Wedge Salad

A wedge salad is a classic salad recipe that features a crisp wedge of iceberg lettuce as its foundation. It’s a little bit retro, like the old school steakhouses where it became popular. The wedge salad is a good reminder that iceberg lettuce, when it’s treated right, is refreshing, crisp, and has much more to offer than its reputation might have you believe.

A classic wedge salad is usually served with crumbled blue cheese, crispy bacon, diced tomatoes, and a creamy dressing—in the case of this recipe, blue cheese dressing. Like a house salad, this salad is one of those all-purpose salad recipes that you can whip up in a matter of minutes to round out a meal.

Classic Wedge Salad Recipe

Goes with everything. Thanks to its simplicity, a wedge salad pairs well with a variety of main dishes. From breaded air fryer pork chops to garlic butter steak bites, you really can’t go wrong with a classic wedge!

Refreshing. The crisp iceberg lettuce truly comes as a pleasant surprise! If you’re usually one to turn your nose up at iceberg lettuce, this wedge salad really showcases its best qualities.

Easy to make. Another reason this wedge salad recipe will be on frequent rotation in your home is that it’s easy to prepare—not to mention its short ingredient list!

Customizable. You can easily customize a wedge salad to your family’s tastes by adding or swapping the toppings or dressing.

Ingredient Notes

• Iceberg lettuce: Look for a head of iceberg lettuce that is bright green and feels heavy for its size. The stem should be quite white; a brown stem indicates that it isn’t very fresh. Buy a large head that’s big enough to cut into decent-sized wedges.
• Bacon: Cook the bacon using your preferred method. I often bake a whole package of bacon and refrigerate or freeze it for later use (try baked bacon). Air fryer works perfectly, especially to cook a small batch of bacon. Feel free to use turkey bacon if that’s what you prefer. Even a plant-based bacon is fine for a vegetarian wedge salad!
• Cherry tomatoes: Any type of tomatoes work okay although it’s best if they are firm. Large tomatoes should be diced.
• Red onion: I like finely diced red onions because they provide a nice color contrast. Thinly sliced shallots are another good option for this wedge salad recipe. Sliced green onions are fine, too, if you prefer a milder onion flavor.
• Crumbled blue cheese: A wedge salad usually is topped with blue cheese crumbles. The homemade dressing also contains blue cheese.
• Sour cream and mayonnaise: These two ingredients form the rich, creamy base of the dressing and they’re essential for achieving that classic wedge salad texture. A thinner dressing tends to make the salad soggy.
• Fresh parsley: Fresh is the way to go; dried parsley really doesn’t have much flavor.
• White wine vinegar: A splash of vinegar adds tanginess and balances the richness of the dressing.
• Seasonings: The dressing is seasoned simply with kosher salt, garlic powder, and ground black pepper.
• Milk: Add just enough to make the dressing drizzle-able.

How to Make This Wedge Salad Recipe

Make the dressing. Stir together the sour cream, mayonnaise, ½ cup of the blue cheese, finely chopped parsley, white wine vinegar, and seasonings in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. You can make the dressing in advance if you like.

Cook the bacon. Chop the uncooked bacon into small pieces, then fry it in a pan over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to cool and drain.

Prepping the Lettuce

Remove the limp outer leaves of the head of lettuce. Rinse the lettuce lightly under cool water. It’s not necessary to wash the inner leaves; simply rinse off the outside of the head. It’s important to thoroughly dry the lettuce before assembling the salad. Use paper towels or a clean dish towel. Wet lettuce will water down the dressing and start to wilt.

Assemble. Place the lettuce wedges on individual salad plates. I find that the salad is easier to eat on a larger-sized salad plate. Season the dressing to taste and add milk to thin it, if necessary. It should be fairly thick so that it pretty much stays on top of the lettuce wedge. Drizzle the lettuce with the dressing, then add the bacon crumbles, diced tomatoes, chopped red onion, and extra blue cheese, to taste. 

Serve. Finish the wedge salad with a few grinds of coarsely ground black pepper. Serve additional dressing on the side.

