Butter Lettuce Salad with Lemon Dijon Dressing
Butter Lettuce Salad is tender butter lettuce, creamy avocado and crisp radish tossed in a tangy lemon dijon dressing. It’s clean eating at its best!
This Butter Lettuce Salad has been scheduled to post today for a while to celebrate the first day of spring, but the past few days I wondered if I should share it after all.
There’s so much going on in the world right now that I wondered if people would even care about trivial things like new recipes. I for one have felt unmotivated and unable to focus, and I’m uneasy about what the future holds.
I decided that I need to work. It provides me with a sense of normalcy amidst all the chaos, and most importantly it brings me joy.
I hope you find inspiration in the recipes that I share, and I will do my best to share recipes that will be easy to prepare during this time when going to the store is so difficult.
Salads always brighten my mood and make me feel better, and luckily there’s an abundant of produce in the store right now despite the crazy times we’re living in!
My baby lettuce salad and arugula salad are favorites this time of year, but currently I’m obsessed with this crisp, delicious Butter Lettuce Salad!
Why you’ll love recipe:
- Tender butter lettuce, crisp radishes and creamy avocado are a wonderful contrast of textures. Chopped chives lend a delicate onion flavor, and the lemon dijon dressing adds a savoriness and makes the flavors pop.
- There are only (4) ingredients in the salad, and (3) in the dressing. It’s beyond easy to make!
- This is clean eating at its best. It’s great for Whole30, paleo, keto, vegan, dairy free, gluten free and low FODMAP diets!
- This salad is simple yet elegant, making it perfect for every day and entertaining.
- The veggies and dressing may be prepped ahead. For best results, assemble and dress the salad just before serving.
What is butter lettuce?
Butter lettuce, also known as Bibb or Boston lettuce, is soft and tender with a mild, sweet flavor.
The heads of lettuce are round shaped with loosely packed leaves that are easy to remove intact, making them perfect to use for low carb wraps for turkey burgers, chicken lettuce wraps, and more!
This type of lettuce often comes packaged as Living butter lettuce. It cannot be replanted, but the attached roots preserve freshness and nutrition. Live butter lettuce will keep for about 3-4 days unwashed.
Recipe ingredients
These ingredients for this salad are easily accessible. If you don’t have chives on hand, sub with green onions.
- Head of Butter lettuce
- Avocado
- Radish (I used a combination of watermelon and red radish)
- Chives
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper, to taste
How to make this recipe
This butter lettuce salad recipe is extremely easy to make, and most of it may be done in advance.
- Prep the butter lettuce. Wash the lettuce and allow to drain in a colander. Blot dry gently with a towel or paper towels, then tear into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl.
- Slice the radish and chop the chives. This may be done an hour or two in advance.
- Slice or chop the avocado. This should be done immediately before serving as avocado oxidizes or browns quickly.
- Prepare the dressing. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard and salt and pepper to taste to a mason jar. Fasten the lid and shake vigorously until emulsified. This may be done up to a day in advance.
- Assemble the salad. Place all ingredients in a large serving bowl and toss gently with the desired amount of dressing. Serve immediately.
Recipe notes
- I used a combination of watermelon and red radish for color. Easter egg radishes are also a great choice. See my produce guide on Radish to learn more.
- You may prep the lettuce ahead, but salad is best served immediately.
- Green onions may be subbed with chives.
- Store leftover dressing in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes to soften, then shake well.
See all of my Salad recipes.
Additional salad recipes you’ll love:
- Cobb salad by Delish
- Horiatiki
- Grilled potato salad
- Massaged kale salad
- Santa fe chicken salad
- Strawberry salad
If you make this recipe I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment and rating below, or snap a photo and tag me @flavorthemoments on Instagram!
Butter Lettuce Salad with Lemon Dijon Dressing
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 head butter lettuce washed, patted dry and torn
- 1 large avocado chopped
- 4 radishes sliced*
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
For the dressing:
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the butter lettuce, avocado, radish and chives in a large serving bowl.
- Place the olive oil, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste in a mason jar. Fasten the lid and shake vigorously until emulsified.
- Pour the desired amount of dressing over the salad (you probably won’t need it all), and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
- *I used a combination of watermelon and red radish for color. Use your favorite!
- The nutrition information contains all of the salad dressing, but you shouldn’t need it all.
- You may prep the lettuce ahead, but salad is best served immediately.
- Store leftover dressing in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes, then shake well.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
22 Comments on “Butter Lettuce Salad with Lemon Dijon Dressing”
This is the first lettuce-based salad that my 23 year old has asked for seconds. Great job!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for the review. 🙂
Made this salad on the weekend and although I liked the ingredients in the salad, the dressing was very disappointing. I make a lot of salads and kind of pride myself on some of the ones I make but this dressing was very bland and didn’t contribute to the flavours of the salad at all. I even added my own roasted sunflowers seeds and chives and parsley from my herb garden.
I’m sorry that you were disappointed with the dressing….most people seem to really like it. You could have added more lemon or dijon to pump up the flavor?
Love love love this recipe. I could eat it everyday! Made it for the first time for company and they raved about it.
Thank you for sharing your feedback Kathy — I’m so glad you love it! 🙂
I noticed it didn’t mention when making the salad dressing for how many people it would serve, it only gave instructions how much to add when making it for the jar.
The dressing would serve about 7 people…about 1 tablespoon per person.
How many servings does this make?
4-6
Incredibly delicious. Used fresh butter lettuce from the garden and have made it twice now. My husband said it was divine. My neighbor raved too and asked for the recipe.
Thanks for your feedback Alexandra and I’m so glad you love the salad!
Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. I have made this salad two nights in a row and I just can’t get over how good it is. Such a perfect combination of ingredients. It’s simply brilliant! Thanks so much!
I wholeheartedly agree with you…simplest recipes are often the best! This is one of my favorite salads and I’m so glad that you love it as much as I do. Thank you for your feedback Tamara!
Making this for Christmas Eve, thinking of adding nuts or seeds. Which ones would you recommend?
Toasted sliced almonds would be my first choice, otherwise I’d go with sunflower seeds or pepitas.
I feel the same way Marcie, but making and sharing recipes definitely gives me a sense of routine and normalcy. And seeing that other bloggers are doing the same, gives me comfort. This salad is so appropriate for the first day of spring. Looks so fresh and tasty. You have the best salad and salad dressing recipes! Take care, my friend!
I’m so glad that I’m not alone…it gives me comfort as well, and it’s a nice distraction! Thanks so much and stay safe!
I think we’re all feeling a little (or a lot) uneasy about what’s going on right now. I agree that keeping up with your usual activities or schedule can ease some of that feeling… and I, for one, would love to keep seeing the usual seasonal recipes and produce guides you’d otherwise post. And you are right, the produce section does not seem to have been affected by the crazy buying frenzy – better for us who love fresh fruit and veg! Stay safe, Marcie.
You’re right — everyone feels uneasy, and I think doing our best to live “normally” right now is all we can do. Thanks for your input Katerina and I hope you and your family are safe and sound!
Butter lettuce is so wonderful, isn’t it!? The texture is so soft. I eat so many salads, I’d love to switch things up a bit with this bright and crisp salad! Hope you’re keeping well Marcie!
It IS wonderful! It’s important to change things up to keep ourselves from getting in a salad rut right? You stay well Katherine!