Salads

Bright, seasonal recipes that go beyond simple greens—crisp lettuces, hearty grains, roasted vegetables, fresh herbs and bold dressings that turn salads into satisfying meals or elegant sides. Expect quick weeknight bowls, composed plates for entertaining, and practical tips for balancing texture, flavor and acidity.

Stone Fruit Caprese

By Ali Slagle

A standout caprese starts with great fruit. You need ripe tomatoes to weep juices, which then mingle with grassy olive oil and milky cheese to make your dressing. Basil adds freshness, black pepper and flakes of sea salt add crunch, and that’s it, a perfect combination. But if the stone fruit options are looking better than the tomatoes at the market, you can use them instead. They’re similar in flavor to tomatoes, but need cajoling to relinquish their juices. By letting sliced fruit macerate with salt, sugar and lemon juice, their fruitiness becomes more electric and their juices pool on the plate. Start with fruit you can smell and pair it with equally quality ingredients. Caprese is more about shopping than cooking.

20 min

Taco Salad

By Sohla El-Waylly

This Mexican American classic has roots at Disneyland. Charles Elmer Doolin, a cofounder of the Frito Company, created an edible cup out of Fritos and served it at his Disneyland restaurant, Casa de Fritos, in 1955. It was the size of a teacup, filled with ground beef, beans and sour cream, and called the Ta-Cup (a portmanteau of taco and cup). The creation was a hit, with recipes for taco salad made with various corn chips proliferating in the ’60s, becoming a staple in school cafeterias, and eventually growing into the jumbo version added to the Taco Bell menu in 1984. (The menu item was retired in 2020.) You can use any corn chip for this recipe, and there’s no need for it to be in cup form, but opt for Fritos, if you want that authentic taste.

35 min

Fennel & Cactus Salad

By Lubna ALRefai | Dietitian

A light, crunchy salad of shredded fennel, cucumber, radish and cleaned prickly pear cactus dressed with lemon, olive oil and dried mint. Refreshing and low-calorie—anise‑scented fennel adds satisfying crunch and flavor, making this a great diet-friendly side or light meal.

10 min

Cauliflower Salad with Yogurt Sauce and Pomegranate

By Reem Kassis

Get the recipe for this best-ever Cauliflower Salad with Yogurt Sauce and Pomegranate on Food & Wine.

35 min

Greek Salad

By Lidey Heuck

While diner-style Greek salads made with chopped romaine, crumbled feta and often grilled chicken have become ubiquitous in American restaurants, a traditional Greek salad, or horiatiki salata, is a simpler affair. An assembled salad of large-diced vegetables with Kalamata olives and sometimes capers, this salad has no greens at all, and the feta is served sliced on top of the salad rather than crumbled and tossed into it. A traditional Greek salad dressing usually consists of olive oil and red wine vinegar; this recipe adds garlic and oregano. To make the salad into a satisfying vegetarian main course, throw in a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas.

15 min

Lemon Turmeric Chicken Salad

By Zaynab Issa

Afghan murgh kebab (chicken kebab) and white sauce is a classic combination — the tangy, earthy sauce complements the turmeric-stained grilled chicken. Here, the two inspire a creamy, lemony chicken salad. Traditionally, Afghan white sauce is made with mayonnaise, milk, dried dill, vinegar and often MSG. A bit of Greek yogurt balances the richness of the mayo while maintaining a texture sturdy enough for a pita pocket. Fresh dill, sugar, salt and vinegar pay homage to the original seasonings, while the lemon zest, turmeric and garlic draw from the traditional murgh kebab marinade.

25 min

Feta-Ranch Wedge Salad

By Alexa Weibel

A towering wedge salad is fun to look at, but the height and shape make it impractical for a couple reasons: Toppings tumble right off and dressings can’t permeate it properly. This recipe fixes all that by calling for thinly sliced wedges that are stacked on their sides. The toppings stay put, and the dressing can work its way into all the little nooks and crannies. This salad looks impressive, it tastes delicious and it’s actually quite no-fuss: You can make the dressing days ahead of time, and swap in whatever herbs, spices, seasonings you have and crave. The only tricky aspect is emulsifying your feta. The key is time: Scrape the sides as needed and keep blending. With some coaxing, it always gets there.

30 min

Tomatoes with Herbs and Almond Vinaigrette

By Dan Kluger

Juicy tomatoes are topped with fresh herbs and a nutty almond vinaigrette for a bright, elegant salad that’s simple enough for weeknights yet worthy of entertaining.

45 min

Cold Tofu Salad With Tomatoes and Peaches

By Hana Asbrink

Sweet, savory and refreshing for summer’s hottest days, this is the salad to make when tomatoes and peaches are at their prime, on the verge of bursting. Inspired by Italian caprese salad and Japanese hiyayakko, it features juicy, ripe wedges of peaches and tomatoes seasoned with flaky salt, which draws out their juices to mingle with soy-balsamic dressing and creamy silken tofu. Top the salad with a shower of fragrant basil and mint, a nod to the shiso that often accompanies hiyayakko, and a few cranks of black pepper. Be sure to spoon the umami-rich dressing (the best part!) over the tomatoes, peaches and tofu so that it pools at the bottom of the serving platter. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.

20 min

Horiatiki (Greek Salad) Recipe

By Daniel Gritzer

A good Greek salad must be made with peak summer tomatoes, crisp and refreshing cucumbers, briny black olives, and just a bit of onion, here quickly pickled to tame its pungency and add pops of acidity to each slice. Then the ultimate topper: slabs of feta.

20 min

Steak Salad With Feta Dressing

By Kendra Vaculin

A combination of juicy steak, crunchy lettuce, and a creamy, feta-based blender dressing comes together for an easy summer dinner.

Classic Caprese Salad

By Melissa Clark

This classic summer dish doesn’t get any simpler or more delicious. Use different-colored heirloom tomatoes for the prettiest salad, and buffalo milk mozzarella for the best tasting one.

15 min