Side Salad

Our side salad is a simple recipe you can serve with most main meals. It’s easy, crunchy, fresh, and colorful and goes well with anything.

Toss it with extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, and a pinch of salt, or dress it with our delicious homemade Italian dressing.

Romaine lettuce

Romaine is our lettuce of choice for this simple side salad recipe; however, you can replace it with most other lettuce varieties, including iceberg lettuce, Batavia lettuce, little gems lettuce, butter lettuce, oak leaf lettuce, and frisée or curly endive.

Arugula

Arugula adds a dark-green color, is packed with antioxidants, and adds a mildly spicy and slightly bitter flavor that we love in a salad.

If you don’t like its taste, you can replace it with other non-bitter leaves, such as Lamb’s lettuce, purslane, or watercress.

Radicchio

Radicchio is a slightly bitter, red and white Italian type of lettuce. It’s one of our favorites; however, if you don’t like its somewhat bitter taste, you can leave it out.

Tomatoes

Any tomatoes will do, as long as they are not overripe. Our favorites are cherry tomatoes and San Marzano Tomatoes (but those are hard to find).

Carrot

A freshly grated carrot adds sweetness, color, and crunch.

Celery

Celery adds loads of crunch, and we love it in a salad. But, of course, you can replace it with radishes or thinly sliced fennel.

Red Onion

Thinly sliced red onion adds sharp, tangy notes that elevate the other ingredients. You can substitute it with green onions, spring onions, or shallots.

Olive Oil

Extra virgin olive oil is our dressing of choice for this side salad. Try to go for a good quality one if you can. If you want a more elaborated dressing, try our homemade Italian dressing.

Vinegar

Balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, and apple cider vinegar are all excellent options.

Salt

Add a pinch of salt to bring out the flavors of the veggies.

Rinse and dry the veggies. Then, to a large mixing bowl, add chopped romaine lettuce, radicchio, arugula, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped celery, grated carrot, and thinly sliced red onion.

Season with extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Toss the salad well before serving it as a side dish to most mains.

This recipe is the perfect base salad upon which you can build with add-ins and dressings. For example:

Creamy Tofu Salad

You can add avocado, corn, cucumber, and fried tofu and dress it with a tahini sauce and lemon juice to turn it into a nutritious tofu salad.

Italian Salad

Add homemade croutons, Italian vinaigrette, olives, black pepper, and pepperoncini to transform into a tasty American-Style Italian salad.

Vegetarian Salad

We like to keep most of our salads vegan, especially if we serve them as a side dish; however, if you are vegetarian, you can add a type of cheese (choose from feta cheese, blue cheese, or gorgonzola), walnuts, and sliced pears or dried cranberries.

An easy side salad pairs with literally any main dish. If you’re looking for salads you can eat as a main meal, see these vibrant favorites:

• Rice salad with aromatic veggies and herbs
• Eggplant salad with healthy plant-based protein
• Tomato and cucumber salad with red onion
• Chickpea salad ready in just 20 minutes
• Couscous with pan-fried vegetables
• Quinoa chickpea salad with fresh veggies
• Fennel and orange salad with pomegranate seeds
• Raw zucchini salad with pine nuts

Or take your pick from our 25 best vegan salad recipes, including cabbage slaw, grain bowls, and raw veggie salads.