This fresh, easy Chef Salad recipe is the ultimate main meal salad for sultry summer days. It’s satisfying and oh, so delicious!
A classic Chef Salad is the perfect lunch or dinner for something simple, cool, and healthy that tastes scrumptious and only takes 20 minutes! Featuring fresh lettuce, crunchy croutons, and a creamy dressing, along with seasonal summer produce and LOADS of yummy protein (bacon, ham, hard-boiled eggs, and cheeses), this spectacular salad will never leave you hungry…it will just leave you wanting more!
Presentation Makes Perfect!
Here’s the thing about a great Chef Salad – it’s not fussy. It’s a deconstructed sandwich! (Bread, meat, cheese, veggies, dressing – you get the idea!) But even in its simplicity, it should be aesthetically pleasing!
So, when you create a chef salad, don’t toss it – build it beautifully! With gorgeous, garden-fresh lettuce as a starting place, arrange the remaining ingredients on top in individual groupings, straight lines, or concentric circles. Make it appetizing and eye-appealing! Or, if you’re feeding a large crew, lay out your salad bar and let diners build their own!
Other Chef Salad Dressing Recipes
- The best Homemade Ranch Dressing is a rich, creamy Chef Salad classic!
- Fresh and easy Poppy Seed Dressing adds a touch of sweetness to all your summer salads!
Chef Salad Ingredients
Lettuce: A crispy combination of fresh iceberg and romaine lettuces, cut into bite-sized pieces, makes the best chef salad foundation!
Veggies: All your seasonal summer veggies work great! This recipe uses cherry tomatoes, diced red onion, and cucumbers.
Protein: Chef Salads are heavy on protein, which distinguishes a full-meal salad from a simple side salad. For this beast of a salad, we’re using boiled eggs, bacon crumbles, deli ham, and cheese (your choice—Swiss, gouda, cheddar, etc.).
Bread: Croutons add the crunch! Buy a bag or make your own – it’s easy!
Dressing: Wear the dress you like best! A classic Chef Salad uses ranch, French, Thousand Island, or Bleu Cheese, but poppy seed or a tangy vinaigrette would also be great!
How to Make a Chef Salad
STEP ONE: Wash and chop the lettuce, then mix it in a large bowl (or smaller individual bowls, if preferred). Arrange the remaining ingredients in sections on top of the lettuce – eggs, bacon, ham, cheese, veggies, and croutons.
STEP TWO: Drizzle the salad dressing over the top to cover the salad evenly.
STEP THREE: Gently toss the salad until evenly coated in the dressing. Portion onto plates and serve immediately. You can also toss the salad together into a big bowl, plate it, and let everyone add their preferred dressing to their salad.
Tips for Success
- If you cut the eggs into quarters, I recommend waiting to add them until you serve the salad. That way, they look nice and pretty on top. You can chop the eggs and toss them with the other salad ingredients.
- Try other toppings, such as turkey, grated carrots, green onions, avocado, pepperoncini peppers, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, broccoli, and blue cheese crumbles!
- Ripe tomatoes are awesome in the summer months, but for the best flavor in the winter, try grape tomatoes.
- Any dressing you love will work with this salad, from Thousand Island and French to Creamy Italian or Bleu Cheese.
- For a gorgeous presentation, chop each veggie differently: Julienne, diced, crinkle cut, etc, but keep everything bite-sized.
What’s the Difference Between a Chef Salad and a Cobb Salad?
Chef salads and Cobb salads have several similarities. They’re both lettuce-based “main course” meals loaded with meats, eggs, cheese, and veggies, and they’re both spectacular!
The differences are few but important. While the Chef Salad is quite tasty, it’s also intended to be versatile, using refrigerator leftovers or garden surplus. The meats, cheeses, veggies, and even dressing types can be altered as needed. For example, you could use turkey, shallots, and poppy seeds instead of ham, red onion, and blue cheese.
The authentic Cobb Salad, however, is slightly more elevated. It’s not intended to be versatile and consists of lettuce, tomato, bacon, chicken, eggs, avocado, blue cheese crumbles, and Dijon vinaigrette dressing.
How Long Will a Chef Salad Keep?
A Chef Salad can last 2 to 5 days, depending on a few factors. If making the salad in advance, leave off the salad dressing (or better yet, chop each component and store individually)—the ingredients will keep up to 5 days. Arrange and drizzle with the dressing when you’re ready to eat.
If you store leftover salad with dressing on it, it’s best eaten within a day or two, as the moisture will compromise the other ingredients’ crispness. Either way, it’s stored, so seal it as airtight as possible to maintain freshness.
Other Summer Salad Recipes
- Classic Cobb Salad
- Easy Wedge Salad
- BLT Salad
- Grilled BBQ Chicken Salad
- Turkey Taco Salad
- Strawberry Feta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon
- 1 small head romaine lettuce chopped
- ¼ head iceberg lettuce chopped
- 4 hard-boiled eggs cut into quarters lengthwise
- 1 cup deli-style ham cut into strips
- 4 slices cheddar cheese cut into strips
- ½ pound cherry tomatoes halved
- ½ small red onion peeled and diced
- ½ cucumber peeled and chopped
- ½ cup croutons
- Salad dressing (your choice)
Instructions
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon until crispy, flipping as needed. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Once cool enough to handle, crumb or chop into small pieces.
- While the bacon cooks, start prepping the toppings. Then, place the romaine and iceberg lettuce into a large salad bowl. Top with the bacon, eggs, ham, cheese, tomatoes, onion, cucumber, and croutons.
- Pour the salad dressing over the bowl and gently toss to coat. You can also toss the salad, plate it, and then let everyone add their preferred dressing. *For meal prep: Pour the salad dressing into a ramekin with a lid so the salad doesn't get soggy.
Notes
- Nutritional information does not include salad dressing.
- You can make the hard-boiled eggs ahead of time or buy the prepared and peeled eggs at the store.
- If you don’t care for cheddar cheese, you can substitute Swiss, gouda, blue, or any cheese you like.
- The lettuce can be switched up to your liking. Instead of a blend, you can use ½ head of iceberg or 2 small heads of romaine. You can also add baby spinach or arugula.
- Add more crunch with roasted pepitas or (shelled) sunflower seeds sprinkled on top.
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