50 Salads. Zero Lettuce.

Hello and welcome to this thing we’re doing where we help you figure out what you’re gonna put in your mouth this week. Some of these are recipes we’ve tried, some of these are recipes we’re looking forward to trying, all of them are fucking delicious. Tell us what you want to put in your piehole or suggest your own recipes, and we’ll talk about which things we made, which things we loved, and which things have changed us irreversibly as people. Last week, we made dumplings.

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What is a salad, really? Are you thinking of a bowl of greens with some chopped up veggies sprinkled on top, drizzled with an elegant dressing? Well this post isn’t about that. This is about the ambigous selection of foods that fall under the salad umbrella, but cagetorically reject lettuce as a concept, consisting instead of a protein and/or a carb, interspersed with finely chopped morsels of other foods added for flavor and color, mixed with a precisely curated blend of spices. You will not find lettuce here, oh no. I debated even excluding salads with parsley, but I decided to include them for you, if you are the kind of person who finds parsley important. Many of these salads would do well on a sandwich, but a lot of them will hold up pretty well on their own. Take one to a picnic, a potluck, or possibly place them beside one of these.


Fish

1. Quinoa Avocado Salmon Salad

via the Dish

via the Dish


2. Essential Tuna Salad

via the Kitchn

via the Kitchn


3. Easy Vegan Chick Pea “Tuna” Salad

via Autostraddle

via Autostraddle


4. Avocado Tuna Salad

via Simply Recipes

via Simply Recipes

“By the way, here’s a cool little avocado beauty tip. Once you’ve scooped out the avocado from its peel, rub the inside of the peel on your elbows. The oil from the avocados is great for smoothing rough skin!”


5. Smoked Whitefish Dip with Horseradish

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


6. Tuna Salad in Apple Cups

via Ripped Recipes

via Ripped Recipes


7. White Bean Tuna Salad

via Food dot com

via Food dot com


Chicken

8. Walnut Pesto Parsley Chicken Salad

via the Kitchn

via the Kitchn


9. Curried Chicken Salad

via Food Network

via Food Network


10. Chicken Salad with Grapenuts and Cranberries

via the Kitchn

via the Kitchn


11. Strawberry Macadamia Nut Chicken Salad

via GirlMeetsPaleo

via GirlMeetsPaleo

This one is paleo, just FYI.


12. Chicken Mango Black Rice Salad

via Bon Appetit

via Bon Appetit


13. BBQ Chicken and Macaroni Salad

via the Kitchn

via the Kitchn


Pasta

14. Pasta Salad with Goat Cheese

via Real Simple

via Real Simple


15. Spring Pasta Salad with Peas and Pesto

via Serious Eats

via Serious Eats


16. Broccoli Feta Pasta Salad

via the Kitchn

via the Kitchn


15. Garlicky Vegan Pesto Pasta

via Autostraddle

via Autostraddle


16. Pasta and Fried Zucchini Salad

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


17. Zucchini Summer Pasta Salad

via Autostraddle

via Autostraddle


18. Orzo Pasta Salad

via Pop Sugar

via Pop Sugar


19. Soba Noodle Salad

via Autostraddle

via Autostraddle


Beans/Grains

20. Gazpacho and Lentil Chorizo Salad

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


21. Meyer Lemon Grain Salad with Asparagus and Almonds

via the Kitchn

via the Kitchn


22. Black Bean Confetti Salad

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


23. Warm French Lentil Bacon Salad with Herbs

via the Kitchn

via the Kitchn


24. Eggplant Tomato Barley Salad

via Autostraddle

via Autostraddle


25. Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


26. Blood Orange and Wheat Berry Salad

via Autostraddle

via Autostraddle


27. Smashed Chickpea Salad

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


28. Chickpea Pesto Salad with Strawberries

via Autostraddle

via Autostraddle


29. Quinoa and Black Bean Winter Salad

via Autostraddle

via Autostraddle


30. Bean Salad Dip

via Autostraddle

via Autostraddle


31. Curry Pea Salad

via Culinary Mamas

via Culinary Mamas


Potato

32. Tzatziki Potato Salad

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


33. Warm Lentil and Potato Salad

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


34. Hot German Potato Salad

via Food dot com

via Food dot com


35. Dilled Potato and Pickled Cucumber Salad

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


36. Potato Salad with NO MAYO

via Autostraddle (this is Carolyn's take on the #35!)

via Autostraddle (this is Carolyn’s take on the #35!)


