Classic House Salad

A great house salad can be so many things from a side salad to a dinner salad. Just use fresh ingredients and make your own dressing to take this often overlooked salad to the next level. This recipe has romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots and more tossed with homemade croutons and red wine vinaigrette. This is the kind of all-purpose salad that goes with countless meals. 

If you’re looking for another versatile way to do greens, try this arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This is such a fantastic house salad. I know it’s not the kind of salad that usually drums up that much excitement, but when you make it in your kitchen, you have full control to pick the best ingredients and whip up homemade vinaigrette and croutons too. You can make it memorable.

We all can use a go-with-everything salad. Just because it’s served as a side dish, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be as tasty as the main. With a little effort, this salad can really enhance the entire meal.

It’s easy to customize. You own the house, right? Start with this basic salad recipe and make your own tweaks and changes. That can be motivated by dietary preferences or not wanting certain ingredients you have around to go to waste.

What is a House Salad?

A restaurant menu staple, a house salad starts with greens. They can be romaine, iceberg or a spring mix. Then there are other ingredients mixed in like tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage and carrots. You often have the option of ordering it as a side salad or an entree salad with the addition of a proteins like chicken, shrimp or salmon to turn it into a main dish. 

Ingredients & Substitutions

This is what you need:

For the salad:

• Lettuce: The recipe call for 3 romaine hearts, which is the inner section of a head of romaine. These leaves have a juicy, crisp stem that gives the salad structure and texture.
• Tomatoes: You can use either cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes. Just slice them in half. I prefer small tomatoes because they keep their shape when you toss them in the salad. If you chop larger tomatoes, they are juicier, and you don’t want a soggy salad.
• Cucumbers: I like English cucumbers because the skin is more delicate, and they have less seeds than regular cucumbers.
• Carrots: It’s easiest to buy a bag of shredded carrots, but you can cut the carrots yourself with a box grater or with the shredding disk on your food processor.
• Cabbage: Just like the carrots, it’s easiest to get a bag of shredded red cabbage.
• Onions: I thinly slice a red onion with a sharp knife or a mandolin. Scallions would be another good option for mild onion flavor.
• Sunflower seeds give the salad some salty crunch. You can substitute with chopped walnuts, almonds, pecans or even pistachios.
• Parmesan, finely grated, is fantastic in the salad, but again, you can make a swap. Try grated cheddar cheese, crumbled feta or goat cheese.
• Parsley: I finish the salad with chopped fresh herbs.

For the croutons:

• Bread with a nice crust works best. Avoid soft sandwich bread. A rustic country bread or sourdough are both good. Cut it into 1-inch cubes. 
• Olive oil, salt & pepper are what help the bread toast and brown in the oven, and they season the croutons.

For the vinaigrette:

• Garlic: The dressing calls for 1 minced garlic clove.
• Mustard helps the vinegar and oil emulsify, and it adds flavor.
• Honey adds a touch of sweetness to balance out the lemon juice and vinegar.
• Oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper season the dressing.
• Red wine vinegar has a more mild taste than something like balsamic. It adds a nice amount of sharpness while harmonizing with the rest of the ingredients. You can substitute with white wine vinegar.
• Lemon juice: Always use fresh lemon juice and never bottled.
• Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil has the best flavor for vinaigrettes. 

Optional Additions

The following are suggestions for how to customize your salad:

• Beans: Try white beans like cannellini or navy beans.
• Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, make the salad more filling.
• Olives, pitted, add a nice briny and salty accent.
• Hard-boiled eggs: Either dice them and toss them in or slice the eggs and arrange those slices on top of the dressed salad.
• Avocado: Dice a ripe avocado to give the salad something creamy and rich.
• Vegetables (raw or roasted): This salad is a great way to use up random quantities of veggies that aren’t enough quite for another recipe. Try broccoli, bell peppers, cauliflower, corn or sweet potatoes.
• Couscous, quinoa, farro or barley: You can add cooked grains to the salad.
• Protein: For the non-vegetarians, this is a way to make this an entree salad with roasted or grilled chicken, salmon, shrimp or even steak.

How To Make This House Salad Recipe

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

1. Toss the bread cubes with oil, salt and pepper and spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet.

2. Toast the bread in the oven until it turns into golden brown, crunchy croutons. This will take about 17-20 minutes, flipping them over halfway through toasting.

3. Make the vinaigrette. Whisk the whisk together the garlic, mustard, honey, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice and oil in a small bowl.

4. Combine the salad ingredients in a big bowl. That includes the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onions, cabbage, parmesan, sunflower seeds and parsley.

5. Drizzle the dressing into the salad. Toss to combine.

Serving

As mentioned, this is the type of salad that is a reliable side to go with recipes such as sun-dried tomato pasta, sheet pan gnocchi and vegetables or baked kale risotto. If you like a soup and salad combo, try it with chickpea soup, pasta e fagioli or even three bean chili.

Leftovers, Storage & Make-Ahead Tips

You can store the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days. It’s best if you plan ahead and not toss the entire salad in the vinaigrette if you know you’re planning to save some of it. Then it won’t get soggy. Keep the dressing in a mason jar in the fridge.

Keep the croutons in a separate airtight container at room temperature. I recommend fishing them out of the salad if you have tossed them in the greens. The croutons will soften if they are in the fridge with the salad.

You can make the vinaigrette up to 2 days in advance. When you take it out of the refrigerator, give it 15 minutes at room temperature and then stir it. This allows the oil to liquify again assuming it hardens in the chill of the fridge.

More Easy Salad Recipes

Mediterranean Bean Salad
Apple Cabbage Salad
Kale Sweet Potato Salad
Classic Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing
Mexican Chopped Salad
Roasted Cauliflower Salad