Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing is such a classic! Made with iceberg lettuce, crispy bacon, cherry tomatoes and homemade blue cheese dressing. 15 minutes and it’s ready for the table!
For years, iceberg lettuce was properly slammed by chefs who thought it tasteless and had nothing but texture. What’s wrong with great texture?
Slice an iceberg head for a classic wedge salad, add blue cheese dressing, smoky bacon and some cherry tomatoes, and even the worst kitchen snobs will change their minds!
Wedge lettuce dates back to the early 20th century, when iceberg lettuce was simply dressed with a creamy dressing like Roquefort, Russian, or Green Goddess before serving.
Blue cheese and bacon became hugely popular additions in the 1950s, but then the dish fell out of favor as the trend waned and leafier, more flavorful salads (like red and green leaves, oak leaves, and others) gained popularity.
But all good things return to the table, as do wedge salads.
How to make wedge lettuce
This salad requires so little prep that you can make it in the time it takes to fry bacon. If you’re serving this at a dinner party, you can make life even easier by frying the bacon and whisking the dressing ahead of time.
The best dressing for wedge salad
Crumble the bacon, add a few colorful cherry tomatoes and some chives and you have wonderful textures and tastes: creamy, crunchy, crunchy, smoky, juicy, aromatic. The classics are classic for a reason.
More classic salad recipes
- Waldorf Salad
- Caesar salad
- Cobb salad
- Steak salad with lemon vinaigrette
- Arugula salad with beets and goat cheese
Classic wedge salad with blue cheese dressing
Make-ahead tip: The bacon and dressing can both be made several days in advance. If desired, briefly heat the bacon in the microwave before serving.
ingredients
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6 tight stripes bacon
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2 ounces blue cheesedecay
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1/4 Cup mayonnaise
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1/4 Cup sour cream
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1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
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1/2 teaspoon Worcester sauce, or more to taste
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hyphen hot saucelike Tabasco, or more to taste
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1/4 teaspoon kosher Saltor more to taste
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1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepperor more to taste
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heavy cream or milk, as needed, to thin the dressing
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1 head iceberg lettuce
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12 red or yellow cherry tomatoesquartered
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2 tablespoon freshly chopped chives
special equipment
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food processor
method
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Cook bacon:
Fry the bacon strips in a heavy skillet, turning frequently, for 5 minutes or until evenly golden and crispy throughout.
Place on a plate lined with kitchen paper. Cool and crumble.
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Make the Blue Cheese Dressing:
In a food processor, combine blue cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, Worcestershire hot sauce, salt and pepper. Pulse the mixture until smooth. For seasoning, taste and add more Worcestershire, hot sauce, salt or pepper if you like. If you need to thin the mixture, add cream or milk, 1 teaspoon at a time.
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Prepare iceberg lettuce:
Discard the outer leaves of the lettuce. Halve the lettuce through the stalk. Cut each half into 3 wedges so each piece has some core attached. With the wedges lying flat on the cutting board, slice off the hard part of the core from each wedge, leaving enough to keep the wedges intact.
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Assemble salads:
Arrange the wedges on 6 salad plates. Pour some dressing over the wedges. Sprinkle with bacon, tomatoes and chives. Serve immediately.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 210 | calories |
| 17g | Fat |
| 7g | carbohydrates |
| 7g | protein |
