The BEST Salad Recipe-Salad de Maison [+Video]

The BEST Family Favorite Salad recipe ever! This easy salad is made with fresh romaine lettuce, two kinds of cheese, crispy bacon, sweet tomatoes, crunchy toasted almonds, and fresh cucumbers all tossed with a healthy lemon vinaigrette.

My mom would often say that she’s not a great salad maker, which is not true. Her strawberry feta poppyseed salad is hands down one of my favorite salads ever. I cannot beg you enough to make it. Oh and she’s famous for her Bowtie Chicken Pasta Salad too.

The Process

I began testing simple family salad recipes that even kids would like a few years ago, but no matter how hard I tried to find something simple it always ended up a bit more involved. Tell me you love to cook without telling me you love to cook…

So I’d circle back to Cooking Classy’s recipe for Salad de Maison, and forget about my own search for a bit. With time I realized that her recipe really is just the best for a simple, healthy, quick and easy salad recipe.

Cheese in salad is a big win for me, but which cheese is best? I tried all the different varieties; cheddar completely overpowered the salad, swiss hit all the wrong notes, havarti was soft and didn’t fall through the salad like I wanted.

I finally settled on two cheeses that I think transform this salad: Manchego and Parmesan cheese. Listen, manchego can be bought old or young, you will need to decide if you like the more mild or more pungent. I prefer the younger manchego to be honest, but both are deliciously mild. The parmesan adds that salty, nutty note your salad needs to pump up the flavor.

What Do I Need to Make Salad de Maison?

We’ve talked about a lot of the ingredients needed for this simple green salad recipe, but here is a complete list so you know what you need:

• Slivered Almonds
• Bacon
• Romaine Hearts
• Roma Tomatoes or Cherry Tomatoes
• English Cucumber
• Manchego Cheese

Lemon Dressing

• Light Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Fresh Lemon Juice
• Dijon Mustard
• Honey
• Salt
• Black Pepper

I love the BLT flavor that all the ingredients have when they’re combined! The measurements and details for each ingredient can be found in the recipe at the end of the post.

How to Make The Best Salad [Salad de Maison]

Before you get started with this salad, make sure you have cooked the bacon and toasted the almonds. It seems a little silly to include the steps for making a salad, but just in case you need it…

1. Combine all the ingredients for the salad in a bowl.
2. In a separate small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the dressing and whisk to combine.
3. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.

The complete instructions with the full list of recipe ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Variations

Salads are so adaptable depending on what you have in the fridge and what your family loves. Feel free to add more veggies (carrots, red onions, peas, snap peas, celery, etc), add avocado, add croutons, swap the almonds for a different type of nut or add sunflower seed or pepitas, etc.

You can also add some grilled chicken or grilled steak and make this salad into a main dish.

Watch the Video Here

Tips for the Perfect Salad

Whenever I plan to test a new salad recipe, I always make sure there is something crunchy, something creamy, some acidity, something nutty and many fresh veggies. You can’t go wrong if you include all those things. Here are a few more tips for this recipe:

• Rinse and dry the lettuce. You can either pat the lettuce dry or use a salad spinner. If the lettuce is wet, the salad dressing won’t cling to it.
• Don’t skip toasting the almonds. It really amplifies the flavor!
• Grate the cheese yourself. If you buy the pre-shredded cheese, it has a little different flavor.
• Once the dressing has been added, serve immediately. If it sits too long, the dressing will start to wilt the lettuce.

Can I Halve or Double the Recipe?

Yes, absolutely! Scale up or scale down depending on the size of crowd you plan to feed. I also like to have all the ingredients prepped in the fridge so I can throw a bowl of salad together for lunch some days.

What to Serve with Salad de Maison

This salad recipe makes the perfect side dish with just about any meal. It can go with comfort food like classic meatloaf, chicken pot pie, or beef stroganoff. It also is great with anything off the grill or smoker like smoked beef brisket, marinated smoked chicken thighs, or the best grilled steak.

Storage Tips

Once the dressing has been added to the salad, it won’t last more than a day. If you know you’re going to have leftovers, I recommend storing the dressing and all the ingredients separately in the refrigerator and assembling right before serving.

This salad is also a great make ahead recipe. Rince, chop and dry the lettuce and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Make the dressing and store in the fridge. Cook the bacon and toast the almonds and store them in separate containers. Then just assemble everything before serving.

The best salad recipes don’t have to be fancy or complicated to be downright delicious! This salad de maison recipe checks all the boxes for a perfect salad and the homemade lemon vinaigrette is perfection!

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