Our Best Green Salad Recipes for When You Want Something Fresh, Crisp, and Truly Satisfying

Overhead view of puntarelle salad on a colorful stripped background — Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

For many, green salads are a thrown-together afterthought... and that's fine! No judgment! We've all been there. Perhaps you've expended most of your energy getting a laborious main course together, or maybe you just don't have enough time to begin with. Our advice? When in doubt, stick with the basics—maybe keep a nice, citrusy vinaigrette around for last-minute scenarios—but if you have the bandwidth, try branching out.

There are many incremental improvements you can make to up your salad game, like sourcing several kinds of fresh, crisp greens and fragrant herbs, whipping up a rich, creamy dressing, or baking off a sheet pan of sourdough anchovy croutons. Try mixing and matching to your heart's content or, for a more intentional approach, try one of these green salad recipes.

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Roman-Inspired Mixed-Green Salad (Misticanza alla Romana)

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Ditch the sad tubs of spring mix and make your own medley with the freshest stuff you can find: whole heads of lettuce, radicchio, herbs, dandelion greens, and more.

Roman-Inspired Mixed-Green Salad (Misticanza alla Romana)
The Best Caesar Salad

Serious Eats / Diana Chistruga

Our take on this classic salad starts with romaine hearts, separated into whole leaves and a creamy dressing, seasoned with anchovy and Worcestershire. Perfectly seasoned croutons, which are tossed with garlic-infused olive oil before being baked, bring the whole dish together. If the romaine in the produce aisle isn't looking so great, check out Kenji's recipe for kale Caesar.

The Best Caesar Salad
Warm Kale and Caramelized Mushroom Salad

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

This recipe starts by sautéing mushrooms over high heat and then finishing them with butter, shallot, and sherry. The heat of the mushrooms wilts and softens the greens slightly while offering a rich, earthy contrast to the bright, peppery kale and zingy dressing.

Warm Kale and Caramelized Mushroom Salad
Tofu and Kale Salad With Avocado, Grapefruit, and Miso-Tahini Dressing

Serious Eats / Victor Protasio

The combination of crispy tofu, creamy avocado, and fresh grapefruit gives this salad great texture and flavor contrast. The nutty miso dressing and tangy, herbal za'atar round out the flavors perfectly.

Tofu and Kale Salad With Avocado, Grapefruit, and Miso-Tahini Dressing

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Green Salad With Tomatoes, Scallions, and Toasted Kasha

Serious Eats/ Vicky Wasik

This simple salad gets a boost from crispy toasted buckwheat, which adds an unexpected aromatic element and a crunchy pop.

Green Salad With Tomatoes, Scallions, and Toasted Kasha
Fully Loaded Iceberg Wedge Salad

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Sure, this awesome combination of iceberg, bacon bits, diced tomato, and blue cheese dressing is a "salad," but it's hard not to think that someone, somewhere made a categorization error. The savory intensity of the toppings also makes the wedge a delicious outlier in the salad universe.

The Fully Loaded Iceberg Wedge Salad
Puntarelle Alla Romana (Puntarelle Salad With Anchovy and Garlic Dressing)

Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

In this classic Roman dish, crisp, juicy shreds of puntarelle are tossed with a potent anchovy- and garlic-heavy dressing.

Puntarelle Alla Romana Recipe (Puntarelle Salad With Anchovy and Garlic Dressing)
Kale Salad With Oven-Dried Grapes, Toasted Walnuts, and Blue Cheese

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Blue cheese, dried fruit, and nuts are a classic combination of flavors, but plump, juicy oven-dried grapes make this salad truly extraordinary.

Kale Salad With Oven-Dried Grapes, Toasted Walnuts, and Blue Cheese

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Tabbouleh Salad

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Tabbouleh is a delicious combination of chopped parsley, mint, scallions tomatoes, bulgur wheat, olive oil, and lemon juice. Some of you may be thinking this is not a "green salad," but the vibes (and the color) say other wise.

The Best Tabbouleh Salad
Chinese Spinach and Peanut Salad

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Like many Chinese salads, this recipe features lightly cooked vegetables. The spinach is blanched ever so briefly, and then wrung out. The result is a flavorful and vibrantly colored spinach salad, studded with rich, crunchy fried peanuts and tossed with a garlicky and tart dressing.

Chinese Spinach and Peanut Salad
Spring Vegetable and Arugula Salad With Labne and Cucumbers

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Kenj's ode to spring produce is lightly dressed with a mustardy vinaigrette, studded with fresh mozzarella, and served atop a spoonful of labne that's been spread on each plate and drizzled with olive oil.

Spring Vegetable and Arugula Salad With Labne and Cucumbers
The Un-Composed (i.e., Best) Niçoise Salad

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

This "homestyle" Niçoise is a perfect summer green salad entrée. As with the spring vegetable number above, this recipe is rather light on salad greens, but torn basil leaves and crisp-tender haricots verts pick up the slack.

The Un-Composed (i.e., Best) Niçoise Salad

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Our Best Green Salad Recipes for When You Want Something Fresh, Crisp, and Truly Satisfying

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