37. Pesto Potato Salad with Green Beans

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


38. Hokey Smokey Potato Salad

via The Good Kind of Crazy

via The Good Kind of Crazy


Egg

39. Classic Egg Salad

via the Kitchn

via the Kitchn


40. Egg Salad with Pickled Celery and Coarse Dijon

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


41. Curried Egg Salad

via Health dot com

via Health dot com


42. Avocado Egg Salad

via Inspired Taste

via Inspired Taste


43. Pesto Egg Salad

via My Fitness Pal

via My Fitness Pal


Fruit

44. Ginger and Lemon Fruit Salad

via My Recipes

via My Recipes


45. Fruit Salad with Pudding

via Food dot com

via Food dot com


46. Winter Fruit Salad

via Smitten Kitchen

via Smitten Kitchen


47. Secret Fruit Salad

via Rachel Shultz

via Rachel Shultz


48. Pretty Fruit Salad

via the Pioneer Woman

via the Pioneer Woman


49. Chopped Vegetable, Watermelon and Feta Salad

watermelon salad

via Smitten Kitchen


50. Fruit Salad with Lemon Lavender Syrup

via Greatist

via Greatist

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Maddie

Autostraddle staff writer. Copy editor. Fledgling English muffin maker. Temporary turtle parent. Zine creator. Swings enthusiast. Political human who cares a lot about healthcare and queer anti-carceral feminisms. I asked my friend to help me write this bio and they said, "Good-natured. Friend. Earth tones." Another friend said, "Flannel babe. Vacuum lover. Kind." So. Find me on Twitter or my website.

Maddie has written 100 articles for us.

24 Comments

  1. Last week I got really stoked on the idea of making pasta salad. Camille put up with me sending her a million recipes and hunting down roasted red peppers at the grocery store, but didn’t seem too excited about what I consider to be the best warm-weather food of all. It wasn’t until we started talking about planning a meal around the dish I was so excited about that I realized what her issue was: She had never had pasta salad in her life, and she didn’t really get the concept. She wasn’t sure what would go in it or why you’d ever serve pasta cold.

    All of this is a long way of saying thank you, Maddie, for bringing light to the lettuce-less salads of the world. My fellow pastavores and I salute you.

    • WAIT BUT WHAT DID SHE THINK AFTER SHE ATE IT???

      Pasta salad is really the best. I don’t eat it enough.

      Pastavores 4 life.

    • I’m always surprised at how many Western MA people are on here, even though I shouldn’t be.

    • mmmm Bookmill. (I, too, have done a short stint in Western Mass.)

      I have to say, though – this is the second salad I’ve seen with Grape-Nuts-the-Cereal and I’m not sure I understand.

  2. *reads this post whilst eating salad*
    *feels like today’s salad failed its potential*

  3. These recipe dumps are my favorite! I always find something that I want to try! Tonight will be Avocado Egg salad, because I already have everything I will need. Later this week I’ll try the smashed chick pea salad. Looks so good! Thank you for making picking out food easier!

  4. I’ve never seen a salad list that had so many recipes that include mayo I love mayo too, but can we get a salad recipe list by someone who actually LOVES vegetables? These recipes hardly stray from the most basic combination of tomatoes, onion, cucumber, and parsley in most of the recipes. This list should have been called salads with minimal amounts of vegetables. Where are the dark leafy kale greens, purple cabbage, organic rainbow carrots, shredded beets, berries, micro greens and sprouts, salad dressings made with fresh squeezed juice, raw nuts, exotic mushrooms, sprinkles of seeds, sea vegetables, etc. This list reads like it was written by a suburban mom on a health kick, not the farmer’s market enthusiast that a kick ass salad recipe list would require.

    • I hate leafy shit in my salads. Hate. It. I’ll put in a token amount of cabbage or spinach so it doesn’t look too weird when I’m in the break room eating a bowl of carrots, mushrooms and salmon, but given my druthers I’d rather not. (Also, raw kale gives me mad heartburn.) Salads are a great way to get my veggies in, though, so I’m always looking for new options – the less leafy, the better.

      There’s plenty of veggies in these recipes! They’re just not traditional “salad” veggies. Personally, I’m looking forward to trying a few of these!

    • ha! there was supposed to be a link carmen’s salad list in the intro but my link was dead. it’s BACK. hope you find the veggies you wanted.

      also, though, these salads might not be your jam, and that’s fine, but it’s no reason to hate on moms.

  5. Going to make the butternut squash and chickpea one tonight and for lunch tomorrow. Will also try to convince two year old and fussy partner to eat it. May add sweet potato and cook the chickpeas too so they’d can be a little toasty. Looks good! I appreciate recipe posts!

  6. Could you maybe make a note if certain dishes are vegan? It would mean I don’t click on a yummy looking dish and find out its got some cheese hidden away.

    If not it doesn’t matter, just a suggestion.

  7. SALADS WITH NO LETTUCE ARE ALL I WANT TO EAT EVERY DAY EVER. Thank you for this list!!! Like this is seriously my all-time favorite category of food. I am going to make all my lunches all summer off of this list and I’M SO EXCITED.

    It’s also 8 pm and I haven’t eaten dinner yet. Can you tell I’m hungry?

  8. Make #40. Make it NOW. You will eat the whole bowl at once. NNNG TIME TO MAKE THE CELERY.

    So many new lunch ideas! (And obviously I’m super excited to see so many Smitten Kitchen recipes – I almost exclusively eat from Deb’s blog/book these days. Yummmmm.)

Comments are closed.