Simple Butter Lettuce Salad
Crisp, refreshing, a little rich, a little savory, sweet and zippy, this gorgeous butter lettuce salad is all of the things and hits all of the spots. Butter lettuce is one of those underrated, often-overlooked ingredients that feels completely luxurious—it’s called butter lettuce, it even sounds luxurious—and that we highly recommend incorporating into your everyday, or at least your every week.
The Perfect Side Salad Recipe for Every Occasion.
This particular salad recipe is actually inspired by a dish served at Pollo Bravo, a restaurant we love here in Portland. In their version, radicchio is star, which we love, too, but is a little too bitter to please all of the palates that we’re usually looking to please (ahem, picky eaters, we’re looking a you). Plus, radicchio is often super expensive and, unless its in season, doesn’t look worth the extra money. Versatile, kid-friendly and widely-available year round—thanks, hydroponics!—butter leaf lettuce is one of our very favorite salad lettuces, so making the swap was a no-brainer. If you happen to have a household full of radicchio hounds, though, feel free to try it that way, too. But anyway, back to that delicious butter lettuce...
What is Butter Lettuce?
“Butter lettuce”—or sometimes you’ll see it mentioned by the full name “butterhead lettuce”—is a term that actually encompasses a few varieties of butter lettuce, including Boston lettuce and Bibb lettuce. There isn’t too much variation in terms of flavor, though, so any of these lettuces that you see at the store or in the market will yield just about the same salad. Any of the lettuces in this type of lettuce family will be delicate and (you guessed it) a little sweetly buttery in flavor. That delicate, rich sweetness is why we love it so much for this salad—it makes for a perfect complement to all of the sharp, savory things we toss it with to make a super duper crave-able salad.
How Do You Make Butter Lettuce Salad?
Here’s the CliffsNotes: take Boston lettuce, wash and dry it and add your favorite dressing. While that will yield a completely fine butter lettuce salad, this one has become our go-to Bibb lettuce salad because it utilizes bold flavors and contrasting textures to elevate a totally-fine salad to an even-our-kids-can’t-stop-eating-it salad. Here’s what give this salad it’s superstar status:
- Castelvetrano Olives: these tiny green Sicilian olives are so brightly flavored, just salty enough, and (are you tired of this word yet?) buttery, they’re the perfect fit for this salad. They add texture and their vibrant color seems to just enhance the bright green of the lettuce.
- Panko: these crisp, airy Japanese breadcrumbs (well, technically they’re flakes, but that’s a story for another day) are always, always, always in our pantry. They lend exactly the crunch we’re looking for to just about anything we find ourselves wanting to add crunch to, including this salad. We love that they’re usually unseasoned, too, so they don’t add anything other than a gorgeous crunch.
- Manchego: this Spanish aged sheep’s milk cheese is creamy and salty, but hard enough to shave on top of this salad for an elegant presentation as well as a super yummy hit of umami.
- Apple cider vinegar-honey vinaigrette: tangy and sharp, apple cider vinegar and sweet honey are a vinaigrette dream team, complementing and contrasting in ways that will make you dream of all of the other things you might drizzle this dressing on.
- Chives: fresh herbs in salads are one of those restaurant-y tricks that just makes a salad taste so, so good. They may seem like an afterthought, but the light-as-air oniony flavor of fresh chives really brings a lot to this salad.
What to Serve With This Perfect Salad?
Clean, sharp, crunchy and satisfying, our butter lettuce salad is the perfect foil for a big, rich holiday meal, giving even a Prime Rib an element of virtuousness. It’s also just as lovely as part of a lighter spread—maybe a low-key brunch with friends, starring this salad and a Spring-y Five Onion Tart?
Tools You Will Need.
- A lovely platter.
- Microplane for the Manchebo.
- If you have space to store it, we highly recommend a salad spinner.
How'd You Like it?
Whenever you decide to make this salad, and whomever you decide to share it with, we want to hear about it! Snap a photo, and share it on instagram, making sure to tag us @themodernproper and #themodernproper so we can see your successes!
