Published 4/19/2021 • Updated 8/8/2022
The Best Butter Lettuce Salad
This butter lettuce salad is flavorful, bright, and part of a balanced salad that is perfect as a side salad or as a full meal for lunch.
What is butter lettuce salad good for?
Butter lettuce (also known as bibb lettuce) is a tender, soft, and flavorful lettuce that usually comes as a large head of lettuce with its roots still attached. Butter lettuce is a bit more fragile than other lettuce like iceberg and romaine, so keeping the roots on keeps the butter lettuce from wilting! Butter lettuce is good for so many different recipes. It is perfect for a light salad, but also is great on sandwiches, in wraps, and butter lettuce is even great as the actual wrap instead of using a tortilla. The options are endless.
Butter Lettuce Salad Ingredients
This salad is the perfect balance of sweet, salty, crunchy, and light. There is the perfect combination of veggies, fruit, nuts, and a tasty dressing.
Butter lettuceOlive oil Lemon juiceWhite wine vinaigretteMaple syrup Dijon mustard Minced garlic ShallotsSlivered almonds Maple syrup FennelHoney crisp appleRed bell pepperParmesan cheese
How to Make Butter Lettuce Salad
There are only a few easy steps to take before you assemble this butter lettuce salad. There are layers of sweet, salty, and crunchy.
Prep that dressing
This butter lettuce salad is dressed with our classic lemon vinaigrette. All you have to do add of the ingredients for the dressing in a jar, cover, and shake the dressing until all the ingredients are combined.
Fry the shallots
The tastiest part of this salad is the salty fried shallots that you prepare before you assemble the salad. The idea is to fry them and then let the sit to crisp up. They will act as a crunchy topping for the butter lettuce salad.
Toast the almonds
The sweetness of the salad comes from the these tasty candied almonds. We did a quick candy for these almonds (very similar to these candied walnut recipe). Toss the almonds and maple syrup in a small skillet pan and let the almonds simmer in maple syrup. Remove them from heat, place them on a plate, and let them cool and turn crunchy,
Assemble your salad
After you prepare the almonds and shallot you place all of the ingredients for the salad in a bowl and drizzle the salad with the lemon vinaigrette.
Tips + Tricks for Butter Lettuce Salad
Ingredient Add-ins + Substitutions
This salad is perfect the way it is, but if you are out of any of the ingredients or want to substitute any ingredients in this salad, go for it! Maybe you’re looking to add grilled chicken to the salad for a little protein, we’ve got you covered there, too. You generally want to keep butter lettuce in large pieces because it is a more fragile lettuce. The bigger the pieces of butter lettuce the less soggy the butter lettuce will be. Print Your Own Below are some ingredient add-ins or substitutions we recommend. Add-ins
Dried fruit (crasins, apricots, raisins, cherries)Grilled chickenShrimpSteak
Substitutions
Apples—> plums Fried shallots–> diced red onionSlivered almonds—> chopped pistachio or toasted pine nuts Fennel–> chopped celeryRed pepper–> any bell pepper
Use a different dressing
We use our favorite lemon vinaigrette for the salad, but if that dressing isn’t your thing, we have so many delicious salad dressings that you can use instead. Here are some of our favorites.
Honey Mustard DressingGreek Salad Dressing RecipeHomemade Italian DressingHomemade Poppyseed Dressing
Serving suggestions
If you are making this salad a full meal, we highly suggest adding protein. This butter lettuce salad makes a great side salad for any of the dishes below!
Grilled Pork Tenderloin– Here is our best grilled pork tenderloin recipe; it’s dry-rubbed in smokey spices, marinated in a sweet bbq soy sauce, and grilled to juicy perfection. It’s a simple pork tenderloin recipe, but it turns out so tender and flavorful.Baked Chicken Parmesan– Baked Chicken Parmesan is an easy chicken recipe to make. This oven baked chicken parmesan is first pan-fried and then finished off in the oven.Parmesan Crusted Chicken– Parmesan crusted chicken is such a fantastic and flavorful chicken recipe. Chicken breasts are dredged in a parmesan cheese and bread crumb mixture and then pan-fried until golden brown perfection.Grilled Salmon– Get perfectly grilled salmon every single time with this easy and fool-proof step-by-step tutorial on How to Grill Salmon!Turkey Burger Recipe– Say hello to the Best Juicy Turkey Burger you’ve ever had! These turkey burgers are always delicious, and never dry. Enjoy!
Storage Suggestions
We suggest storing this salad separate from the dressing if you are not serving the salad right away. Nobody likes a soggy salad!
Salad Recipes
Grilled Chicken Salad RecipeThe Best Arugula SaladGrilled Buffalo Chicken SaladMexican Street Corn Salad
