Wedge Salad Recipe (6 Ingredients!) - Wholesome Yum (2024)

Wedge Salad Recipe (6 Ingredients!) - Wholesome Yum (1)

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Table Of Contents hide

  • What Is A Wedge Salad?
  • Why You’ll Love This Wedge Salad Recipe
  • How To Cut A Wedge Salad
  • How To Make A Wedge Salad
  • Storage Instructions
  • What To Serve With Iceberg Wedge Salad
  • More Creamy Salad Recipes
  • Recommended Tools
  • Wedge Salad Recipe (6 Ingredients!)

You don’t have to go to a fancy steakhouse to enjoy a classic wedge salad recipe! I’ll show you how to make one at home — it’s quick and easy. With crunchy iceberg lettuce, sweet tomatoes, salty bacon, and creamy blue cheese dressing, it’s the perfect accompaniment to so many meals… especially afilet mignonorsirloin steak.

What Is A Wedge Salad?

Wedge salad recipes are a type of salad made by chopping lettuce into wedges and piling other ingredients on top — typically bacon, tomatoes, blue cheese, and onions. It is often served with a creamy dressing, such as blue cheese or buttermilk ranch dressing, and eaten with a fork and knife.

Why You’ll Love This Wedge Salad Recipe

  • Crunchy lettuce, sweet tomatoes, and crispy bacon
  • Tangy, creamy blue cheese dressing
  • 6 simple ingredients
  • 10 minutes from start to finish
  • Naturally healthy, low carb, and gluten-free side dish
Wedge Salad Recipe (6 Ingredients!) - Wholesome Yum (2)

Ingredients & Substitutions

This section explains how to choose the best wedge salad ingredients, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.

  • Iceberg Lettuce – With its layered texture and tight leaves, iceberg lettuce gives this salad the perfect crunchy bite. You could combine the same flavors with other types of lettuce, such as romaine, but most other varieties won’t hold together in a wedge shape.
  • Cooked Bacon– For the bacon crumbles, I recommend fresh cooked bacon. You can cook bacon in the oven, in the microwave, or in the air fryer. But, you could use pre-cooked bacon bits for convenience (about 8 tablespoons).
  • Tomatoes– I used grape tomatoes, but cherry tomatoes would also work, or dice larger tomatoes if that’s what you have. If you want an extra dose of veggies, you can add some diced cucumbers or avocados, too.
  • Onions – Because of their bright color and crispy texture, I used diced red onions. You could substitute a different onion if you prefer, or try sliced chives.
  • Crumbled Blue Cheese – Delivers a signature sharp, creamy, peppery taste that contrasts perfectly with the crisp and sweet vegetables.
  • Blue Cheese Dressing – Before you reach for the bottled blue cheese dressing, let me tell you how easy it is to make it yourself: Stir together mayonnaise, sour cream, blue cheese crumbles, lemon juice (or vinegar), milk of your choice, sea salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. That’s it! Get the full homemade blue cheese dressing recipe herewith ingredient amounts. It’s so much better than store-bought, but store-bought does work if you prefer.
  • Black Pepper – Although optional, I highly recommend fresh cracked pepper to balance the creamy flavors in the dressing.

Wedge Salad Recipe (6 Ingredients!) - Wholesome Yum (3)

VARIATION: Try a different wedge salad dressing.

Although blue cheese dressing is the classic option for wedge salad, you could try other dressings like homemade ranch, creamy Caesar dressing, or tangy thousand island dressing.

How To Cut A Wedge Salad

  1. Wash and trim. Rinse lettuce in cold water and remove any outer leaves that are wilted or damaged.
  2. Cut into quarters. With the core on the bottom, cut the head of lettuce right in half. Then, cut each half in half to create 4 wedges.
  3. Remove the core. Cut off the hard core from each wedge.
  4. Cut in half again. With the core removed, cut each wedge in half again to make 8 wedges, or 8 servings of lettuce.
Wedge Salad Recipe (6 Ingredients!) - Wholesome Yum (4)

How To Make A Wedge Salad

This section shows how to make a lettuce salad wedge with blue cheese dressing, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.

