These flavorful salad recipes make a delicious meal any time of day. Eating these dishes will get you at least 15 grams of protein per serving from ingredients like eggs, lean beef, seafood and dark leafy greens, which can help you stay energized and satisfied for longer. Plus, foods like whole grains, fruit and legumes help give these salads 6 or more grams of fiber per serving, which supports healthy longevity, regularity and strong bones. Recipes like our Hearty Breakfast Salad with Roasted Cabbage & Baked Feta or Forbidden Rice & White Kimchi Steak Salad are refreshing and nutritious veggie-packed meals that will help keep you feel your best.


Hearty Breakfast Salad with Roasted Cabbage & Baked Feta


A breakfast salad is a fresh, delicious way to start your day with ample veggies. This recipe gets a hearty twist with additions like cabbage and feta. For brunch guests, put the components out buffet-style so they can build their own bowls.



Sesame Kohlrabi & Chicken Salad


Charlotte & Johnny Autry

Kohlrabi (a bulbous vegetable related to broccoli and Brussels sprouts but with a milder, sweet flavor) and almonds add crunch to this crowd-pleasing salad. Baked tofu or shrimp can be used instead of the chicken.



Black Bean Salad with Grilled Pork Cutlets


This hearty bean salad is packed with vibrant colors and contrasting textures. Center-cut boneless pork chops (also called pork cutlets), make a convenient and economical protein to round out the meal. This recipe makes one extra cutlet, which can be refrigerated for another use (see Associated Recipe).



Forbidden Rice & White Kimchi Steak Salad


This steak salad doesn’t feature a typical dressing, but tangy kimchi, savory pan-fried shallots and lemon juice pack it with flavor. Forbidden rice helps add more color and nutrition to this tangy dish.



Southwest Chopped Salad with Tomatillo Dressing


Leigh Beisch

Jicama is the crunchy, sweet tuberous root of a legume native to Central America. If you love it in this salad, try including sticks of it with your next crudités spread.



Chopped Cobb Salad with Creamy Garlic Dressing


Joy Howard

In place of bacon, this satisfying salad uses store-bought crispy chickpeas for lower saturated fat and less prep time. Using fresh herbs, bright citrus and a creamy base of yogurt and mayonnaise for the dressing gives it a flavorful finish.



Farro Salad with Arugula, Artichokes & Pistachios


Precooked farro makes this dish come together in no time. And you can make it in the same bowl you serve it in, minimizing cleanup!



Crab Louie Salad


Eric Wolfinger

At the Bayside Cafe in Morro Bay, California, this classic West Coast salad is made with Dungeness crab caught in the coastal waters. Lump crabmeat is a good substitute.



Summer Salad Board


This pretty salad board with greens, marinated peaches and fresh summer veggies is perfect for an evening outdoors–or serve it for a light, summery lunch. The creamy dressing can be made ahead to make assembly a breeze. Feel free to add additional vegetables to the board to make the most of all that summer has to offer.



Copycat McDonald’s Southwest Salad


Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Annie Probst

If you were a fan of the McDonald’s Southwest Salad before it left the menu, this copycat recipe brings it all back with a few healthy twists. The creamy dressing keeps saturated fat and calories in check with reduced-fat sour cream combined with salsa to give it its signature spice. We loaded it up with plenty of veggies, but feel free to give it your own spin with chopped avocado or crushed tortilla chips for crunch. (Editor’s note: The title of this recipe does not align with EatingWell‘s practices for naming and attributing recipes but gives proper credit to McDonald’s menu, which called this dish “Southwest Salad.”)



Chili-Rubbed Flank Steak Salad


Transform steak into a nutritious meal by serving it atop this lively Southwest-inspired salad recipe. If you make the dressing when you marinate the steak, this meal comes together quickly.



Shrimp & Avocado Salad


Jennifer Causey

Peppery fresh radishes complement sweet shrimp and creamy avocado in this quick salad. Enjoy this healthy salad as a quick light dinner or for lunch.



