Garden Salad Recipe

This classic garden salad is loaded with fresh veggies including green leaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, grated carrot, red onion, radish, chopped parsley, and toasted pepitas. It’s tossed with a tangy honey mustard dressing. This is the perfect house salad to pair with any meal.

Growing up, this is the salad that my mom made every week to go with dinner. Although her salad featured romaine lettuce and store-bought ranch dressing, this recipe uses a healthier homemade dressing that perfectly coats the fresh vegetables. 

Garden salad ingredients

Lettuce: I like to use green or red leaf lettuce to make this salad. You can use any soft greens that you have on hand. Romaine, iceberg, Butter lettuce, or mixed greens would all work.

Cherry tomatoes: I like using cherry tomatoes because they are known for the sweet and juicy flavor.

You can substitute with grape tomatoes or 1 large chopped tomato if you prefer.

Cucumber: I use 1 or 2 Persian cucumbers (mini cucumbers) for this salad. You’ll need 1 cup of sliced cucumbers.

Carrot: You can use a large box grater or julienne peeler to shred your carrots.

TIP: A box grater makes the carrots wetter since it grates them into smaller pieces. If you find that it gets too wet, you can gently squeeze out the excess water from the carrots with a paper towel or tea towel before adding them to the salad.

Red onion: I use ½ of a red onion for this salad. You can substitute with ¼ cup green onions (scallions) thinly sliced if you prefer.

TIP: To tone down the taste of the red onion, you can soak the slices in cold water for 15 minutes before assembling the salad. Drain the onions thoroughly before adding them to the salad.

Radish: Growing up, my mom always included radish in her garden salad. It adds a slightly spicy and peppery element which I love in this recipe.

Parsley: I love including fresh herbs because it adds good flavor to the salad. I use curly parsley but you can use flat-leaf parsley if you prefer.

Pepitas (green pumpkin seeds): Green pumpkin seeds are rich in magnesium, healthy fats, and fiber. When they’re toasted, they add an incredible crunch to this salad.

You can substitute with sunflower seeds, sliced avocado, or croutons if you prefer.

Honey mustard dressing: I love the tangy and sweet tatse of honey mustard dressing. It pairs nicely with the other veggies.

My homemade honey mustard dressing is a vinaigrette that’s made with olive oil instead of mayonnaise for a healthier take on this classic dressing.

How to make this garden salad recipe

Prep the greens: Start by separating the lettuce leaves and rinsing them under cool running water. I use a salad spinner to thoroughly wash and dry the lettuce leaves. This makes it super easy.

Use a paper towel to gently dry any area of the lettuce leaves that still have water on them. This will keep the leaves crisp and help the salad dressing evenly coat everything.

Make the dressing: In a jar with a fitted lid, add the apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey (or maple syrup), extra virgin olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt and black pepper.

Seal the jar and give it a good shake until the dressing emulsifies and everything is well combined.

Don’t have a jar? Add all the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined.

Toss and serve: In a large salad bowl (or mixing bowl), add the washed chopped lettuce and other ingredients (cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, carrot, radish, fresh parsley, and toasted pepitas).

Drizzle the prepared dressing over the salad and gently toss to mix all the ingredients. Serve immediately.

What vegetables go in a garden salad?

I like to use green or red leaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, shredded carrots, red onion, radish and fresh parsley in my garden salad.

You can use any vegetables that you have on hand. Some other great choices would be thinly sliced white mushrooms, shredded beets, celery, green onion, sliced avocado, shaved Brussel sprouts, red cabbage, finely chopped broccoli, bell peppers, olives, or pickled asparagus.

What salad dressing is best for garden salad?

I love using a honey mustard vinaigrette for my garden salad. Other salad dressings that would go well with this salad include classic ranch dressing, lemon vinaigrette, red wine vinaigrette, balsamic vinaigrette, Italian dressing, or a green goddess dressing.

Please let me know how you like this garden salad recipe in the comments below! Your feedback and review encourages me to keep creating new and yummy recipes. I hope you love this salad as much as I do.

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