  1. Arrange the lettuce. Place wedges of iceberg lettuce onindividual plates.
  2. Drizzle on the dressing. Pour blue cheese dressing over each wedge.
  3. Add toppings. Top the blue cheese wedge salad with chopped bacon strips, tomatoes, red onions, and blue cheese crumbles. If desired, sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper.
Wedge Salad Recipe (6 Ingredients!) - Wholesome Yum (5)

Storage Instructions

  • Store: Transfer portions of leftover iceberg wedge salad into airtight containers and store in the fridge for 1-2 days. For optimal crispness, store wedges and dressing separately.
  • Meal prep: It’s best to not compile the salad until you’re ready to eat it. However, you can make the blue cheese dressing, wash and cut the lettuce, cook the bacon, and dice the red onions ahead of time.

What To Serve With Iceberg Wedge Salad

This side just need a main dish. Here are a few reader favorites:

  • Beef – A simple sirloin steak or filet mignon and classic wedge salad make the perfect pair. Add air fryer baked potatoes for a classic steakhouse meal. You can also serve this salad with other steaks, such as ribeye or garlic butter steak bites, or for special occasions, prime rib or roasted beef tenderloin.
  • Seafood – Side salads are a perfect pairing to seafood. Try lemon butter halibut, flaky parmesan salmon, or for a fancier meal, make a lobster tail recipe or cook crab legs.
  • Chicken – Make crispy baked chicken thighs, juicy pan seared chicken breasts, or savory and creamy mushroom chicken. For a light lunch or dinner make buffalo wings.
  • Pork – I love a simple salad with classic baked pork chops, but for even more flavor, try stuffed pork chops instead.
  • Soup – Bring Olive Garden to you with soup, salad, and breadsticks. Try creamy pea soup, chunky zuppa toscana, creamy cauliflower soup, or comforting broccoli and cheese soup.

More Creamy Salad Recipes

With savory meats and creamy dressings, these salads make the perfect healthy side dishes or light mains.

  • Baking Sheet – This is the pan I use to make easy and crispy oven bacon. Once you try this method, you’ll never go back to stovetop!
  • Serving Plates – Show off your recipe forwedge salad on a simple serving platter. And don’t forget to chill them!

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Recipe Card

Wedge Salad Recipe (6 Ingredients!) - Wholesome Yum (11)

5 from 12 votes☝️ Click stars to rate or click here to leave a review!

Wedge Salad Recipe (6 Ingredients!)

Make the best wedge salad recipe in just 10 minutes, with simple ingredients like iceberg lettuce, bacon, tomatoes, onions, and blue cheese.

Prep: 10 minutes

Total: 10 minutes

Author: Maya Krampf from WholesomeYum.com

Servings: 8 (adjust to scale recipe)

Recipe Video

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Ingredients

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Instructions

Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.

  1. Cut the head of iceberg lettuce in half, then in half again to form 4 wedges. Cut the hard core off the bottom of each wedge. Cut each wedge in half again to form 8 total.

  2. Arrange the wedges of iceberg lettuce on serving plates. Pour 3 tablespoons blue cheese dressing over each.

  3. Top each salad with 1 slice chopped cooked bacon, 1/4 cup (32 grams) tomatoes, 1 tbsp (15 grams) red onions, and 2 tbsp (30 grams) blue cheese crumbles. If desired, top with fresh cracked black pepper.

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Recipe Notes

Serving size: 1 wedge salad (1/8 entire recipe)

Nutrition Facts

Amount per serving. Serving size in recipe notes above.

Calories415

Fat38g

Protein12.9g

Total Carbs6.8g

Net Carbs3.9g

Fiber2.9g

Sugar4.4g

Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.

Course:Salad

Cuisine:American

Keywords:iceberg wedge salad, wedge salad, wedge salad recipe

Calories: 415 kcal

© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂

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FAQs

What makes a wedge salad so good? ›

In addition to its appealing mix of cooling and creamy elements, one of the hallmarks of a wedge salad is its total simplicity—overcomplicating it in an attempt to make a version that stands out from the crowd flies in the face of what this salad should be, which is dead easy.

Do you wash lettuce for wedge salad? ›

TIPS: Separate the lettuce wedges to clean them thoroughly then re-stack the to assemble your salad. Sand and bugs (ick) are often nestled between the leaves. Pat lettuce dry after rinsing.

