Butter Lettuce Salad with Avocado
This Butter Lettuce Salad is made with tender butter lettuce, creamy avocado, crisp radish, and a tangy lemon vinaigrette. It’s a simple side salad that pairs well with just about any main dish!
I love salads packed with a wide variety of ingredients like my Italian chopped salad, but sometimes simplicity wins over.
I make my Italian tricolore salad again and again because it’s so easy, and the same holds true with this Butter Lettuce Salad recipe.
This salad is proof that recipes don’t have to include a lot of specialty ingredients to taste amazing!
The salad itself is made using just four basic ingredients: butter lettuce, avocado, radishes, and chives. The vibrant, fresh herbs and veggies do more for this recipe than any specialty cooking technique or ingredient ever could!
The dressing for the butter lettuce salad is my lemon vinaigrette. The lemon flavor really shines in this recipe, making it my go-to side salad for the spring and summer.
Keep this salad in mind for busy weeknights and holiday gatherings alike. It comes together in minutes and pairs well with just about any entree!
Why you’ll love this 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 vinaigrette adds a savoriness and makes the flavors pop.
- It’s beyond easy to make! There are only (4) ingredients in the salad, and the dressing comes together in minutes.
- It’s simple yet elegant, making it perfect for every day and entertaining.
- You can customize this recipe by using your favorite herbs, vegetables, and salad dressing.
Recipe ingredients
The ingredients for this salad are easy to find, and you’re welcome to mix and match the salad toppings to use up what you have on hand.
- Butter lettuce. Also known as Bibb lettuce or Boston lettuce. It’s very soft and tender with a mild, sweet flavor. 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.
- Avocado. Adds creaminess to the otherwise crisp salad. This salad wouldn’t be the same without the avocado!
- Radish. I used a combination of watermelon and red radish for color. Easter egg radishes are also a great choice. (See my produce guide and collection of radish recipes to learn more.)
- Chives. If you don’t have chives on hand, sub with green onions or omit entirely as desired.
- Dressing. Sub the lemon vinaigrette with my honey mustard dressing or use your favorite store bought brand.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and quantities.
How to make butterhead lettuce salad
This butterhead lettuce salad recipe is extremely easy to make, and most of it may be done in advance.
Pro tip: You may prep the individual ingredients ahead of time, but the dressed salad is best served immediately.
See the recipe card below for full instructions.
- Prep the butter lettuce. Wash the lettuce and allow it 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. Follow the instructions in my post for this vibrant lemon vinaigrette recipe. 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 FAQs
I love making this salad with butter lettuce, but you may use any type of lettuce you like. Spring mix lettuce or romaine would work as well.
This simple side salad is also delicious when paired with red wine vinaigrette or Italian dressing.
If served as a side salad, you can easily get 4 to 6 servings out of this recipe.
Serving suggestions
When I say this salad can be served with almost any main dish, I mean it! Here are some of my favorite recipes to serve with this butter leaf and avocado salad:
- This salad adds a welcome pop of freshness to comforting meals like ground beef cabbage casserole and ground beef stroganoff.
- Serve it alongside pasta dishes like sausage and red pepper pasta or pasta primavera.
- We love pairing this salad with grilled meats like chicken souvlaki and turkey burgers.
- It’s even elegant enough to serve with this restaurant-quality seared steak.
Recipe notes
- Pro tip: You may prep the individual ingredients ahead of time, but the dressed salad is best served immediately.
- Butter lettuce is very tender, so I recommend tearing the leaves rather than slicing them with a knife.
- You can customize this salad by adding your choice of dried or fresh fruit, nuts and seeds, and fresh or roasted vegetables.
More side salad recipes you’ll love
- Greek horiatiki
- Massaged kale salad
- Strawberry feta salad
- Raspberry salad
- Mixed berry and arugula salad
- Spring mix salad
Did you try this recipe? If so, be sure to leave a review below and tag me @flavorthemoments on Facebook and Instagram
Butter Lettuce Salad with Avocado
Ingredients
- 1 head butter lettuce washed, patted dry and torn; see note 2
- 1 large avocado chopped
- 4 radishes sliced*
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
- lemon vinaigrette
Instructions
- Place the butter lettuce, avocado, radish and chives in a large serving bowl.1 head butter lettuce, 1 large avocado, 4 radishes, 2 tablespoons chopped chives
- Prepare the dressing and pour the desired amount over the salad and toss gently to combine (you may not need it all). Serve immediately and enjoy!lemon vinaigrette
Notes
- Pro tip: You may prep the lettuce ahead, but salad is best served immediately.
- Also known as Bibb lettuce or Boston lettuce. It’s very soft and tender with a mild, sweet flavor. 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.
- I used a combination of watermelon and red radish for color. Use your favorite!
- The nutrition information does not include the salad dressing as that information has been calculated in a separate post.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
24 Comments on “Butter Lettuce Salad with Avocado”
I made this for my birthday dinner last night along with a steak and Jersey tomatoes with salt and pepper. The dressing alone I could drink by itself. This was one of the best salads I have had in a long time and done right at home! Thank you for my making birthday tasty and a happy dinner.
Happy belated birthday to you and I’m so happy you enjoyed the salad! 🙂
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!