My Go-To Light and Leafy Side Salad – The Perfect Pairing for a Rich and Hearty Meal
This mixed green salad is my go-to lazy girl side dish. 💁🏻♀️
It’s the quickest combination of fresh leafy greens and a punchy red wine vinaigrette, and it’s SO seriously simple that I honestly hesitated whether I should share it as a “recipe” here on PWWB. But it’s such a staple at our house, I want you to know and love it too!
We make this side salad a few times every week because it pairs with just about everything – especially rich dinners. Hearty mains like steak, pasta, salmon, and pizza always benefit from a touch of freshness and these bright leafy greens always deliver.
The combination of fresh greens and zingy red wine vinegar acts as a purposeful palette cleanser.
It’s a concept inspired by meals at my favorite French restaurants, where they often serve a simple “bistro salad” (aka, fresh greens in a zingy vinaigrette) alongside everything from cheesy omelets to buttery chicken to provide a welcomed balance to all the richness.
This particular mixed green salad recipe is my spin on a French bistro salad. It’s an all-purpose side dish that you can toss together in 5 minutes or less. Super simple, but I promise you…it tastes anything but basic! ✨
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Buy Now → The Best Leafy Greens for Your Side Salad
The beauty of this mixed green salad is that you can use whatever leafy greens you love most. Since this side salad is fairly simple, the most important thing is to use good-quality greens that are at their peak freshness.
I love making this side salad recipe with a spring mix or mesclun mix. These blends are often made of tender baby greens like red romaine, chervil, spinach, mustard greens, yellow chard, and butter lettuce, so they’re light and tender but still leafy and hearty – the best of both worlds!
That said, this leafy green salad is also great for cleaning out whatever greens are hanging in your fridge. Make your own blend of romaine, butter lettuce, little gems, watercress, arugula, mizuna, radicchio…you get the idea. Pretty much any tender greens will work!
The Perfect 5-Minute Zingy Red Wine Vinaigrette
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…a homemade vinaigrette makes all the difference.
I’m obsessed with this particular red wine vinaigrette because it’s punchy yet light enough to delicately coat the tender leafy greens. The red wine vinegar acts as a beautiful palette cleanser while zippy Dijon mustard and aromatic garlic and shallot add tons of flavor.
Plus, you can whisk it up in less than 5 minutes using 6 pantry staple ingredients. Easy!
To make the dressing, simply combine EVOO, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, diced shallot, grated garlic, and S&P and whisk to emulsify. Leftovers keep for about 1 week in the fridge, so feel free to whisk up a double batch to easily make side salads throughout the week.
Learn more! ⇢ 5-Minute Red Wine Vinaigrette recipe.
Side Salad Assembly and Serving Suggestions
Making this mixed green salad recipe is easy enough for even the laziest of evenings.
Simply toss the leafy greens with your red wine vinaigrette and you’re good to go! Adding a pinch of salt and a few cranks of ground black pepper amps up a simple salad like this one even more.
Optional Side Salad Add-Ins
I almost always make this recipe as written, using just the mixed greens and vinaigrette. If you’d like to jazz it up with some of your favorite add-ins, feel free. A few ideas to get you started…
- Add fresh veggies like sliced cucumber, grated carrot, or diced tomatoes
- Toss in toasted nuts like pistachios, pine nuts, or sunflower seeds
- Sprinkle in cheese like feta or crumbled goat cheese. I always love finely grated parmesan!
What To Serve with this Mixed Green Salad
This is the perfect side salad for steak, pasta, salmon, and more! Rich and hearty main dishes always beg for a little freshness and a light leafy green salad can help take the edge off the meal.
Try serving this mixed green salad with weeknight staples like Wisconsin Butter Burgers or Grilled Pizza.
It also pairs beautifully with hearty main courses like Slowly Braised Short Rib Ragu, Lemon Roasted Chicken, and Grilled Tuscan Steak.
You can also make it a lazy all-in-one dinner by topping your leafy green salad with some protein. I use leftover Crispy Parmesan Crusted Chicken, roasted chicken sausage, or shredded poached chicken. Use whatever you love!
I can’t wait for you to try my Fresh Mixed Greens Side Salad. It’s SO easy to make but provides the light, fresh palette cleanser I crave with many of our favorite dinners recipes. You’ll turn to this one again and again – I know I do!
If you do give it a try, be sure to let us know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo and tag @playswellwithbutter on Instagram. We LOVE seeing your PWWB creations! ♡ Happy cooking!
Print
Fresh Mixed Greens Side Salad (for Steak, Pasta, & More!)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: serves 2-4 1x
- Category: Entree Salads & Bowls, Side Dish Recipes
- Method: No-Cook
- Cuisine: French-Inspired, American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This simple mixed green salad is my go-to lazy girl side dish. It’s so seriously simple that I honestly debated whether I could share it as a “recipe” here on PWWB. But it’s such a staple at our house – I want you to know and love it too!
Simply toss your favorite leafy mixed greens with a bright and punchy red wine vinaigrette – a palette-cleansing combo inspired by the classic French bistro salad.
The result is a perfect light and fresh side salad for pasta, steak, salmon, and so much more. Read through the blog post, above, for lots of serving and pairing suggestions. ♡ Happy cooking!
Ingredients
- red wine vinaigrette (below)
- 5 ounces mixed greens of choice
- kosher salt and ground black pepper, to season
- optional add-ins of choice: veggies (sliced cucumber, grated carrot, diced tomatoes), toasted nuts (pine nuts, pistachios, sunflower seeds), cheese (crumbled goat cheese or feta, grated parmesan or pecorino), etc.
for the red wine vinaigrette:
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey (substitute agave nectar or pure maple syrup if vegan)
- ½ shallot, finely diced (approx. 2 tablespoons)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- kosher salt and ground black pepper, to season
Instructions
- Prep the red wine vinaigrette: Combine all listed ingredients in a small bowl or jar, seasoning with 1 teaspoon kosher salt & ground black pepper as desired. Whisk or shake to combine. Taste and season with additional kosher salt or ground black pepper as desired. Set aside, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Learn more! ⇢ 5-Minute Red Wine Vinaigrette.
- Salad assembly: Place the spring mix in a large bowl, along with any salad add-ins you’d like. Season the greens with a good pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper. Drizzle red wine vinaigrette over top. Toss to combine well. Taste & season with additional salt & ground black pepper as needed. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
Jess’ Tips & Tricks:
- Portions: As written, this recipe yields a large salad, suitable for serving 4 as a side dish.
- Serving suggestions: This mixed green salad is a great all-purpose side dish. I’ll toss one together to add extra greens to practically any weeknight dinner, but we particularly love how it freshens up any rich meal. We love serving it alongside everything from Slowly Braised Short Rib Ragu to Lemon Roasted Chicken or Wisconsin Butter Burgers to Skillet Pizza, and everything in between! For a lazy dinner, we also often toss in a quick protein to bulk it up into a heartier meal. To keep things simple, toss in some shredded chicken or roasted chicken sausage. For a next-level add-in, cube up some Crispy Parmesan Crusted Chicken or serve with Chicken Meatballs – delicious!
Storage: While best enjoyed fresh, leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Enjoy cold or at room temperature.
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