I enjoy a good salad. When I am looking to lose weight I always eat this simple salad for lunch and even sometimes for dinner as well. I don’t mind eating it twice a day either. Eating salads allow me to eat all these treats and desserts and other baked goods that I make, haha.
If you are looking for a simple salad recipe to make try this one out. There is a great combination of textures that make each bite, super yummy. And of course, if you don’t like a particular ingredient, just leave it out.
Salads are great, and one of my favorite things to make and eat. If I can do it, you can do it. Let’s get started!
Step 1: Gather the ingredients
I like my salads like my pizza, the more toppings the better. But more toppings don’t equal more difficulty. Basically, we just pick the toppings for the salad and put them all together.
For this simple salad here are some of my favorite toppings/ingredients:
- Spinach or Lettuce – I love using fresh spinach because it is more nutritious. However, I actually like eating iceberg or green lead lettuce more.
- Kale – Kale is another ingredient I like to add to my simple salad to give it some added health benefits.
- Raw broccoli
- Cucumber – Sliced really thin.
- Carrots – Sliced thin or shredded.
- Tomatoes – I normally buy grape tomatoes and just add them whole, but once in awhile I will just cut up romas.
- Radishes- Sliced then
- Craisins – Adds a bit of sweetness and a chewy texture element.
- Chicken – Cooked chicken (optional)
- Bacon – Real cooked bacon or bacon bits (optional)
- Hard-boiled Eggs – These are optional. Follow this air fryer hard-boiled eggs recipe for super easy hard-boiled eggs.
- Sunflower seeds (optional)
Other optional ingredients include croutons, mushrooms, and various salad dressings like ranch. Love ranch! Make sure to check out this yummy homemade croutons recipe.
Step 2: How to make a simple salad
Begin by prepping your salad ingredients. If you are having chicken or other meat make sure to cook that ahead of time. When I want to make a really easy salad, I will buy pre-cooked and chopped chicken to use on top of my simple salad.
If you are having freshly cooked bacon, you will want to cook that first as well.
Cut up your veggies into manageable bite-sized pieces. You will most likely want to break up the lettuce and spinach or kale into smaller pieces as well.
Then start with a plate. There is no one way to make a salad. There are no wrong ways either. They come in many shapes and sizes and flavors.
I like to lay down my greens first on the plate, the spinach and or lettuce, kale, and broccoli.
Then I start adding things like sliced cucumber, carrots, radishes, and small grape tomatoes.
I also like to add some salt and pepper and garlic powder to the veggies. It amps up their flavor a bit.
Then continue adding your other ingredients, the sliced hard-boiled eggs, bacon, chicken, seeds, croutons, etc. Now top with your favorite dressing. My all-time favorite salad dressing is ranch. Love my Hidden Valley Ranch dressing!
And there you go, your simple salad is ready to go. You can make it completely vegetarian very easily if you like. Enjoy!
How long does a simple salad last?
If it is dressed with salad dressing it will last a few days in the fridge. If you don’t add the dressing, it will last 3 to 5 days.
Here are other recipes you may like:
Roasted Carrots With Honey Butter Glaze
Squid Game Cookies (Dalgona Candy)
Simple Salad
Equipment
- Bowl
- Plate
- Knife
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 3 cups of lettuce
- 3 cups of spinach
- 2 cups of kale
- 1 cup raw broccoli
- 1 cup sliced cucumber
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- 1 cup grape tomatoes
- 1/4 cup sliced radishes
- 2 tbsp craisins
- 1/2 cup cooked chicken optional
- 2 strips of cooked bacon optional
- 1 hard-boiled egg optional
- 1 pinch salt, pepper, garlic powder, to taste optional
Instructions
- Cook the chicken, bacon, hard-boiled eggs ahead of time.
- Rinse and dry with a paper towel the lettuce, kale, and or fresh spinach.
- Slice up the other ingredients into smaller pieces as desired.
- Add a layer of greens down on the plate.
- Then add a layer of other veggies like carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc.
- Sprinkle on some salt, pepper, and garlic powder, if desired.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, bacon, chicken, hard-boiled egg, etc. Top with your favorite salad dressing. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Do you like the recipe? Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.
Check out my other website 101 Creative Dates for fun date ideas. Food and dating go hand in hand!
