How to Make a Great Salad with Iceberg Lettuce

I tend not to keep up too much with food trends, so I’m honestly not sure if Iceberg lettuce is cool again in this moment or if it’s still decidedly uncool. I dunno, and I don’t really care! Because delicious is as delicious does, and I’m running a quick and (crunchy! and spicy!) campaign to get good ole’ iceberg lettuce back onto the main stage. Today, I’m sharing how to make a great salad with Iceberg Lettuce. Sure, you’ve got your kale and your chicories, your spring mixes, cabbages, and your Romaine … but you know what? A super cold and unbeatably crunchy and layered salad build on iceberg and iceberg alone is a really great thing. Today here on MKL, I’ll tell you why.

Tips for building a gorgeous salad

I don’t know if it’s just so obvious, but I love shooting salads. I love styling them up all pretty like and serving them family style. The whole, “we eat with our eyes first” truth proves especially poignant when it comes to salads, because sometimes the salad isn’t the most exciting the on the table – it can be a bit of a looked-over afterthought, you know? So, to lift it up and give it more of a spotlight (i.e. to make sure people eat it) I think taking care to build it in a nice-looking way can really help in that effort.

A pretty salad can steal the show

I swear a family style salad on a huge platter just looks SO attractive. It screams Healthy! Vibrant! Wellness! So, I’ve started building my salads this way every time – family style – to really show it all off. Then, I just have people serve themselves, keeping the dressing on the side or in big, tasty-looking dollops all over the platter.

True Colors

This salad is totally green and that is very intentional. In a celebration of our lovely Iceberg, I decided to stick to a single color in my salad palette which is of course not all all necessary, but just a nice thing to do. Again, my effort to make salads interesting so my family will continue to be excited about them sometimes leads me to simply re-think how I serve them. My kids got a kick out of it when I told them that we were having a strictly green salad – and nothing was invited to the party unless it passed the color test. That simple, silly little thing captured their interest and lo and behold – they dove into things with much greater enthusiasm had a not used that very small, yet oddly helpful hook.

Iceberg Salad FAQ’s

Question and answer time! Iceberg lettuce is so universal and is such a familiar thing, that it might be easy to overlook any special tricks or extra care that we should take with it. But just like all fresh produce, there are certain ways to preserve its freshness and make the absolute most of it. Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions related to all things ICEBERG!

How long does iceberg stay fresh?

Iceberg lettuce will stay fresh for about a week. Sometimes I can squeeze out closer to 10 days, but usually by that time I’ve found ways to use it all up.

How to store leftover salad

One reason I try to avoid dressing an entire salad is because I like to know that, if need be, I can actually save any leftovers for the next day. Dressed salads won’t keep (at least not in a way that is particularly appetizing). The salt in the dressing, as well as any acids, will go to work on your lettuce(s) and break them down, going all wilty and droopy and well, not great. 

So, don’t dress your whole salad right outta the gate but rather, serve your dressing on the side or in big singular dollops (love a dollop!) that won’t compromise the lettuces as they sit. Snugly wrap up your salad on its platter in plastic wrap or you can transfer the salad to large gallon-sized plastic storage bags and store it loosely closed/sealed.

Can you freeze iceberg lettuce?

NO. I mean, yes you can, but it will be very not good upon thawing. Iceberg goes all mushy and limp after it’s been frozen and thawed, making for bad eats. I’ve seen articles about this that try to give examples of times when you could, in fact, put that thawed/mushy lettuce to use in things like smoothies. But I’m still just sitting here scratching my head over it. Iceberg isn’t good if/when frozen. I’m all for “waste not, want not,” absolutely (my first cookbook celebrated this!), but sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade.

When do you season a salad?

Seasoning salads is the greatest thing! I don’t think it’s intuitive, as we’re all so used to dressing our salads. But a nice sprinkle of salt and pepper – just before serving, no sooner – will only serve to deepen and amplify the flavor of each and every bite. 

