How to Make Salads 

When you talk about how to make salads, you must realize just what the word “salad” means. In our modern world, it has expanded covering anything from a small simple green salad to elaborate fancy appetizers to entrees.


At one time they were a symbol of youth and slim waste lines; some of us still want to think that if we eat a salad, we will lose weight. Some of these are from restaurants have many more calories than a main meal; keep this in mind when learning how to make salads. Although some are higher in calories, we still get a lot of nutrition and fiber so it is a balancing which is important to know when learning how to make salads.


Knowing how to make salads means knowing how to please the public taste. The salad bowl with crisp greens has won a place on the American table for appetizers, lunch, supper or dinner. They mark the beginning of meals and can double at the end of the meal as a dessert.


The secret of a good salad is thorough crisping and chilling of all ingredients if you know how to make salads the greens should be thoroughly washed and thoroughly dried. Fruits and vegetables should be well drained; meat, fish and cheese should be cut into uniform bite size pieces. If you like onion or garlic in them, add just a touch of it grated or sliced.

NOTE: To make a 48 ounce package of salad mix wash and tear at least 2 pounds of iceberg lettuce. Add 1 small head of shredded red cabbage and 4 shredded carrots.

Below are Great Recipes on How to Make Salads

Cottage Cheese Molded Salad

Learn How to Make a Salad using the many different types of greens, fresh fruits and vegetables, molded salads with gelatin and many other ingredients.

oriental salad

Oriental Salad recipes made with fruit, Asian fruit slaw, Asian vegetable slaw, hot chicken salad and chicken rice salad.

cabbage salad

Cabbage Salad Recipes with oil and vinegar or creamy dressings; one made with sauerkraut and one with Ramen noodles. 

Tuna Salad Recipe with Italian dressing, Spanish style or for a crowd; use fresh tuna in lemon dill sauce or with fusilli pasta.

Taco Salad Recipe with ground beef, with turkey or a layered taco salad.

Green Bean Salad Recipe with mushrooms seasoned with bacon, with Chinese vegetables, with mixed beans, anchovies or Italian tomato salad.

cauliflower salad

Cauliflower Salad Recipe with broccoli and tomatoes for Christmas, with bacon, seasoned with mint, one in Italian dressing or a hot cauliflower recipe.

potato salad

Types of potatoes for Potato Salad Recipes; hot German recipe, creamy potato egg recipe, red potato recipe and deviled potato salad.

fruit salad

A variety of Fruit Salad Recipes; my Dad’s special recipe, frozen recipe, 24 hour recipe, blueberry and strawberry.

egg salad

Egg Salad Recipe starts with boiling the eggs to make sandwiches, a layered salad or congealed salad; VIDEO

Make the best salad dressings for vegetables and fruit! When you know how to make salads you need the perfect dressing.

cucumber salad recipe

My basic Cucumber Salad Recipe, one with yogurt dressing, with vinegar dressing or tabouli salad.

How to Make Bean Salad Recipes

Bean Salad Recipes like 3 bean, kidney beans, black bean, lentil or with broccoli.

How to Make Cornbread Salad Recipe

Delicious Cornbread Salad Recipe plus recipe for cornbread to use in it.

How to Make Coleslaw

History of Coleslaw recipes; with vinegar and oil or creamy dressings, freezer slaw, hot slaw or 24 hour recipe.

How to Make a Ranch Salad Dressing Recipe

Very popular Ranch Salad Dressing Recipes used not only for salads but very often for dips.

How to Make Recipes for Salads

Some of my Favorite Salad Recipes for all occasions; mandarin orange, layered, taco, pistachio, green pea, pea and corn and Waldorf salads.

How to Make Salad Dressing Recipes

Good Salad Dressing Recipes are a necessity for most salads; vinaigrette, vinegar and oil, poppy seed dressing.

How to Make Quick Salad Recipes

Salad Recipes with helpful tips; make avocado salad and spinach salad for appetizers or side salads.

How to Make a Broccoli Salad Recipe

Broccoli Salad Recipes with bacon and raisins, with hard boiled eggs, with grapes or with peanuts; VIDEO

How to Make Congealed Salads

Congealed Salads made with gelatins; strawberry Jell-O, molded tuna, tuna fish and cheese aspic with curry dressing. 

How to Make Pasta Salad

Pasta salad recipes with a vegetable mix, made with macaroni or spaghetti easy recipes when you are learning how to make salads.

How to Make Pea Salad Recipe

Pea Salad Recipe including other vegetables, black eyed pea recipe, with tuna, snap pea salad and Chinese salad.

How to Make Spinach Salad Recipe

Spinach Salad Recipes made with chicken, with lettuce and with dressing recipes for French, hot bacon, poppy seed, horseradish and barbeque.

