Bring your favorite restaurant starter home with this Easy House Salad! It's loaded with fresh vegetables, crunchy croutons, a sprinkle of cheese, and crumbled bacon bits! Simply toss everything together and serve with your favorite dressing for a great side dish that's the perfect accompaniment for easy weeknight dinners!
Make your own homemade dressing and drizzle on top of this salad with this creamy balsamic recipe!
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Anyone think it's pretty funny how a house salad is mostly eaten at restaurants? Well I say we bring the house salad home and make it in our own kitchens like the name suggests! There's no need to go to Outback or Red Lobster when you can make this American House Salad with just a few basic ingredients in the comfort of your own home.
The basis of this salad is a nice mix of romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and red onions, and croutons. I also like to add a nice helping of shredded cheddar cheese and bacon bits with a big drizzle of my favorite creamy balsamic dressing.
Whether you're looking for the perfect accompaniment to a soup or sandwich or want a large bowl of greens for lunch - this simple house salad is great as a main course but also the perfect side salad for any meal. It's great for meal prep if you're making salad ahead of time.
House Salad Ingredients
Feel free to customize this salad to your liking! The simple ingredients used make it easy to customize to your liking, just like my Greek Salad Recipe. Here's what you'll need:
- Leafy Greens - I used fresh romaine lettuce, it's a crisp lettuce that's loaded with nutrients! You can also use iceberg or butter lettuce, spring mix, or a spinach.
- Grape Tomatoes - depending on the time of year, I like to use cherry tomatoes too! Especially here in Maryland when tomatoes are in season in the summer months. If using larger tomatoes, be sure to slice into wedges or slice thinly.
- Shredded Carrots - I bought the pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store for a quick and easy prep. You can also use full size carrots and julienne the carrots into matchsticks.
- Red onion - slice these thinly to prevent getting large chunks of onions in your salad. For a sweeter tasting onion, try using shallots instead!
- Cucumber - one of my favorite ingredients in a healthy side salad are cucumbers! They're juicy and have a nice crunch. Use fresh cucumbers for the best crunch and flavor!
- Croutons - the garlic and butter croutons are my favorite!
Optional Toppings
Dress up this basic salad recipe with some fun additions on top! Here are a few suggestions:
- Sunflower Seeds
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Bacon Bits
- Shredded Cheese
- Sliced Bell Pepper
- Avocado
Pro Tips
- Do not use pre-shredded cheese. If you're using cheese, shred block cheese with a grater for the best flavor!
- Wash your veggies! Before assembling the salad, be sure to rinse your vegetables thoroughly. Pat dry or drain off as much of the water as possible to prevent the salad from getting soggy.
- Rinse veggies with cold water to keep them nice and crisp!
How to make a House Salad
- Start by washing all of your vegetables and draining off as much water as possible.
- Roughly chop lettuce and add to a large bowl.
- Slice cucumbers and red onions and toss together in the salad. Top with grape tomatoes, shredded carrots, and croutons.
- If using shredded cheese and bacon bits, add those on top along with any additional toppings.
Variations
- Add proteins! If you have any cut up chicken breasts or a rotisserie chicken, add on top of this salad. Sliced steak, salmon, and tofu are also a great way to add some protein to your salad.
- Top with nuts! I love a good crunch on top of my salad. You can add candied pecans, walnuts, crushed peanuts, even cashews or pistachios to add some extra pizzazz to your salad.
- Get creative with dressings! I love honey mustard dressing, caesar salad dressing, and poppyseed dressing. Sometimes I just mix together a little fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Use your favorite salad dressing.
- Add your favorite fruits and veggies! Blueberries, strawberries, mandarin orange slices, corn, avocadoes, and apples are all amazing toppings that really liven up this simple salad, just to name a few.
- Gluten-Free option: use gluten free croutons and a gluten free dressing.
- Vegetarian option: omit the bacon bits!
What to serve with a House Salad
A house salad is great to serve alongside any weeknight meal. My favorites are Pepper Steak, Lemon Garlic Pasta, Salisbury Steak, and Mississippi Pot Roast. This is also great with Smoked Chicken Thighs and Creamy Mushroom Chicken!
If you're serving a crowd, double up the ingredients and serve with a Seafood Boil! Dont forget the Garlic Bead!
Storing Leftovers and Make Ahead Instructions
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 2 days for the best results. Be sure to store without the salad dressing to prevent the salad from becoming soggy.
- Make Ahead: make this salad about 1-2 days in advance by prepping all of the ingredients and storing in ziploc bags or airtight containers. Keep the croutons, cheese, and cucumbers separate from the other ingredients so that they don't become soft.
Recipe FAQs
The restaurant/establishment is often referred to as "the house", making the house salad the restaurant's own rendition of a basic starter salad that's typically low in cost or free.
House salad tends to have more ingredients than a traditional Caesar salad. House salad has lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, and croutons while Caesar salad typically only has lettuce, parmesan cheese, croutons, and Caesar dressing.
Yes! A house salad is a great option if you're looking for a nutrient packed meal.
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House Salad
Equipment
- 1 Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 6 cups Romaine Lettuce or Leafy Green of choice about 2 heads of lettuce (chopped)
- ½ Red Onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 Slicing Cucumber (sliced)
- 1 cup Grape Tomatoes
- ½ cup Shredded Carrots
- 1 ½ cups Croutons (more or less as desired)
- ½ cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (optional)
- ½ cup Bacon Bits (optional)
Directions
- Start by washing all of your vegetables and draining off as much water as possible.
- Roughly chop lettuce and add to a large bowl. Slice cucumbers and red onions and toss together in the salad. Top with grape tomatoes, shredded carrots, and croutons.
- If using shredded cheese and bacon bits, add those on top along with any additional toppings.
Notes
-
- Do not use pre-shredded cheese. If you're using cheese, shred block cheese with a grater for the best flavor!
-
- Wash your veggies! Before assembling the salad, be sure to rinse your vegetables thoroughly. Pat dry or drain off as much of the water as possible to prevent the salad from getting soggy.
-
- Rinse veggies with cold water to keep them nice and crisp!
- Add proteins! If you have any cut up chicken breasts or a rotisserie chicken, add on top of this salad. Sliced steak, salmon, and tofu are also a great way to add some protein to your salad.
- Top with nuts! I love a good crunch on top of my salad. You can add candied pecans, walnuts, crushed peanuts, even cashews or pistachios to add some extra pizzazz to your salad.
- Get creative with dressings! I love honey mustard dressing, caesar salad dressing, and poppyseed dressing. Sometimes I just mix together a little fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Use your favorite salad dressing.
- Add your favorite fruits and veggies! Blueberries, strawberries, mandarin orange slices, corn, avocadoes, and apples are all amazing toppings that really liven up this simple salad, just to name a few.
- Gluten-Free option: use gluten free croutons and a gluten free dressing.
- Vegetarian option: omit the bacon bits!
Clean eating, simple to make, very fresh and tasty. I added shrimp and Mandarin orange! Very colorful and delicious