Healthy Wedge Salad Recipe

This Healthy Wedge Salad Recipe is topped with a lower-calorie tangy buttermilk-blue cheese dressing and combines iceberg lettuce with radicchio and romaine. It’s topped with crispy onions and bacon for added crunch. 

The wedge salad is definitely one of my favorite salads.

Typically they consist of a wedge of iceberg lettuce with loads of bleu cheese dressing and crumbles of bacon on top. The iceberg wedge is the perfect vessel for that dressing because when it’s cut open there’s an instant formation of nooks and crannies for that dressing to seep down into. It’s crispy and refreshing, but also after a while, the wedge salad can become a bit boring. It’s also definitely not the most nutritious salad.

This version changes things a bit.

How to Make a Healthy Wedge Salad

This Healthy Wedge Salad is bit more nutritious with the addition of two new lettuces to the mix – radicchio and romaine.

If you’re not familiar with radicchio, it looks like a small head of red cabbage but it’s actually a chicory, and has just a slightly bitter, crisp taste. I love how it livens the traditional wedge salad.

I’m also lightening up the wedge salad by making a tangy buttermilk-blue cheese dressing.

Buttermilk may sound fattening but it’s actually low in fat, high in protein and calcium, and contains probiotics – those beneficial bacteria that help keep your digestive system happy and healthy. I’m combing it with Greek yogurt and a bit of blue cheese to make it decadent and creamy. A splash of vinegar gives it that great tang.

One thing I’m not skimping on is the bacon. 

It’s my feeling that you can’t mess around too much with the classic version. If you’d like to lighten things up even further, you can leave out the bacon, halve the amount of bacon, or swap it out with turkey bacon.

To take this Healthy Wedge Salad over the top, I’m also adding some delicious, crispy sautéed red onions. Take note and be sure to spread the onions out well on piece or parchment or a plate while they are cooling, otherwise, they will all stick together and turn into one big mass.

Wedge Salad Recipe

Healthy Wedge Salad

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: salad, wedge salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 4 large salads

Calories: 279 kcal

Author: Inspired by Sara Kate Gillingham & Faith Durand, Clarkson Potter 2014

This Healthy Wedge Salad is topped with a lower-calorie tangy buttermilk-blue cheese dressing and combines iceberg lettuce with radicchio and romaine. It's topped with crispy onions and bacon for added crunch. 

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Ingredients

Buttermilk-Blue Cheese Dressing

• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 Tablespoons chopped chives
• 3 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Crispy Onions

• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
• Pinch of salt
• 1 Tablespoon honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar

Salad

• 1 head radicchio
• 1 head iceberg lettuce
• 1 heart romaine
• 6 strips bacon cooked and crumbled

Instructions

Buttermilk-Blue Cheese Dressing

1. Add all ingredients to a small mason jar. Shake well to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Crispy Onions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and a pinch of salt. Stir and arrange in a single layer. 

2. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes, add in the honey and vinegar. Stir and cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

3. Increase heat to high and cook for 1 - 3 minutes, until onions become crispy. Immediately remove the onions piece of parchment or dinner plate and spread apart so the onions do not form together in one big mass.

Wedge Salad

1. Quarter each of the lettuces. Place one quarter of each lettuce on a plate, drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with bacon and crispy onions. 

Nutrition Facts

Healthy Wedge Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories 279 Calories from Fat 180

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 20g 31%

Saturated Fat 6g 30%

Cholesterol 31mg 10%

Sodium 393mg 16%

Potassium 558mg 16%

Total Carbohydrates 15g 5%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Sugars 9g

Protein 10g 20%

Vitamin A 17.6%

Vitamin C 13.7%

Calcium 12.7%

Iron 6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe was originally published in January 2015. It was updated in April 2019 to add new photographs and content. The wedge salad recipe remains the same. Enjoy! 

If you loved this Healthy Wedge Salad Recipe I would appreciate it so much if you would give this recipe a star review! Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings and tagging me @platingsandpairings.

 Wedge Salad Wine Pairing: 

• The bleu cheese and bitter radicchio in this salad call for a sweeter white wine like Riesling. 

Looking for more salad recipes? Be sure to try these too: 

20-Minute Thai Chicken Salad

Beet Salad with Yogurt, Lime & Jalapeno

Southwest Chicken Salad with Pico de Gallo

30-Minute Thai Beef Salad

Israeli Couscous Tabbouleh Salad