How to Make Wilted Lettuce Salad Recipe

My mom’s Wilted Lettuce Salad recipe, one with bacon and vinegar, one with dandelions and one made with head lettuce.

How to Make Blue Cheese Salad Dressing Recipe

Sharp and salt flavor of Blue cheese Salad Dressings; creamy or vinegar and oil.

Cucumber Tomato Salad Recipe

When I was growing up, we had a cucumber tomato salad recipe almost everyday through the summer. Dad always grew a lot of these two vegetables plus the onions we were we were never without all year long. These three make a great combination!

Childrens Party Ideas for Salads

Children’s Party Ideas like candle salad or Raggedy Ann and Andy salads.

How to Make Slaw Recipes

Creamy cabbage Slaw Recipes with mayonnaise or sour cream, carrot slaw, apple slaw, broccoli slaw or a hot slaw seasoned with bacon.

How to Make Three Bean Salad Recipe

Three Bean Salad Recipe with Asian flare, Italian three bean, mixed beans, 4 beans and hot bean salad.

How to Make Kidney Bean Salad

Kidney Bean Salads; with boiled eggs, hot recipe, Mexican recipe or green bean and kidney bean salad.

How to Make Chicken Salad Recipes

Chicken Salad Recipes for sandwiches, served in half pineapple or half melon, a Chinese version, apple, curried rice, a party mold or hot baked salad.

How to Make Bacon Salad Dressing

Bacon Salad Dressing; hot, cold or for a crowd.

How to Make Banana Salad

Types of bananas for a Banana Salad; green banana vegetable, banana fruit, 7 Up salad and plantain chips to serve with salads.

How to Make Layered Salad

Layered Salad recipe with water chestnuts and Parmesan, 7 layer with bacon and Swiss, overnight recipe with shrimp and a layered gelatin.

How to Make Lunch Salad Recipes

Make the best lunch salad recipes. Try making a chef's salad, an Asian chicken salad, Perigourdine, lettuce wraps, Olivier salad, lettuce wedge, mimosa salad, Nicoise salad, Rhoda salad, Taco salad, Tunisian salad and a Caesar salad.   

How to Make a Ceasar Salad Recipe

My favorite Caesar salad recipes, one with vinegar and oil dressing or with creamy garlic dressing and Romaine lettuce.

How to Make Corn Salad Recipes

Corn salad recipes with white whole kernel corn, with Mexican seasonings, with peas and green beans, black bean salsa, corn relish and others.

How to Make Homemade Mayonnaise Recipes

Homemade mayonnaise is so tastier and much cheaper to make; a perfect addition when you know how to make salads.

How to Make Bacon Salad Dressing Recipes

Make tasty bacon salad dressing recipes. Try a hot bacon dressings, bacon dressings made with sour cream, cold bacon dressings, bacon dressings for spinach, wilted lettuce dandelions. potatoes and try a creamy bacon dressing.

How to Make Crab Salad using real or imitation crab meat, with pasta, with avocados and other vegetables or hot crab salad with boiled eggs.

Deliciously flavored Caprese Salads simple when you know how to make salads; tomato salads served with toast, in pitas, served as appetizers or snacks.

How to Make Shrimp Salads

Make delicious shrimp salads; pasta, congealed, with cream cheese or artichokes recipes.

How to Make Creamy Salad Dressing Recipes

When you learn how to make salads you will want to know how to make the dressings. Make the best creamy salad dressing. Try making thousand island, buttermilk dressing, an anchovy dressing, sauce a la russe, sour cream, roquefort, maple and toasted pecan, banana poppy seed, honey mustard, bleu cheese, horseradish, green goddess, creamy French or Russian.

How to Make Vinaigrette Salad Dressing Recipes

Learn how to make vinaigrette salad dressings like a zesty French, French, easy French, Thai peanut, cranberry, Mexican,  poppy seed, Parmesan, simple French, coleslaw, citrus, Greek, a basic dressing, an herb, chili sauce vinaigrette, celery seed, Roquefort and a Caesar. 

Another tip when learning how to make salads is the eye appeal. No matter what kind of salad you make it should make a good presentation. With such a variety of fruits and vegetables having many colors which are available in our markets, it is easy to make them look appetizing. A colorless salad can be improved by adding a garnish of radish rose, carrot straws, tomatoes or cucumber slices.


Main Course Salads or main dish salads have become extremely popular in recent years. If you know anything about how to make salads, main course salads should contain some protein rich foods such as chicken, meat, fish, eggs or cheese besides the fresh greens and other vegetables. Fruit also adds a nice touch to main course salads. Meats and vegetables can be marinated in a tart seasoned dressing or a sweet sour dressing right before serving; or serve a dressing on the side. Mayonnaise or creamed dressings adds body to salads such as these.


