Easy Chopped Salad Recipe
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This easy Chopped Salad Recipe is filled with rows of colorful fresh vegetables, creating a beautiful and perfect side dish. Although this chopped salad is delightful throughout the year, it’s especially delicious for springtime gatherings.
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Chopped Salad Recipe Ingredients
This salad is simple and easy to mix and match with your favorite vegetables, toppings, and dressings. It’s also perfect for meal prep, spring gatherings, or quick lunches. Here are the ingredients I used:
For the salad dressing
Let’s begin with the dressing. I’m currently loving Honey Mustard dressing right now, and I especially love to toss it with this salad. The dressing recipe (in the recipe card below) combines Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar for its zesty flavor, fresh lemon juice, and extra-virgin olive oil, along with salt and black pepper to taste.
Alternatives to this dressing might include a delicious Lemon Vinaigrette that you can whip up in minutes, or even a store-bought ranch dressing, which is also delicious.
For the chopped salad
- Corn: You can use unthawed frozen corn, drained canned corn, or even fresh corn on the cob. The quickest options are frozen and canned corn, but fresh sweet corn is always a delicious idea!
- Seasoning: Ground cumin is used when roasting the corn to bring a warm, earthy and slightly nutty flavor to the sweet corn. Salt and black pepper are used in both the dressing and the roasted corn.
- Greens: I love to use a primary green of chopped romaine lettuce and add a secondary green of fresh arugula, especially in the spring. You can substitute fresh spinach, kale, or even iceberg lettuce if you would prefer, or keep it simple by using only the romaine.
- Toppings: The rows of toppings for this salad include thinly sliced green onions, chopped avocados, thinly sliced radishes, and chopped hard-boiled eggs.
- Cheeses: Grated Parmesan cheese and crumbled feta make a delicious combination, but feel free to use your favorite cheese, such as crumbled blue cheese, goat cheese, mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, or Asiago.
- Fresh herbs add a nice savory touch to the chopped salad. Fresh cilantro pairs beautifully with the cumin-seasoned corn, but fresh parsley, oregano, or your favorite herb can be easily substituted.
How to Make a Chopped Salad
You’ll find the full, step-by-step recipe below, but here’s a brief overview of what you can expect when making this chopped salad.
- Roast the corn and boil, peel, and chop the eggs.
- Whisk or shake the dressing (if making homemade) in a small bowl or jar.
- Chop the green onions, avocados, and radishes.
- Assemble the salad and drizzle with dressing before serving.
Variations
I mentioned that this chopped salad recipe is simple to customize and make your own! While I had a Cobb salad idea in mind, using hard-boiled eggs, you can easily substitute or add other toppings as well. Look for crunchy textures, savory flavors, and a bit of sweetness. Here are some ideas:
- Roasted chickpeas: Brings a delicious flavor with healthy fiber and a protein boost!
- Nuts and seeds: I love chopped pistachios, but almonds, walnuts, and seeds like pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds add nice texture with extra crunch and flavor.
- Crispy vegetables: Crisp, tender vegetables, whether roasted or sautéed, can add a unique texture to the salad.
- Protein: You can also add protein like grilled chicken, steak, shrimp, or crispy bacon.
More Salad Recipes to Try
If you’re looking for a fresh and easy chopped salad recipe, you’ll love this version with crisp romaine, hard-boiled eggs, roasted corn, radishes, fresh herbs, and a tangy honey mustard dressing. For more delicious salad ideas, check out these favorites:
- Summer Corn Salad – A bright and flavorful salad that’s perfect for summer gatherings.
- Simple Greek Salad – A classic mix of fresh vegetables, feta cheese, and a tangy vinaigrette.
- Healthy Broccoli Salad – A crunchy, creamy salad that’s always a crowd-pleaser.
- Southwest Chicken Salad – A hearty and satisfying salad with bold Tex-Mex flavors.
- Fresh Watermelon Cucumber Salad – A simple and refreshing side dish that’s ready in minutes.
Explore all of our easy salad recipes for more fresh and healthy ideas!
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Easy Chopped Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Honey Mustard dressing:
- 1/4 cup Dijon mustard peeled
- 1 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- fine sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
For the salad:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 romaine hearts trimmed and chopped into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 5 green onions white and tender green parts, thinly sliced
- 2 large avocados halved, pitted, peeled and diced
- 8 radishes halved lengthwise and thinly sliced into half-moons
- 1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 hard boiled eggs chopped
Instructions
For the dressing:
- Whisk the mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper in a small bowl or jar until blended and creamy. Slowly whisk in the oil in a thin stream until emulsified. Taste and adjust the seasoning and honey if needed. Set aside.
For the chopped salad:
- Add olive oil, cumin, and the corn to a skillet. Heat over medium high heat, stirring the corn until it's coated with cumin seasoned oil. Let it cook in the skillet until slightly charred and soft, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly while chopping the boiled eggs and avocados.
Serving:
- Put the romaine into a large serving bowl or a shallow platter. You will now arrange the remaining ingredients in rows on top of the romaine for the beautiful—and charming—presentation. The first row is the Parmesan cheese, followed by the green onions, corn kernels, avocados, radishes, cilantro and finally the chickpeas. Your rows are now complete.
- Just before serving, give the dressing a quick whisk and pour it over the top.
Notes
- Dressing: While I love honey mustard dressing on this salad, use your favorite. If time is short, a bottle dressing can work too!
- Corn: You can use unthawed, frozen corn or drained canned corn to make this a quick and easy salad. If you want to use fresh corn on the cob, bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add about 3 cobs to the water and boil for 5 minutes until the kernels are crisp-tender. Remove from the water and let cool enough to handle. Use a large knife to slice the kernels from the cob. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil and cumin until well combined, then toss with the corn before adding it to the salad.
- Salad Toppings: If you don’t want to use hard boiled eggs, roasted chickpeas or pistachios are delicious too.
- Cheese: I’m using a combination of grated Parmesan cheese and crumbled feta, but you can substitute these with your preferred cheese, like crumbled blue cheese, goat cheese, Pecorino Romano, or Asiago.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.