Butter Lettuce Salad with Parmesan Dressing

This crisp butter lettuce salad is simple and fresh! Dress this delicate lettuce with Parmesan dressing, chives and breadcrumbs.

There’s nothing lovelier than the bright chartreuse of young lettuce leaves, and we can never resist a head of butter lettuce at the store or spring farmer’s market. Here’s a simple way to make it into an impressive side dish: this Butter Lettuce Salad! These delicate lettuce leaves are irresistible coated in creamy, savory Parmesan Peppercorn dressing and topped with a few simple veggies and Parmesan shavings. A sprinkle of crunchy breadcrumbs seals the deal: you won’t want to put down your fork! (At least, we didn’t.)

For the creamy Parmesan dressing

This Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing is ideal for a butter lettuce salad: it’s just light enough in texture to coat the delicate leaves but doesn’t overwhelm them. It also has the most irresistible, creamy flavor that you’ll want to bathe in (sorry not sorry!). Here are a few things to note about the dressing:

• The dressing is like a simpler form of Caesar dressing. Lose the anchovies and swap in red wine vinegar for lemon, and you’ve got this dressing! It’s one of our favorite salad dressings to date.
• It Greek yogurt instead of sour cream to make it creamy. Using Greek yogurt makes for less calories than a standard creamy dressing, but still keeps the rich, smooth texture. It’s a solid healthy dressing for your repertoire!

This butter lettuce salad recipe is…

Vegetarian. For gluten-free, use gluten-free panko. For vegan, use Cilantro Sauce, Vegan Ranch or Vegan Caesar Dressing.

Ingredients

• 5 ounces butter lettuce (Bibb lettuce or Boston lettuce)
• 1 shallot
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes (or radishes)
• 1 handful fresh chives
• ¼ cup Italian panko*
• ½ cup Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing (recipe below)
• Parmesan shavings, for garnish (optional)

For the Parmesan Dressing

• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup Greek yogurt
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon each kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon water

1. Wash and dry the lettuce (a salad spinner makes quick work). Then tear it into pieces.
2. Thinly slice the shallot. Slice or quarter the cherry tomatoes or thinly slice the radishes. Finely chop the chives.
3. Make the Parmesan dressing: whisk together the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, grated Parmesan cheese, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, salt, black pepper and water until a creamy dressing forms.
4. Place the butter lettuce on salad plates or a large platter. Top with the sliced tomatoes or radishes, shallot, chives, and Parmesan cheese shavings. Drizzle with about ½ cup of the dressing and sprinkle with Italian panko.