When learning how to make salads you need to also learn tips on serving salads. A mixed green salad recipe served before as an appetizer salad to a hearty main course meal should be light and tangy. The serving should be small and the dressing tart. These are meant to stimulate the palate for the heartier foods. Many salad greens are available to make a nice addition to your meal; several kinds of lettuce, chicory, escarole, endive, spinach, water cress, sorrel, various cabbages. Mixing a few greens will add to the presentation, flavor and texture .A good rule to follow when preparing a salad is to have all the vegetables no larger than bite size.

Accompaniment salads or side salads may be a mixture of fresh greens or a combination of greens and other vegetables or fruits. Keep in mind also with these side salads that they should be kept light with no protein or very little amount like a tablespoon of grated cheese. The salad needs to compliment the meal which is being served.

The mixed green salad recipe is a good place to get in the nutrition needed in your body. Mix other vegetables in with the greens like chopped onions, slice radishes, sliced cucumbers, Shredded carrots and tomatoes. From time to time slip in other vegetables like thinly sliced turnips and beets to see how your family or friends like them.


Special care should be given to the storing of salad greens after purchasing. Separate the leaves and wash them; dry thoroughly and place them in the refrigerator to crisp. Pile the leaves in a refrigerator crisper pan or I use plastic zipper bags.


A large tossed salad recipe can be served from a nice salad bowl by the host for a dinner. Several types of salad bowls are available and suitable; wood, glass, pottery or china. Many mixtures of green are good to make salads in these large bowls. Pile the greens and a few other colorful small pieces of vegetables in the bowl; sprinkle them with a salad dressing and toss several minutes to coat before serving. A wooden spoon and fork are the best with which to serve.

Large wooden salad bowls are very popular for this type of salad serving. There is a rule of never washing a wooden salad bowl but I have a problem with that. Most instructions are to wipe the bowl with a clean dry cloth and then with a piece of bread to absorb the oil. Definitely I would not soak the bowl with water, but I always wash quickly with hot soapy water and dry quickly and thoroughly. Rub the bowl down with warm olive oil or salad oil before preparing another salad in the bowl.

Dessert salads can be served at the end of the meal. These should also be kept light considering it is following a full meal. Dessert salads can be as simple as a couple pieces of fruit and a small piece of cheese on a lettuce leaf. It could also be pieces of a variety of colorful fruits sprinkled with chopped nuts and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Again the rule here is to keep it small and light if immediately following a full meal.


Congealed salad recipes or molded salad recipes can be made for after dinner dessert, for an appetizer recipe or simply a snack depending on the ingredients used. Shimmering gelatin salads can be made with fruit flavored gelatin or unflavored gelatin. The can contain vegetables, fruits, meat, seafood or a combination. They can be molded in small individual molds or a large mold which adds a decorative touch to the table.



Congealed salad recipes must be prepared in advance to allow time for setting up if you are learning how to make salads. When ready to unmold, do it directly on the serving platter and surround the mold with pretty lettuce leaves. Wet the platter first so that the molded salad can be adjusted on the platter if necessary. Once unmolded the salad needs to be served immediately.


When learning how to make salads keep in mind that the perfect salad dressings recipes compliment and bring life to most salads. Some people like the tartness of vinegar and others like the richness of oils. Some people like the spiciness of pepper and others like the garlic and onion flavors. This is why so many of us offer a variety when we serve dinner.

The three basic salad dressing recipes are the vinegars and oils, creamy dressings like mayonnaise and the tangy mustard types. When deciding on a salad dressing keep in mind the place of the salad in the meal. Simple dressings for side or accompaniment salads, hearty dressings for main course salads and sweet dressings for fruit salad recipes.


Light extra virgin olive oil with its delicate flavor has been the choice for a salad dressing for centuries. Now we have many vegetable oils and even flavored oils to choose from.


The basic vinegars are cider, wine and malt. Cider vinegar is made from plain or distilled apple juice, wine vinegar from fermented red wines and the malt vinegar from grains. As a rule mild cider vinegar is best for salad dressing recipes. Now we also have delicious vinegars flavored with herbs and spices.


Lemon juice and lime juice can be used interchangeably with vinegar in salad dressing recipes. This works especially well with fruit salad recipes.



French dressings are the simplest type of dressing and require only a good beating once the ingredients have been combined. When left standing, the vinegar and oil may separate so beat before serving.


Mayonnaise is made with either egg yolks or whole eggs. The whole eggs makes for a thinner dressing. It is necessary when making to add the oil a drop at a time at first while beating; otherwise the emulsion might break down and the oil will run together on the top.


Cream dressings made with sour cream or sweet cream, vinegar or lemon juice and seasonings are used interchangeably with mayonnaise or cooked dressings.


Cooked dressings is usually a combination of starch and a custard base or it could be just one.


Prepared commercial salad dressings can be used interchangeably with homemade dressings. As with homemade dressings some will settle when left standing so will need to be mixed before serving.

These are important tips when learning how to make salads