I share a lot of salad bowls online between my Recent Eats posts and Instagram Stories. I have a highlights on my Instagram profile solely dedicated to salad combinations. I receive comments all the time about how good my salad bowls look (thank you!) but I also get a lot of questions about how I put them together and if I have any special formula.
HOW TO BUILD A PERFECT SALAD BOWL
I mostly wing it but I definitely have a template in my head so I’m going to do my best to break it all down for you in this post!
THE GREENS
It all starts with the greens. Here are some of my go-to salad greens:
- Organic Girl Super Greens or Protein Greens
- Any kind of spring mix
- Spinach and arugula blend (I’ve found that I prefer the mix versus all spinach or all arugula)
- Chopped romaine – crisp crunchy greens make for a totally different type of salad bowl
- Butter-type lettuces
- Massaged kale
HOW TO DRESS
Lately I’ve been on a kick of dressing my salad with high quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar along with a generous crank of pink Himalayan sea salt. I like to do a base layer on the greens and a drizzle on top once I’m done.
I cannot stress to you the deliciousness of splurging on high-quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The olive oil is so flavorful and the balsamic is sweet and balanced instead of acidic and cutting.
When I buy the good stuff, I don’t need to mix it with honey and dijon to create a vinaigrette. This is my favorite balsamic vinaigrette when I do need to sweeten and flavor it up. Note: I keep “regular” olive oil and balsamic for cooking and save these for salads and finishing other dishes.
BULK IT UP
Okay, this next step is important for salads that fill you up and stay with you. Bulk it up! Here are some things I use to add bulk:
- 90 second microwaveable grain packages – the one in these photos is a brown rice and quinoa blend from Seeds of Change
- Lentils
- Quinoa
- Canned chickpeas or other beans
- Roasted sweet potatoes or winter squash
PROTEIN + FATS
The other important elements for salads with staying power are protein and fats. I’ll never forget one of my clients telling me she made a salad for dinner one night and I asked what was on it and she said greens, tomatoes, cucumbers and balsamic dressing. This is like eating air! Of course you will not be satiated by this type of salad. It might work as a side salad to get some veggies in alongside a bigger dinner but not to stand on its own.
MY FAVORITE SALAD PROTEINS:
- Deli chicken or turkey
- Smoked salmon
- Air fried chicken nuggets or strips
- Canned salmon (love Trader Joe’s lightly smoked salmon)
- Canned tuna
- Leftover chicken breast, salmon or tuna that I’ve made for dinner another meal
- Air fried tofu
- Sautéed or grilled shrimp (so high in protein!)
- Hard or soft-boiled eggs
MY FAVORITE SALAD FATS:
- Avocado (tbh it’s hard for me to eat a “meal salad” that doesn’t have avocado – it just feels incomplete!)
- Nuts and seeds (pistachios, pepitas, cashews, almonds, pecans are what I choose most often)
- The olive oil in the dressing
- Fish rich in healthy fats like salmon
If you’re cool with dairy, cheese is another MUST for me!
- Goat cheese
- Feta
- Fresh mozzarella
- Queso fresco or cojita
I tend to like these types of cheeses more on salads than something like shredded cheddar. I will use cheddar if I am doing a crispy romaine salad with tomatoes, cucumber, chicken, etc. Depends on the theme haha.
ADD EXTRA TOPPINGS FOR FUN, FLAVOR + TEXTURE
Finish off your salad creation by adding toppings for fun, flavor and texture. For this salad bowl I did dried cranberries, pickled beets and strawberries. I love fruit in my salads so that’s something you’ll see me add a lot – especially in a salad bowl with this type of flavor profile. I also love a salty/sweet blend so I might do sweet strawberries and salty feta. Lastly, I love a good crunch! I try to add that through nuts or something like carrots or cucumbers.
I will often do one last drizzle of olive oil and balsamic and one last crank of sea salt on top.
MIX IT ALL UP
You guys usually see my salads in the pretty “all assembled” phase of prep but the final product usually looks more like the above. The last thing I do is cut or chop it all up and mix it together. This ensures that every forkful is loaded with greens and toppings and that the olive oil and balsamic gets evenly distributed. You can use a fork and knife but I really love these salad scissors.
PICK A THEME
My final piece of advice in building the ultimate salad bowl is to pick a theme and stick with it for the week. In the salads you see above I stocked deli turkey, a package of pickled beets, a package of goat cheese, a pint of strawberries and a package of the quinoa/brown rice mix. I repeated this combo 3-4 times, until I was out of the staple ingredients. Next week I might do a different combo!
The salad above shows a spin on the combo. I ran out of the quinoa/brown rice mix so used chickpeas instead. I used leftover chicken breast instead of deli turkey. I also added leftover roasted delicata squash.
This is more of a savory theme with greens, cucumbers, carrots, chickpeas, peppers, kalamata olives, avocado, feta, air fried chicken nuggets and ranch dressing.
Another savory combo with greens, sauteed shrimp, fresh mozzarella, avocado, carrots, peppers, cucumbers and ranch.
Butter lettuce, smoked salmon, fresh mozzarella, blueberries, carrots, dried cranberries, pepitas, tomatoes, avocado and poppyseed dressing.
Let’s do one more! Mixed greens tossed in olive oil and sea salt and topped with a grain blend, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted beets, goat cheese, pepitas, dried cranberries, chopped apples, avocado and salmon. Dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.
Okay, I hope this has been a helpful exercise in building a perfect salad bowl! Let me know if you have any other questions and always here for topic requests! 
QUESTIONS
Are you more of a sweet flavor profile or savory flavor profile kind of salad person?
What is your favorite way to “bulk up” a salad?
Favorite non-traditional salad toppings?
Favorite salad proteins?
I usually cook up a big batch of quinoa or farro on Sundays to have on hand for the week. That way I know I can easily open a can of chickpeas or Trader Joe’s steamed lentils if I’m too lazy to prep anything else. Do you only use those scissors on the greens or the whole bowl? And do you have a link for your bowls? They look like they have a decent wall lol.
Mixed greens, avocado, roasted sweet potato or white potato, garbanzo beans, and a drizzle of tahini. I also like adding apple or strawberries if I feel like adding a fruit. Sometimes I’ll add sardines too.
This is the kind of post I really love to read. I also think of salads in a similar way and try to
have all the stuff prepped for a week of easily assembled salads at the start of the week. Butter lettuce or spring mix is my favorite. My husband bought romaine this last week, and I was like, “omg, this is like dirt” all week, lol.
Do you have any favorite bagged toppings or topping mixes that you like? I really like one called Summer Symphony made by Modern Mill (I buy it at Harris Teeter).
Thanks for the fun ideas.
I also loved your recent hike recap post.
Great post! I also sometimes like to add pickled things – pickles, banana peppers, pepperoncini, pickled red onions.