What to serve with a wedge salad? ›

Wedge Salads as Sides - A traditional wedge salad with ranch dressing is always a welcome side to grilled steaks and roasted poultry. Dress up wedge salads for your best seafood dishes with a bright lemon vinaigrette.

How do restaurants get their salads so crisp? ›

The Keys to Crisp Lettuce

Lettuce actually needs a good amount of airflow, in addition to a bit of moisture (but not too much!), in order to stay crisp. That's why restaurants store their lettuce in special perforated bins that allow for air circulation while it's held in the fridge.

Why are wedge salads more expensive? ›

The surrounding ingredients of a wedge salad are very expensive,” says Couper. “We typically use two types of blue cheese that are not inexpensive. Plus, we use hand-cut Nueske's bacon that we fry to order, and that's not cheap.” You can find picture-perfect versions of the wedge at Kinzie Chophouse (400 N.

Do you wash lettuce before or after cutting? ›

Should You Cut Up the Lettuce Before Washing? We recommend washing and drying the lettuce before cutting up the entire head. If you cut up the lettuce while the head is still dirty, you end up spreading the grit around. Cutting the leaves also causes the lettuce to oxidize more quickly.

What is the proper way to eat a wedge salad? ›

While the fork secures the “wedge”, use the knife in your other hand to cut off one bite-size piece of salad from the tip of the wedge nearest you on the plate. (It's fine to turn the plate so one point of the salad wedge is near you to begin with.) Only cut one bite at a time. Why?

How long to soak lettuce to crisp? ›

Bringing lettuce back to life

If your lettuce has wilted, this tip will help to revive it: Simply soak the lettuce in ice water for 15 minutes (or up to an hour, depending on how wilted your lettuce is), and its crispness will be restored.

How do I make my lettuce crispy? ›

Soak your leafy greens in ice-cold water, they say. It'll make them plump and crisp, they say.

What is so special about a wedge salad? ›

The wedge salad offers a cool, crisp dish that's appreciated by steak lovers and vegetarians. Restaurant chefs craft signature salads for their dining rooms. Home chefs keep fresh lettuce in the fridge for building healthy family meals around crisp wedges.

How do you cut a head of lettuce for a wedge salad? ›

Use a long knife to cut the lettuce in half top to bottom, through the stem end. Cut each half into 2-3 wedges (3 for a large head of lettuce, or 2 for small). Gently rinse each wedge of lettuce, letting the water run between the layers of lettuce to rinse them out.

What pairs well with wedges? ›

15 Sides to Serve With Potato Wedges
  • 1.Easy Honey, Mustard & Rosemary Chicken (1 Pan)
  • 2.Restaurant-Style Pan-Seared Salmon.
  • 3.Vegetarian Bean Chili.
  • 4.BBQ Pulled Pork.
  • 5.Lamb Roast.
  • 6.Stuffed Bell Peppers.
  • 7.Caesar Salad with Grilled Shrimp.
  • 8.Bangers & Mash (Sausage with Onion Gravy)
Dec 17, 2023

What makes a salad more delicious? ›

Season the greens & vegetables

This also creates layers of flavor, giving your salad depth. Another way to add layers is by adding prepared ingredients to your salad like pickles, marinated or grilled veggies, or anything brined, like olives or capers.

Why do people eat wedge salad? ›

Thanks to the cool crunchiness of the iceberg lettuce and the rich pungency of the blue cheese element, wedge salads became the popular thing to serve with a nice, juicy steak. As a result, many people still associate wedge salads with the era of 1970s steakhouses, even thinking of the dish as a steakhouse wedge salad.

What are the three keys to a quality salad? ›

The three keys to ensuring a quality salad are:
  • freshness of ingredients.
  • the ingredients blend together in harmony.
  • appealing to the eye.

What are the qualities of a well made salad? ›

Use good fresh ingredients. mix a range of different ingredients such as leafy, crunchy, sweet, sharp, fresh and pickled. Make a crisp clean dressing that is not too heavy and do not overdress the salad. Use just enough dressing to lightly coat the salad but with non pooled in the bottom of the bowl.

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