Classic Wedge Salad with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

This recipe was originally published on A Food Lover’s Kitchen.

This classic wedge salad is a perfect accompaniment to your main dish. There’s definitely a reason it’s a classic. The creamy blue cheese dressing pairs so well with the acidic tomatoes and rich bacon.

» You might enjoy this Golden Beet & Blue Cheese Salad.

The wedge salad made a name for itself being served alongside hunks of meat at high-end steakhouses. For me, it’s still one of the best side dishes for a steak. It’s the only thing I ever serve with my Tri Tip Steak.

I like to load it up with all the toppings – tomatoes, walnuts, bacon. I can even forgive it for being a little difficult to eat, because it’s so beautiful when it’s all dressed up.

If you’re looking for a great summer salad, the classic wedge salad is always the winner. The crisp, fresh iceberg lettuce has perfect summer appeal. While it’s not a particularly “light” salad, in terms of calories, it’s a playful and fun addition to the meal.

Other great salads we love are this Pear Gorgonzola Salad, Fennel, Avocado and Blood Orange Salad and this amazing Corn & Black Bean Pasta that go so well with any type of BBQ or grilled meats.

Toppings for a Wedge Salad

Really, you can top the salad with whatever ingredients you want, but the classic version has just tomatoes, bacon, walnuts, and blue cheese. I like to change out the walnuts for pine nuts once in a while. I also might add cubed chicken to make it a full meal, instead of a side salad.

You can use full-sized tomatoes, but I prefer to use cherry tomatoes because the flavor is so much more concentrated and they aren’t as watery.

You can candy the walnuts, if you like. I typically don’t go to that length, because it takes more time, but I do toast them first.

If you use blue cheese crumbles instead of or in addition to the blue cheese dressing, I highly recommend trying to find some of this Rogue Creamery blue cheese. It’s my absolute favorite blue cheese. It’s produced in Oregon, so it’s not going to be found too far outside the west coast, but it’s worth it if you ever get a chance to try it.

Assembling a Classic Wedge Salad

There’s not a lot of preparation involved in creating the perfect wedge salad, so we won’t bore you with too many details. It’s more important to get on to the eating stage!

If you are making multiple salads, one wedge of lettuce will make 4 or 5 salads, depending on how large the head is and how big of a side dish you want. A small head of lettuce, cut into fourths, is just about perfect if you’re serving it with pork chops, chicken wings, or a steak.

I like to paint the wedge with the blue cheese dressing, which acts as a sort of glue to hold the ingredients onto the sides of the wedge. Otherwise, they mostly just topple off the sides.

You can use homemade or store-bought blue cheese dressing. Here in London, it’s very difficult to find prepared blue cheese dressing. I’ve only maybe seen it once. So I always make my own. The recipe for it is included below. It’s very easy to make.

Another alternative is to use ranch dressing and just sprinkle the salad with blue cheese. That’s pretty much all there is to a wedge salad. It’s just a classically good salad. Even if you have to eat it with a knife and fork.

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