salad with Grapes & Queso Fresco
This pasta salad feeds a crowd and hits all the flavor notes from sweet grapes to briny cheese and olives. Infinitely customizable, It's also a perfect make-ahead side that just gets better with time in the fridge.
Crunchy Noodle and Tofu Salad
With crisp noodles and vegetables coated in a tangy dressing, this salad is reminiscent of the ubiquitous Chinese chicken salad, which isn’t actually Chinese in origin. Stripped of the chicken and given a more accurate name, this vegan take is a fresh salad with lots of textures and no active cooking. Fridge stalwarts carrot and celery combine with robust cabbage to provide heart and heft, while store-bought crispy fried noodles (sometimes sold as chow mein noodles) bring mouth-watering crunch. (They’re worth keeping in your pantry to use as a fun, effortless topper for salads or soups.) Another store-bought timesaver is baked tofu, which has already been marinated and baked, and is ready to use straight from the packet. It often comes in several flavors, and any of them will work for this recipe. The dressing is sweet, savory and acidic, and can be easily adjusted to your liking. Maple syrup adds richness, but honey, agave or sugar would all make suitable substitutes.
Snap Pea, Tofu and Herb Salad With Spicy Peanut Sauce
When the season gifts us sweet, juicy sugar snap (or snow) peas, use them raw in this textural salad. Slicing them in half diagonally not only unlocks their innate crispness, but also allows the inner peas to spill out, creating more texture. This salad is brazenly herb forward, and offers an excellent way to use up any leftover bundles in your fridge; mint, cilantro or basil can be used singularly or as a mix. The two-ingredient dressing is the simplest, and possibly tastiest, peanut sauce you’ll ever make: Peanut butter is whisked together with chile crisp and loosened with boiling water, which helps encourage it to emulsify, creating a smooth, creamy and intensely savory sauce. Looking for another shortcut? You can even skip pan-frying and use store-bought pre-baked firm tofu.
Rotisserie Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
This easy-prep pasta salad filled with rotisserie chicken, homemade Caesar dressing, ciabatta croutons, fusilli, and Parmesan comes together in one big bowl—perfect for summer BBQs.
Antipasto Salad
In this recipe the classic Italian antipasti platter takes the form of a single cold salad. All of the traditional elements are present here: tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, peppers, cheese and salami. Of course, you can swap all kinds of antipasti-minded ingredients into this salad and omit the meat or cheese for vegetarians or vegans, but don’t skip the butter beans, which are the star of this dish. They’re marinated in an oregano vinaigrette while the rest of the salad is prepped, ensuring they soak up as much flavor as possible. After tossing together, this salad chills in the fridge where the flavors only get better over time. So, feel free to make it ahead. Serve with a nice hunk of bread to make a bellissimo lunch or dinner.
Charred Bok Choy and Cannellini Bean Salad
This recipe breaks bok choy out of its steamed and stir-fried box, demonstrating how well it responds to charring. Don’t be afraid to cook bok choy aggressively; the stalks are robust and remain crisp, while becoming smoky and sweet. Baby bok choy can be used too, but the leaves are much smaller and more tender, so simply slice them through the middle lengthwise. Other sturdy greens like gai lan (sometimes called Chinese broccoli) or cabbages will also work. The punchy dressing is sweet and acidic, given heat and spice from the grated ginger, while tart rice vinegar cuts through the richness of the maple syrup. Keep this dressing in mind for similar salads; it is equally lovely with cold soba noodles.
Zucchini Salad With Bread Crumbs
A study in contrasts, this textured salad tops mild, gentle zucchini with a bold, invigorating mix of fried capers and toasted bread crumbs. First, you’ll soak diced zucchini in a tangy lemon-mustard dressing. While the zucchini soaks up flavor, you prepare the toppings, sautéeing capers, garlic and bread crumbs until crispy and crunchy. A dusting of Parmesan completes the dish. Serve this zucchini salad one of two ways: You can mix it all together after layering, so that the bread crumbs soak up the dressing, or divide among plates, drizzling any remaining dressing in the bottom of the bowl over everything.
Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad
This colorful, full-flavored salad is finished with a black olive dressing, made with Niçoise olives, capers, anchovy and garlic, and similar to a Provençal tapenade. For the best result, choose the smallest green beans and sweetest cherry tomatoes. Add arugula or other salad greens just before serving, if you wish.
