This classic wedge salad recipe features iceberg lettuce, tomato, crumbled bacon, chives, and an easy, creamy, homemade blue cheese dressing you’ll crave time and time again.
I am a green salad girl. From leafy spring lettuces delicately dressed in my favorite vinaigrette to spunky arugula salad to loaded-to-the-gills cobb salads, I love ’em all. But when it comes to my cravings for crisp and crunchy green salads, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as digging into a classic iceberg wedge salad that requires both a fork and a knife. Iceberg lettuce is the white bread of lettuces and is just as much beloved. Crunchy, watery, with crags to catch every chunk of bacon or tomato and layers that stand up to the heft of homemade blue cheese dressing, there’s something about a classic iceberg wedge steakhouse salad that somehow makes this somewhat boring leafy green totally exciting.
What is a Wedge Salad Made of
To make the wedge salad itself, you’ll need:
- Iceberg lettuce. Super fresh, extra crisp, and cold iceberg lettuce is a must in this salad.
- Crumbled bacon. I cook the bacon first, then break it apart once cooled to ensure crisp bites aside the flavorful fatty bites too.
- Tomatoes. For tomatoes that are sweet and juicy all year round, choose sweet cherry or grape tomatoes. Leave them whole, or make them pretty by slicing them in half.
- Chives. I like the mellow onion flavor chives provide and don’t overwhelm the salad. Thin cuts of sliced red onion add the heat too.
- Fresh blue cheese. Sure, there’s blue cheese in the dressing, but a few blue cheese crumbles on top add an extra tangy zing.
What’s in the Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
If you want to enjoy a truly spectacular wedge salad, you need to make your own blue cheese dressing. Specifically, you need to make the BEST blue cheese dressing. Lucky for you, I’m sharing my go-to homemade blue cheese dressing with you today.
The homemade blue cheese dressing is far above and beyond anything you can find on the store shelves, even the refrigerator section, and has just the right bite thanks to a dash of red wine vinegar and a bit of buttermilk.
To make the homemade blue cheese dressing, you’ll need:
- light sour cream
- mayonnaise
- buttermilk
- red wine vinegar
- Worcestershire sauce
- garlic salt
- black pepper
- blue cheese
- chives
How to Make This Wedge Salad
First, make the blue cheese dressing. Learning how to make blue cheese dressing is as simple as mixing together all the ingredients, placing the mixture in the fridge for 20-30 minutes for the flavors to meld, then drizzling it over your wedge salad. Seriously, that’s it!
Fry the bacon in strips, then break it into smaller pieces. I find it less apt to burn and more flavorful when frying the bacon in strips before making it into bite-size chunks. Drain the bacon on a paper towel after frying.
Cut the iceberg into wedges. Remove any limp outer leaves of the lettuce head and then cut in half, then cut each half into quartered wedges.
Assemble your salad. Place each wedge cut side up on a plate, drizzle with the homemade blue cheese dressing, top with bacon crumbles, sprinkle with chives and blue cheese chunks, then add a few wedges of tomato on top or to the side. Add a bit more black pepper and serve!
Tips for Making the Best Wedge Salad
- I’m a fan of lots of chunky blue cheese but if you prefer yours on the un-chunked side, just mash up those cheesy bits a bit more and you’re good to go.
- You could always make this classic wedge salad recipe a main by adding 3 ounces of shredded rotisserie chicken breast or simple grilled salmon to it.
- Lastly, I usually reserve a few especially blue-veined pieces of blue cheese to sprinkle on top of the salad and reserve a few strands of chives to snip at an angle and sprinkle on top. Bigger chunks of freshly ground black pepper are a must here in my opinion.
How Long Does Blue Cheese Dressing Last?
If desired, you can make a batch of the homemade blue cheese dressing in advance and keep it on hand for salads throughout the week. The blue cheese dressing should last 5-7 days in the fridge.
Can I Add Other Salad Toppings?
Of course! But then you won’t be making a classic wedge salad recipe. (It’d be a tasty salad, but not a classic wedge salad!).
Other wedge salad toppings to try:
- Red onion
- Avocado
- Homemade croutons
- Dried fruit such as cranberries or apricot
- Nuts
- Fried onion bits
- Hard-boiled egg
- Try pancetta instead of bacon
- Roast your tomatoes instead of using raw ones
- Swap the blue cheese dressing for ranch dressing
The BEST Wedge Salad
Ingredients
- For the Blue Cheese Dressing
- 1 cup light sour cream
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk
- 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoons garlic salt
- 4 ounces blue cheese (reserve a few chunks for garnish)
- 3 chives minced (reserve a few for garnish)
- For the Salad
- 1 head iceberg lettuce cored with limp outer leaves removed
- 4 strips bacon cooked, cooled and crumbled
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes cut in half or in wedges
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add all of the dressing ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk well to combine. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
- Remove any limp outer leaves of the lettuce head and then cut in half, then cut each half into quartered wedges.
- Place each wedge on a plate, drizzle with the blue cheese dressing, top with a few crumbles of bacon, a sprinkling of chives and reserved blue cheese chunks with slices of tomatoes.
- Give one more sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper, and serve.
