Blue Cheese Salad
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All of the delicious flavors and ingredients in a wedge salad are combined in this easy chopped Blue Cheese Salad recipe. Mix it up in just 10 minutes to pair with steak, grilled meats or BBQ. You’ll love the irresistible flavors of creamy blue cheese dressing, paired with juicy tomatoes and crispy bacon!
I love the flavors of a wedge salad. But I’m not a huge fan of the difficulty that comes with eating a wedge salad with a fork and knife. Thus, I made a chopped blue cheese salad. It contains all of the same ingredients as a traditional wedge salad, but it’s tossed together in a bowl to make it easier to eat and easier to get a little taste of every ingredient in each bite!
That perfect bite that contains a crumble of funky blue cheese, a piece of crispy bacon, a wedge of juicy tomato, all held up by creamy blue cheese coated lettuce. It’s that bite of salad that leaves your tastebuds singing!
When I think of the wedge salad, I always think of a steakhouse, since that’s generally where you see it on the menu. So I love to start with this salad, before grilling up a steak that’s been marinated in the best steak marinade. Seriously, it’s been the most popular recipe on the blog for 3 years running! People go crazy for this marinade!
So grab some steaks, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon and blue cheese, and let’s make an even-better-than-steakhouse experience at home!
Ingredients
- Iceberg lettuce (or romaine lettuce) – a classic wedge salad is made with wedges of iceberg lettuce. I’ve used both iceberg and romaine lettuce to make this chopped blue cheese salad at home, and both of them work great. The key is to make sure that the lettuce is completely dry after washing and chopping it, so that the lettuce doesn’t water down the creamy blue cheese dressing.
- Bacon – use this guide for how to cook bacon in the oven to cook 6-8 slices of bacon before starting this recipe. You can cook the bacon up to 5 days in advance, and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the salad. If you want to step the flavor of this salad up a notch, you can make homemade bacon to top the salad.
- Cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes) – these little tomatoes are perfect for this salad. They’re juicy, without containing too much liquid, so they don’t water down the salad. Cut them into quarters before tossing them with the salad.
- Blue cheese salad dressing – I love a thick and creamy, chunky blue cheese dressing, so I always go for Litehouse Chunky Blue Cheese or Big Blue Dressing. You will find these dressings in the produce section of most grocery stores, with the other refrigerated salad dressings.
- Blue cheese crumbles – this recipe isn’t called a blue cheese salad for nothing! We’re doubling up on the blue cheese with both blue cheese dressing in the salad, and blue cheese crumbles on top.
- Red onion – the crisp bite of the onion adds delicious flavor and texture to the salad. You can also use white onion, if you prefer.
- Chives – the mild cousin of onions, chives add bright flavor and color to the salad.
- Black pepper – any good steakhouse should immediately follow the delivery of a wedge salad at your table, with a pepper grinder. Fresh ground pepper on top of a blue cheese salad is like the cherry on top of the salad!
Instructions
- Wash and chop the lettuce. Make sure it’s completely dry, then add it to a large bowl.
- Dress the salad. Add the cherry tomatoes, red onions, half of the bacon, and half of the blue cheese crumbles to the bowl with the lettuce. Add the blue cheese dressing and toss until the lettuce is evenly coated in the dressing.
- Top the salad. Top the salad with the remaining bacon and blue cheese crumbles, as well as the chopped chives and black pepper. Serve immediately.
Pro tips
- Always make sure to dry the lettuce thoroughly before tossing it with the dressing. This will guarantee a creamy coating on the lettuce. And it will ensure that you don’t end up with a watery, soggy salad!
- To make this salad in just 10 minutes, be sure to cook the bacon ahead of time. You can cook the bacon up to 5 days in advance. Store it in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the salad.
- This salad will serve 2-3 people as a main dish, or 4-6 people as a side dish or appetizer.
- If you want to make this salad vegetarian, I recommending subbing 1/2 cup walnuts, plus 1/2 teaspoon salt, for the bacon. It will give you a similar crunchy, salty addition to the salad.
- This recipe is naturally gluten free, using the ingredients shown and listed above.
What to serve with the salad
This salad is a great side dish, or appetizer, to eat before a steak or with bbq. Try pairing it with any of these delicious main dishes!
- Marinated Grilled Steak
- Smoked Pulled Pork
- Grilled New York Strip Steak
- Marinated Grilled Tri Tip
- Smoked Brisket
- Mushroom Swiss Burger
More salad recipes
Try these other popular salad recipes for dinner this week!
Chopped Blue Cheese Salad
Ingredients
- 6 cups chopped iceberg lettuce, approximately one head iceberg lettuce
- ½ cup cooked, diced bacon, approximately 6 slices of cooked bacon
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
- ½ cup blue cheese dressing
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles
- ¼ cup diced red onions
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
- ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Wash and chop the lettuce. Make sure it’s completely dry, then add it to a large bowl.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, red onions, half of the bacon, and half of the blue cheese crumbles to the bowl with the lettuce.
- Add the blue cheese dressing and toss until the lettuce is evenly coated in the dressing.
- Top the salad with the remaining bacon and blue cheese crumbles, as well as the chopped chives and black pepper. Serve immediately.
Notes
- To make this salad in just 10 minutes, be sure to cook the bacon ahead of time. The bacon can be cooked up to 5 days ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the salad.
- This salad will serve 2-3 people as a main dish, or 4-6 people as a side dish or appetizer.
- If you want to make this salad vegetarian, without bacon, I recommending subbing walnuts for the bacon. It will give you a similar salty, crunchy addition to the salad.
- This recipe is naturally gluten free, using the ingredients shown and listed above.
Nutrition Facts
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