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★ Why You'll Love this Recipe ★
Delicious Meets Healthy
This deliciously crunchy and creamy salad is made with mixed greens, spicy radishes, plump tomatoes, red onion, English cucumber, celery, and ripe avocados then topped with a thick, homemade Green Goddess dressing that's packed with flavor.
Green goddess salad is a supremely fresh, vitamin-rich salad featuring a variety of fresh greens, vegetables, and herbs, topped with a creamy-cool dressing.
Lunch or Side
It's a refreshing salad for lunch or as a side to dinner that's nutritious too.
This is a two-for-one recipe.
First, the salad. It's a healthy and flavorful blend of veggies that's packed with vitamin-rich greens. Creamy avocado, refreshing cucumbers, spicy radishes, and crunchy celery layer in to add texture and flavor.
Next, there's the dressing. Green of course. Absolutely creamy and flavorful with tang from lemon, some punch from garlic and Dijon mustard, and a hint of sweetness from honey. The dressing packs even more vitamins with a healthy dose of spinach mixed with chives, fresh dill, and parsley. Olive oil, Greek yogurt, and a touch of mayo to round things out, creating a thick and creamy salad dressing that's good enough to eat by the spoonful.
What makes this salad sing is the combination of ingredients. There are quite a few, I'll be honest. But there is no cooking required, just some chopping. So this salad doesn't take long to prepare and the layers of flavor and textures are worth the chop time! The dressing can be made up to 5 days in advance.
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
Lots of fresh ingredients! There are a few shortcuts to prepping this quickly to save time.
Here's a look at what you'll need:
The Salad
- Mixed greens. This is easy. Grab a bag of your preferred blend of mixed greens. Can include kale, spinach, or a spring blend of lettuce. All you have to do is open the bag.
- Cucumber. I love English cucumber in salads because they aren't as watery, but regular cucumbers work too. No need to peel, just chop. The skin offers more vitamins!
- Radishes. These can be sliced with a sharp knife or a mandolin.
- Tomatoes. Grape or cherry, quarter them or simply cut them in half. You could substitute with another type of tomato if you prefer or have some you need to use up.
- Shredded coleslaw mix. This adds vitamins, flavor, and crunch.
- Red onion. Thinly slice and feel free to adjust the quantity.
- Celery. This is optional but adds a nice crunch and freshness in flavor. Slice thinly for less crunch, thicker for more.
The Dressing
- Spinach. Fresh spinach is best. You could use frozen though.
- Chives. Fresh or dried both work here.
- Dill. Pinch off the stems. Fresh or dried works.
- Green onions. Cut off the roots and any dry ends and just pop the whole thing into the food processor.
- Parsley. I like to use chopped fresh parsley to save time. Or use dried.
- Plain Greek yogurt. This adds creaminess, probiotics, and protein. Kefir can also be used for a more tart flavor.
- Mayonnaise. This can be replaced with more Greek yogurt, sour cream, or avocado if desired but I do like the richness that a bit of mayo adds.
- Garlic. You can certainly use fresh cloves but I typically use garlic paste to save time.
- Dijon mustard. This layers in a burst of spice, tang, and aroma cutting through the creaminess and balancing out the greens.
- Olive oil. This adds smoothness and richness to the dressing. Avocado oil or grape seed oil could also be used.
- Salt and pepper. Sea salt or regular table salt works, freshly ground pepper adds more powerful flavor if you have it available.
- Lemon juice. You want this to be freshly squeezed. Bottled lemon juice just doesn't have the same power and you don't want to add too much and water down the dressing.
- Honey. Adjust up or down to your preferred level of sweetness.
★ How to Make this Recipe ★
The prep is simple. Blend. Chop. Combine.
Here's a look at the steps:
- Blend the creamy dressing ingredients.
- Add spinach and other veggies, plus seasonings.
- Drizzle in olive oil.
- Bottle dressing to store and pour.
- Chop veggies for salad and add to bowl.
- Pour dressing on salad, toss and serve.
Simple as that.
Optional Toppings
You can add additional toppings such as croutons, crispy onions, crispy red pepper salad topping, crispy or fresh slice jalapeños, toasted nuts or seeds, or crumbled feta cheese for extra flavor and texture.
★ Tips & FAQs ★
You can add additional vegetables such as broccoli, peas, or bell peppers to suit your taste. Feel free to leave out any others you don't enjoy. The salad is totally customizable to suit your preferences.
It's a versatile dressing that's both tangy and herbaceous. To create a more savory flavor, anchovy paste or Worcestershire sauce can be added for a hint of umami.
Truly, any protein can work with this salad. Grilled chicken, steak, and shrimp are great additions.
Try adding chickpeas, tofu, or plant-based meat substitutes for a vegetarian protein option.
The green goddess dressing can typically last up to one week when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Just give it a shake or a stir before using as the ingredients may separate slightly over time.
Green goddess salad is as good for you as it looks. It's packed with a variety of vitamins and nutrients from the fresh greens, vegetables, and herbs.
The dressing, while creamy, is made with a generous amount of Greek yogurt and light mayonnaise can be used to help reduce the calorie and fat content if desired or substituted with more Greek yogurt.
This salad is a delicious and nutritious option for those looking to eat more vegetables.
Green Goddess Salad is highly customizable. You can add or omit ingredients based on your dietary preferences or what you have on hand. It's easy to make it vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free by simply choosing ingredients that fit your dietary needs.
Green Goddess salad and dressing have a history that dates back to the 1920s. The dressing was reportedly created at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco as a tribute to the hit play "The Green Goddess." Over time, it has become a classic salad dressing that's loved by many for its fresh and flavorful taste and texture.
★ More Salad Recipes ★
Want more delicious salad ideas?
Browse all my easy salad recipes and be sure to Pin your favorites for later!
This Green Goddess salad was featured on South Your Mouth!
Green Goddess Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Salad
- 16 oz mixed greens
- 8 oz coleslaw mix
- 4 oz cherry or grape tomatoes quartered
- ¼ cup red onion diced
- 2 avocados cut in half and thinly sliced
- 2 radishes thinly sliced
- 1 English cucumber diced
- 1 stalk celery leaves removed, thinly sliced
Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise or sour cream
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoon garlic paste
- 2 green onions
- 2 tablespoon fresh dill
- 2 tablespoon fresh chives
- ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves loosely packed
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 cup spinach
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice (1 lemon)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
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Instructions
- Make dressing. In a food processor, add mayo, yogurt, garlic, green onions, dill, chives, and parsley. Blend until smooth. Next, add in honey, dijon mustard, spinach, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Blend again until smooth, scraping down the sides if needed. Then with the lid on, using the opening in the top, blend dressing while slowly pouring in olive oil. Blend until smooth. Use a funnel to pour dressing into a jar. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Prepare salad. Wash, chop, and prep salad ingredients. Once prepped add all salad ingredients, except sliced avocado, to a large bowl and toss.
- Add dressing. Right before serving add dressing and toss to combine. Serve with sliced avocado over each serving.
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