A simple green side salad with romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, dried cranberries, toasted pecans, and a blend of two different delicious dressings! It’s perfectly paired with just about any soup or dinner to round out the meal.
My daughter has always liked foods that most would consider unusual for a young kid – runny eggs, hummus, peas, and salad. She was a champ. My son, while also a fairly great eater, has been a lot harder to convince. Although he loves sushi, so I pretty much give him a pass on everything else.
Several years ago, we’re over at my parent’s house and my mom serves grilled tri-tip, corn, and a side salad. My son grimaced at the lettuce, and politely asked me if he could have fruit instead. I said, “just take a few bites.” Well, he filled up on salad and barely had room for the actual dinner. Leave it to Nana – I swear I thought she put the tears of unicorns in there or something.
This has become my little go-to side salad recipe ever since. And my son never asks me to substitute fruit for it. We all love it so much.
Side Salad Recipe
You only need a short list of ingredients to put this side salad together (scroll down for the detailed printable):
- Romaine lettuce
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Dried cranberries
- Pecan halves
- Caesar dressing
- Balsamic vinaigrette
- Salt and pepper
The two dressings listed is not a mistake! Turns out, my mom had both dressings in the fridge, but only a little bit left in each container. Never one to waste food, she combined the two. And it is delicious! I do a 3 to 1 ratio, but you can try different amounts until the desired flavor is reached.
I prefer the Newman’s Own brand salad dressings, but use whatever brand you prefer, or if you’ve got favorite homemade versions, use those!
How to Make a Simple Side Salad
It’s so easy to make this side dish salad. You simply whisk both dressings together. Toss all the ingredients in a large bowl, coating with half the dressing. Then serve on individual plates and drizzle the remaining dressing over each one. I also like to sprinkle each serving with a pinch of salt and pepper.
How much side salad per person? The general rule of thumb is about 1 1/2 cups or 3 ounces per person.
Don’t let the little goodies get left behind!
Recipe Variations
Over the years, I’ve played with the ingredients a little, while keeping the dressing the same. You can’t go wrong with the original combination or these variations:
- Combine some iceberg lettuce with the romaine.
- Replace the dried cranberries with dried cherries or raisins.
- Swap out the cucumber for apples or pears.
- Use candied pecans instead of regular ones.
- Top with some ripe avocado.
- Toss in some croutons.
What to Serve this Side Salad with
This is truly the best side dish salad that goes with just about anything. We especially love it with skillet steak, roast chicken, Salisbury steak, and Broccoli Cheddar Soup to round out the meal. It really goes with a number of soup recipes or beef stew, too!
I hope you love this delicious and simple recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
The Best Side Salad
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Caesar dressing
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette
- 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes , cut in half
- 1 cup cubed cucumber
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup pecan halves
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together both dressings until fully combined.
- In a large bowl toss the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, cranberries, pecans, and 1/2 of the dressing mixture.
- Divide among individual plates; drizzle with the remaining dressing and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Notes
Nutrition
Other Notes
This is my new “go to” side salad! The dressing combination is dee-lish!! Since my husband does not care for cucumbers, I substituted red onion. Loved it!
So happy to hear it!
Thanks for the credit! So glad your readers like it as much as we do
since it never fails to please. I also add chopped apple or pear.
What an awesome idea mixing two dressings together. Love this recipe and so many others on your site. Thanks for sharing.
This was wonderful – my picky eaters ate it up, too!
Oh my gosh we loved this combo – never would have thought to mix those dressings. All around delicious salad!