How to Make a Basic Tossed Salad

Nothing says it’s dinner time better than a big old tossed salad in the middle of the table! We LOVE tossed salads and all the lovely additions to make them not only healthy but super tasty. If you love starting dinner with a tossed salad, read on to find out how to make the best tossed salad ever!

Learn How to Make a Tossed Salad.

Easy Tossed Salad Recipe for Dinner

Steps on How to Make a Yummy Tossed Salad for Lunch or Dinner –

We have probably eaten a million tossed salads in our lives, but our favorite is still the basic salad! Well maybe not a million, but we bet that’s a pretty close number!

What’s a great way to add more nutrition to a meal? Serve the meal with a tossed salad! A green lettuce salad can bump up the nutritional value of your meal without adding a lot of fat or calories.

What makes the best tossed salad?

Fresh ingredients makes for the perfect dinner salad –

Fresh Lettuce (a blend of different varieties)
Fresh Vegetables
Fresh Picked Tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
Favorite Crumbled Cheese
Handful of Sunflower Seeds or Almonds
Your Favorite Shredded Cheese
Homemade Salad Dressings – Ranch and Italian Dressing

Try adding some dark leafy greens to your salad like chopped up spinach or kale. Dark leafy greens are loaded with folate. Folate is a B vitamin that promotes healthy red blood cells.

A tossed salad recipe consists of the same main ingredients.

4 Most Common Types of Salad Lettuce: Butterhead, Iceberg, Leaf, and Romaine.

Lettuce – a good lettuce choice like leafy healthy Romaine or green leaf lettuce. A nice crisp head of iceberg lettuce is great for making a classic wedge salad. Try adding some leafs of red lettuce as well for more of a nutritional boost.
Tomato – a nice ripe tomato of your choice. This can either be slices of a whole tomato or little cherry or plum tomatoes.
Cucumber – slices of fresh peeled cucumber.
Radishes – Radishes are often overlooked but are an important part of a basic salad. We will show you how to cut the radishes so you will enjoy them more.
Celery – Low in fat and high in fiber. Celery will also give you that bit of extra crunch.
Olives – black or green.
Cheese – There are many options here but two of our favorites for a basic tossed salad would be blue cheese crumbles or shredded mozzarella. Go with a nice fresh feta cheese for a lower calorie option.

What About Salad Dressing?

Experiment with different fresh salad dressings by making your own. Remember when using salad dressings – less is best. Salad dressings can add tons of fat so be cautious when using them. Bottled dressings are also a great choice and there are tons of varieties to choose from. From organic dressings to yogurt dressings, you are sure to find one that is a perfect fit for you.

STEP 1 . Wash your lettuce in a colander using a light spray of water. Wash both sides of the lettuce. Shake the colander to remove most of the water from the lettuce or use your salad spinner. If there is still a lot of water, wipe with a clean paper towel. Cut any ends off of the bottoms.

STEP 2 – Lay Romaine lettuce on your cutting board and even up the ends the best you can. Start cutting from the right side in small swipes/slices.

Step 3. Once you have all the lettuce evenly chopped, toss it in your bowl and lightly salt & pepper. Don’t forget the salt and pepper! This is an important step in a great tossed salad.

Step 4. Cut your cucumber and tomatoes. If it is a salad for one person then (1) small tomato is fine. If it’s for a larger salad then use a large tomato or 4 smaller ones. Peel the cucumber and cut both ends off at the tips. Slice cucumber in half, and using a small spoon, gently scrape away the seeds. Cut the cucumber into small pieces for your salad.

Our Tossed Salad is now Complete and Ready for the Table!

Using your sharp knife, cut everything one more time into small pieces. Pour on your favorite dressing and a little more salt & pepper.

Now add your radishes, olives and cheese for some extra salad fun! Maybe toss in a few nuts or seeds for extra crunch!

Learn how to cut your radishes for salads so they are enjoyed by everyone. You can read more about that here –> Eat More Radishes in Your Salad

Do you know the most used salad dressing? Take a guess! RANCH DRESSING!

HOW TO MAKE DELICIOUS HOMEMADE RANCH DRESSING

1 cup Mayonnaise – try your hand at Homemade Mayonnaise – fresh and healthy
1 tsp. Onion salt
1/4 tsp. Dried chives
1/4 tsp. Dried parsley
1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1 cup Buttermilk

Place all ingredients except for the buttermilk in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for about 10 seconds. Increase speed to medium, and beat until smooth, about 30 additional seconds.

Scrape sides of bowl, and increase the speed to high. Gradually add the buttermilk, and continue beating until buttermilk is well mixed into the mayonnaise mix and the dressing is smooth, about another 2 minutes.

Place the dressing in a container with a lid, and refrigerate overnight. Stir well before serving. Makes approximately 2 cups.

How Many Calories in a Tossed Salad?

Lettuce – 20 calories 1 bowl
Tomato – 10 calories (1/2 a tomato)
Cucumber – 5 calories (1/4 cup)

You can have a low amount of calories in a tossed salad if you stick to fresh vegetables. As you start to add cheese, dressing and nuts your calorie count will go up.

Bagged Lettuce Vs. Fresh Lettuce

Is there a big difference between bagged lettuce and fresh lettuce? We recommend buying fresh lettuce from a trusted vendor vs. bagged lettuce. Commercially bagged lettuce can contain lettuce grown from various locations. If there is a problem with the lettuce in the bag, the source is not always easy to identify.

If purchasing fresh lettuce, your best bet is to buy organic.

SALAD TOOLS WE LOVE

Salad Spinner! – Get the Water off of Your Lettuce Easily!

We have made about a million salads here at DinnerPlanner.com, and we definitely love using a salad spinner to a crisp salad! You can find our favorite spinner here –> Salad Spinner

You will also want to check out this nifty Smart Planet Eco Collapsible Salad Bowl – perfect for those salads on the go! You can find one right here –> Salad Bowl