As far as timing goes, salt will break down the veggies, so this is why it’s important to NOT season the salad in advance. I like to create special salad spice blends as well, depending on the type pf salad I’m serving. But honestly? A nice dusting of nutritional yeast will elevate the flavor of even the simplest salad. In fact, if I had to add one more ingredient to this Iceberg Salad, it would probably be that. So good guys – worth purchasing a jar if you’ve never tried it. 

What is the best way to wash iceberg lettuce?

When the question is how to make a great salad with iceberg lettuce, I think the most important answer is more about when to wash the lettuce, than how. Lettuce should be stored in a plastic bag that is only loosely sealed (air is not bad) in the fridge. Then it should be rinsed thoroughly under cold, running water just before using. Some people like to moisten a paper towel and leave that in the bag, along with the lettuce. But I remain unconvinced that this is at all necessary. Save the paper towel! 

Like seasoning (mentioned above), water will break down the lettuce, compromising its texture and the very best thing about it – THE CRUNCH.

So, I like to remove and discard the outermost leaves, and then separate the others that I want to use and run them under cold water to remove any errant dirt/grime. I don’t have a salad spinner, so I layer my leaves on a tray or plate with some paper towels to absorb as much of the water as possible before using. 

What You’ll Need to Make the Best Iceberg Lettuce Salad

You certainly don’t need a laundry list of ingredients to build a gorgeous Iceberg Lettuce salad that really satisfies. No, really the trick here is making sure we’ve covered the important bases: crunchy, creamy, tangy, salty, spicy (sweet is an optional salad element, but I don’t think necessary in this one).

So, we’re going to reach for the things that best achieve each of those goals. The things that will hit those major targets. Feel free to swap in other ingredients for the ones that I’ve written into the recipe. As with most of the (non baking) recipes on MKL, that sort of simple riffing is always welcome.

INGREDIENTS

1 head of iceberg lettuce

½ cup pickled jalapenos

Heaping cup of Italian parsley, tender leaves and stems, roughly chopped

½ cup roughly chopped fresh dill (give or take)

About a cup of thinly sliced English cucumber

One cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

1 to 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or ACV ( to taste)

½ garlic clove, grated or finely minced

Salt and pepper to taste

How to make a great salad with iceberg lettuce: method

DIRECTIONS

To prep your lettuce, pull apart the leaves of the iceberg head (discarding the outermost) and, using a salad spinner or just your hands and some paper towels, thoroughly wash and then dry the lettuce. Arrange it all on a big platter (or divide between individual plates).

Scatter the pickled jalapenos all over the lettuce leaves, along with the chopped Italian parsley and dill and the cucumber. 

Pop the salad in the fridge (if there’s room) to keep super cold while you whip up the dressing. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream with the vinegar, garlic (if using), and season with some salt and pepper. Dollop all around the salad in big puddles/piles – perfect for dipping and dragging all of the crunchy lettuce, or for mixing in as per usual. 

Just before serving, season the salad generously with freshly cracked pepper and a sprinkling of salt. 

Really into salads? Yeah, me too

Salads aren’t super tough or complicated to make. I suppose you could complicate any salad as much as you like, but mostly, I find that it isn’t hard core recipes that I seek when my head is in salad land but rather, just some really great inspiration I usually just need a basic suggestion as to what sort of salad direction I should head, and then my gut and cravings will take it from there.

Do I want a hearty main course salad? Do I want more of a slaw situation? Am I going classic Ceasar or tangy Greek? Or are we going for like a protein-driven-mayo-full sort of thing (Hello chicken salad! Hiya egg salad!). Regardless of which way my salad arrow is pointing, I do have some awesome quick-inspo sources/books that typically help me drive my salad cravings all the way home (and by that I mean, they help me make up my mind and actually get something on the table).

Here are a few nice books that might strike your fancy, if you’d like some extra salad inspiration in your kitchen:

Salad for President (Get this book! It’s so so great).

Food 52’s Mighty Salads

Salad Freak

If you like the looks of this Great Iceberg Salad, then you should probably also check out

A Perfect Fall Salad

Roasted Broccoli Caesar Salad

Creamsicle Caprese Salad

Watermelon Caprese Salad with Candied Bacon

Autumn Harvest Crunch Salad

Pizza Night Salad

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