Steakhouse-Style Classic Iceberg Wedge Salad
Steakhouse-style classic wedge salad made from iceberg lettuce, topped with buttermilk blue cheese dressing, bacon, and tomatoes is a great dinner side. For date night or for a crowd.
Servings 4 salads
Calories 525kcal
Ingredients
- 4-5 strips thick cut bacon
- 2 thick slices rustic bread, crusts trimmed off
- olive oil and kosher salt, to toss with bread
- 20 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, stem trimmed and outer leaves removed
- 2 tbsp minced fresh chives
- fresh ground black pepper
- 1 cup blue cheese dressing, plus more if needed
Instructions
- To make your own dressing, use my Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing recipe. I prefer to make that first and have it on hand already when I'm making the salad.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange bacon slices on a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes, then turn the sheet 180 degrees (back to front) and bake for another 5-7 minutes. Transfer the crisp, browned bacon to a towel lined plate to cool.
- Cut the slices of bread into croutons. Toss with enough olive oil to coat the bread and sprinkle with salt. Heat a large skillet over low. Add the croutons and brown slowly until golden brown all over, adding more olive oil to the pan if the croutons seem too dry. Transfer the croutons to a plate. (Alternatively, bake the croutons in the oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes, turning once or twice.)
- Slice the tomatoes and shallots into a medium bowl. Whisk together the vinaigrette of olive oil, red wine vinegar, and kosher salt. Pour the dressing over the tomatoes and toss to combine.
- Using a bread knife, cut the iceberg lettuce into 4 wedges, making each cut through the stem end.
- Arrange one wedge on each salad plate. Spoon over the tomato-shallot salad onto each, getting some of vinaigrette down into the leaves of the lettuce. Then pour over a portion of blue cheese dressing so that the dressing drips down the sides of the wedge. Crumble over a slice or so of bacon and scatter some croutons around.
- Finish the salad by sprinkling some chives and a couple of grinds of black pepper over everything.
Notes
- Croutons: I prefer to fry the croutons over baking them. Frying gives the croutons a crispy exterior and a chewy interior. Also, you can fry the croutons while the bacon is cooking.
- Inspiration: This recipe was inspired by the article Wedge Salads Don't Need Gussying, Just Proper Assembly in the NYT Magazine.
- Wedge Salad for a Crowd: See the recipe discussion in the post for tips on making wedge salad for a larger group.
Nutrition
Calories: 525kcal