Whitefish Salad
Whitefish salads are most often drenched in mayonnaise, masking the distinctive smoky, salty flavor of the fish and covering up the crispy celery and onion. In this lighter, fresher salad, included in my new cookbook, “My Life in Recipes” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024), the celery adds a tiny bit of texture while the herbs complement without overpowering. A minimal amount of mayonnaise adds silkiness as freshly squeezed lemon juice brightens, letting the fish dominate. The only tricky part is to make sure you remove all the bones. Serve this whitefish salad as a dip; a spread for matzo, bread or bagels; or as a topping on leafy greens, cucumber rounds or endive spears.
Taverna Salad
This colorful, meal-of-a-salad from Lidey Heuck’s cookbook, “Cooking in Real Life” (S&S/Simon Element, 2024), is inspired by two dishes: classic Greek salad (also known as horiatiki) and fattoush, the Lebanese salad of vegetables and pieces of fried pita. The ingredient list may look long at first, but each ingredient contributes to the harmony of the salad: bell pepper and cucumbers for crunch; shallot, olives and capers for a bit of tang; chopped tomatoes for sweetness. Pan-fried halloumi adds richness and heft, but you can skip the searing process and instead opt for a 6-ounce block of feta, if desired. To save even more time, you can add a large handful of crumbled pita chips instead of making your own.
Chopped Wedge Salad
About three-quarters of the way through eating a wedge salad, the toppings are gone and you’re often left with unseasoned, watery lettuce that you have little interest in finishing. If this sounds familiar, consider messing with tradition by skipping the wedge and chopping all of the ingredients. When the salad’s elements are the same size and tossed together in a bowl, the lettuce is thoroughly dressed, and every bite is an ideal one with a perfect mix of juicy tomatoes, smoky bacon, crunchy lettuce and creamy blue cheese. A chopped wedge salad can be a meal unto itself, or serve it alongside burgers, steak or garlic bread.
Bacon, Egg and Brussels Sprouts Salad
Brussels sprouts star in this hearty riff on a wilted salad, giving it more structure and crunch than one with the usual floppy lettuce or spinach, and an egg on top adds heft, turning a side dish into a light main course. There’s tangy whole-grain mustard in the vinaigrette, too, which contrasts with the richness of the bacon. Serve this with crusty bread for scooping up the savory bacon fat and egg yolk inevitably left on the bottom of the plate.
Roasted Cauliflower and Arugula Salad
In this hearty, colorful salad, cauliflower florets, slivers of red onion and briny capers are coated with spices and roasted until the florets turn soft and sweet, and the onions and capers get browned and crisp. Everything is tossed with tangy-sweet raisins (or your favorite dried fruit), more red onion that’s been quick-pickled in lime juice, a green mound of arugula and parsley leaves. It’s a bright, satisfying salad that works as a substantial side dish or a light main course, either rounded out with crusty bread or served on top of a bed of rice, farro or other grains.
Citrus, Beet and Avocado Salad
This is winter’s caprese: shingled slices of the season’s peak produce dressed simply with olive oil, salt and pepper. The sweet citrus, creamy avocado and earthy beets are really all you need, but trio can serve as a base for salads all year long. Add protein (fresh or tinned seafood, grains, legumes), dairy (burrata, stracciatella, yogurt, feta), more vegetables or fruits (baby greens, chicories, radishes, cucumbers), and flavor boosters like toasted whole spices or nuts, crushed red pepper, herbs, shallots or olives. The beets can be steamed or roasted, or you can purchase them precooked. Any way you make it, this easy-to-assemble salad is a bright, beautiful spot in winter’s shorter, darker days.
Double Celery Salad
This dish employs two kinds of celery: the tender hearts of branch celery and so-called knob celery, also known as celery root or celeriac. It’s a nice salad in winter, for a change of pace. A bed of spicy watercress, arugula or mizuna lends even more of a green hue to this dish.
Waldorf Salad
Crunchy, creamy, sweet and sour, this classic salad has only slightly evolved from the original recipe that was first published in 1896. Oscar Tschirky, the chef at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, developed the recipe using just three ingredients — apples, celery and mayonnaise — and this one closely mirrors that version. Besides the three staples, walnuts and grapes provide additional texture, and a splash of lemon juice brightens up the creamy dressing. Feel free to improvise, adding other crunchy ingredients like chopped raw broccoli, sunflower seeds, raisins or sliced pitted dates. This salad can be made a few hours in advance and stored in the refrigerator before serving. Serve as a side salad, or add cooked chicken to the mix for a satisfying lunch.