Our Favorite Everyday Salad Recipe (2024)

This is our favorite (and quickest!) go-to Everyday Salad Recipe, complete with mixed greens, a few veggies, and a tasty but simple vinaigrette.

Try some of our other delicious veggie salads like this Garden Salad,Caesar Salad,Italian Salad, orOlive Garden Salad.

This Everyday Salad recipe is part of our Back-To-School Lifesavers — a series of recipes that are intended to have little (or no) veggie chopping, minimal prep time, around 10 ingredients, or less (not including pantry staples), and use kid-friendly ingredients. Click here to see all the recipes in the series!

A Quick Everyday Salad Recipe

It’s no secret we love salads (Have you seen our vast collection?!), but some salad recipes are definitely more involved than others. So today I’m sharing the salad I make the most often — it is easy to throw together, has the quickest vinaigrette, and is a very forgiving and adaptable recipe.

Pretty much anything you’ve got lingering in your fridge can get added in. You could even just serve lettuce tossed in the vinaigrette to add some greens to dinner plates. This is a recipe to become uniquely yours — exactly how you like it!

We love this recipe in the series because it is my go-to for busy weeknights. The more greens I can get my kids to eat, the better! And sometimes this salad turns into the full dinner — we’ll add some seasoned grilled chicken, fish, steak, or shrimp — delish!

Salad Dressing

The vinaigrette could not be much easier to make! Just throw a few ingredients into a jar with a lid and shake it together!

Not only is making your own dressing more economical, but it also allows you to perfectly control flavors and know exactly what ingredients are in it. (Plus, we think they always taste better!) Here are the simple ingredients in this Everyday Salad’s dressing:

• Dijonmustard. We love Grey Poupon® Dijon best. Make sure to use Dijon, not yellow mustard.
• Oliveoil. We recommendextravirginolive oil for this recipe. Better oil = better flavor.
• Honey. Add less for a tangier dressing, and more for a sweeter one. If you prefer (and want to adhere to Whole-30 guidelines) you can skip it entirely.
• Red Wine Vinegar. This vinegar adds a nice tang and a wonderful bite (slight bitterness) to the salad recipe.
• Salt & pepper. Every dressing needs salt and pepper, and this vinaigrette is no exception. Add to taste preference, remembering that an extra pinch can be the difference between agoodand astellardressing!

Salad Recipe Ingredients

• Spring mix blend: To keep things nice and easy, grab a prepared (washed and chopped) blend of lettuce in the produce section of the store. We love a blend of spring mix and baby spinach best.
• Avocado: A ripe avocado adds a nice creamy element to this salad. If you don’t want to chop an avocado,try this product! The only listed ingredient is mashed Hass avocados (it’s not guacamole, just mashed ripe avocados). Add a spoonful on top of individual salad servings.
• Pepitas: Roasted and crunchy pepitas (pumpkin seeds) make for thebest addition to this easy Everyday Salad! They add a sweet and nutty flavor, similar to sunflower seeds, but a bit sweeter. When purchasing these seeds, make sure they’re roasted and salted (not raw) for loads more flavor. You can generally find them in the bulk section of a grocery store, or with other salad toppings like candied nuts and dried cranberries.
• Red onion: We love the bite this onion adds, but if you aren’t a fan, no problem– just leave it out or replace it with another veggie.
• Cucumbers: We love and highly recommend English or Persian cucumbers (sometimes labeled as mini cucumbers) which have a wonderful texture and superior flavor.

QUICK TIP

If you enjoy red onions, but are sensitive to them, soak the sliced onions in a bowl of cold water for 5-10 minutes. Thoroughly drain and add to the salad.

More Salad Recipes:

• Quinoa Salad Recipewith a basil-lime vinaigrette
• Tuna Nicoise Saladwith a light lemon vinaigrette
• Peach Saladwith the best balsamic vinaigrette
• Cucumber Feta Saladwith couscous
• Chicken Saladwith a creamy poppy seed dressing

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Salad Recipe

5 from 1 vote

- Review this recipe

This is our favorite (and quickest!) go-to Everyday Salad recipe complete with mixed greens, a few veggies, and a tasty but simple vinaigrette.

Print Recipe

Salad Recipe

5 from 1 vote

- Review this recipe

Print Recipe

This is our favorite (and quickest!) go-to Everyday Salad recipe complete with mixed greens, a few veggies, and a tasty but simple vinaigrette.

Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Healthy, Vegetarian

Keyword salad, salad recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -6 as a side

Chelsea Lords

Calories 235kcal

Author Chelsea Lords

Cost $7.12

Ingredients

• ▢ 8 cups (5 oz.) mixed greens/spring mix
• ▢ 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced (~3/4 cup)
• ▢ 1 cup thinly sliced cucumber (Note 1)
• ▢ 1 medium ripe avocado, diced
• ▢ 1/2 cup roasted and salted pepitas (or shelled sunflower seeds) (Note 2)
• ▢ Optional: 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Dressing

• ▢ 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon each: Dijon mustard, honey
• ▢ 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon minced garlic, optional
• ▢ Fine sea salt & pepper

US - Metric

Instructions

• DRESSING: Combine all the dressing ingredients into a jar with a lid. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I add 1/4 tsp of each). Shake well to combine and place in fridge for now, shaking again before dressing salad.

• SALAD: In a large bowl add all the mixed greens and toss gently with about half the dressing until well coated (Read Instruction #3 first). Add red onion, cucumber, avocado, and pepitas. Drizzle on the remaining dressing (or as much as you'd like) and gently toss. If using, top with shaved Parmesan (I just grab a block of Parmesan and grate with my vegetable peeler over the salad). Serve promptly.

• STORAGE: This salad doesn’t sit very well with the dressing -- it wilts the veggies and greens quickly. If you aren’t planning to eat the entire salad in one sitting, toss and add dressing, avocado, and onion to the amount you’ll be eating at this time and storing leftovers separately. Undressed, the salad stays fresh for 1-2 days in the fridge.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Cucumbers: This is about 2 mini cucumbers. We love and highly recommend English or Persian cucumbers (sometimes labeled as mini cucumbers) which have a wonderful texture and superior flavor.

Note 2: Pepitas: Roasted and crunchy pepitas (pumpkin seeds) add a sweet and nutty flavor, similar to sunflower seeds, but a bit sweeter. When purchasing these seeds, make sure they’re roasted and salted (not raw) for loads more flavor. You can generally find them in the bulk section of a grocery store, or with other salad toppings like candied nuts and dried cranberries.

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 235kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 6.2g | Fat: 21.5g | Cholesterol: 2.4mg | Sodium: 96.6mg | Fiber: 4.2g | Sugar: 1.5g

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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