Recipe Alternatives

• Take a shortcut. If you’re short on time, feel free to buy your favorite creamy dressing.
• Try another dressing. I’d say a creamy dressing is definitely the way to go with a wedge salad but if blue cheese isn’t your thing, you could swap in this ranch dressing or green goddess dressing.
• Tame the onions. Soaking the diced red onion in ice water will help tame their bite. If you’re just not a fan, though, you can use chives or green onions for a milder alternative, or just leave them out altogether.
• Add an egg. One popular variation of the classic wedge salad recipe is to add a hard boiled egg. These Instant Pot hard boiled eggs and air fryer boiled eggs make it easy!

What to Serve With A Wedge Salad

Steak. Wedge salads are a steakhouse staple, so serve yours with air fryer steak bites or this steak sheet pan dinner.

Pork. This wedge salad recipe would also be excellent with spice rubbed pork tenderloin or air fryer pork tenderloin. Try it with oven-baked breaded pork chops.

Chicken. Cook Instant Pot chicken thighs or grilled chicken thighs while you prepare your salad.

For best results, store each component of this wedge salad recipe separately. (If you’ve assembled the salad already, it will last a day in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)

• Lettuce: Wrap leftover lettuce wedges in a slightly damp paper towel, then place them in a zip-top plastic bag or airtight container. Store in the crisper drawer for up to 2 days.
• Dressing: Transfer any remaining blue cheese dressing to an airtight container. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 days. It will separate a bit in the fridge, so give it a good stir before you use it.
• Toppings: Keep the bacon, red onion, tomatoes, and blue cheese crumbles in separate airtight containers in the fridge. The bacon will last up to 3 days, while tomatoes and onions should be used within 2 days. The blue cheese will last as long as the expiration date on the package.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• Remove ½ cup of blue cheese crumbles from the container. Reserve the remaining blue cheese to garnish the salad; refrigerate until needed.

  4 oz. container blue cheese crumbles, divided

• Combine sour cream, mayonnaise, ½ cup blue cheese, parsley, vinegar, salt, garlic powder, and pepper in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the salad.

  ½ cup sour cream, ¼ cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, more if needed, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ⅛ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, more if needed

• Chop bacon into ¼ inch pieces. In a frying pan over medium heat, cook bacon until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess grease; set aside.

  4 slices bacon

• Remove wilted outer leaves from the head of lettuce and rinse it. Dry the lettuce as much as possible, using paper towels or a clean dish towel. To make wedges, cut the lettuce into quarters (cut in half top to bottom, and then cut each half in half again). Make a small diagonal cut to remove the core from each wedge. Place each lettuce wedge on individual salad plates.

  1 head iceberg lettuce

• Remove dressing from refrigerator; taste and season it with salt and pepper, if necessary. If you feel that the dressing is too thick to drizzle, stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons of milk to thin it. Drizzle lettuce wedges generously with the blue cheese dressing.

  2 to 3 tablespoons milk, as needed to thin dressing

• Top with bacon, tomatoes, red onion, and reserved blue cheese crumbles. Finish with a few grinds of black pepper, if desired.

  1 cup halved cherry tomatoes, 2 tablespoons finely diced red onion

• Serve the salad immediately, with extra dressing on the side.

• Switch up the onions: If desired, omit onions or switch them up. Sliced green onions or chives are great, as are pickled red onions.
• Dressing notes: If you’re short on time, substitute your choice of bottled dressing for the homemade blue cheese dressing. Keep in mind that this dressing recipe can be made up to a day ahead. If you aren’t a fan of blue cheese dressing, choose a different type of creamy dressing. 
• Storage: It’s best to refrigerate the salad components separately in airtight containers; assemble right before serving.

Serving: 1salad with dressing, Calories: 404kcal, Carbohydrates: 9g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 36g, Saturated Fat: 14g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g, Monounsaturated Fat: 11g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 64mg, Sodium: 778mg, Potassium: 466mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 1370IU, Vitamin C: 14mg, Calcium: 222mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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