Taco Pasta Salad


This taco pasta salad recipe has all our favorite taco fillings dressed in a creamy salsa dressing. We like how fresh avocado, tomatoes and onion brighten this pasta dish, but feel free to add your favorite taco toppings–corn, black beans or jalapeños just to name a few–to give it your own spin.



Quinoa, Chicken & Broccoli Salad with Roasted Lemon Dressing


Roasting lemons mellows their tartness and creates a layer of caramelized flavor that pairs well with the raw broccoli and savory quinoa in this healthy chicken dinner salad. Even better, the chicken and lemons roast on one sheet pan, making cleanup a breeze.



Collard Green Salad with Peanut Vinaigrette


Photographer / Jacob Fox, Food styling / Sue Mitchell, Food Styling / Kelsey Bulat

A Top Chef finalist and James Beard Award nominee, Dawn Burrell is also an Olympian. She found her love of food while traveling the world with the USA Track & Field team. That journey is what inspired her signature global comfort cooking style, which explores the intersection of African and Asian foods. Here, raw collard greens are massaged with a tangy peanut vinaigrette—featuring lime juice, ginger and fish sauce—to tenderize the leaves, like you would do with kale.



Celeriac & Lentil Salad with Poached Eggs


Leigh Beisch

Gnarly and knotty, celeriac (aka celery root) is a staple on many French bistro menus, often shredded and tossed with rémoulade sauce. Here, it’s diced and combined with lentils and plenty of other veggies, along with a poached egg on top, for a salad packed with staying power.



Breakfast Salad with Egg & Salsa Verde Vinaigrette


Salad for breakfast? Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. We love how this meal gives you 3 whole cups of vegetables to start your day.



Cashew, Chickpea & Pasta Salad with Cilantro-Mint-Shallot Vinaigrette


Sara Haas

In our humble opinion, the dressing makes this salad. Tangy and zesty with a bit of a crunch from the shallots, this cilantro-mint-shallot vinaigrette will quickly become your go-to. Make the dressing and chop up the veggies while you wait for the pasta to cook, then mix everything and enjoy!



Avocado Tuna Spinach Salad


Greg DuPree

Avocado adds creaminess while sunflower seeds provide texture and crunch in this easy tuna-spinach salad.



Grilled Chicken Salad Is a Healthy, High-Protein Summer Dinner


Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Ana Kelly, Prop Stylist: Claire Spollen

This grilled chicken salad is perfect for summer entertaining. You can make the dressing, marinate the chicken, pickle the onions and slice your vegetables a few hours ahead of time, then just grill and assemble the salad after the guests arrive.



Quinoa Deli Salad


This healthy version of a deli salad combines hearty quinoa and chickpeas with small amounts of ham and mozzarella, so you get all of the flavor without overdoing it on the sodium. This healthy quinoa salad is great as dinner and doubles as a delicious lunch the next day.



Baked Kale Salad with Crispy Quinoa


Photographer: Brie Goldman Food Stylist: Annie Probst Prop Stylist: Gabe Greco

Crisping the quinoa in the oven adds delicious texture to this bright and filling kale salad. The lemon-honey-garlic dressing complements the sweetness from the roasted vegetables. Topping the salad with feta and pepitas gives it a savory note.



Pasta Salad with Vinaigrette Lunchbox


Diana Chistruga

Pasta salad is a great take-along lunch with tons of opportunity to make it your own. Want to make it vegetarian? Pack olives in place of salami. Don’t love peppers? Try tomatoes instead! Be sure that you pack at least one container big enough to hold everything together once it’s mixed (about 1 1/2 cups).



Crispy Pea Fritter Salad


Jason Donnelly

We mashed together peas, fresh mint and lemon zest with breadcrumbs to make small pan-fried cakes perfect for topping a salad.



Lemon Shrimp & Orzo Salad


Consider making a double batch of this easy pasta salad–it’s delicious the next day. The orzo will absorb the dressing as it sits, so add a little more olive oil and lemon juice if you’d like.



Succotash Salad with Grilled Sirloin


A summer salad through and through! Grilled sweet potatoes and grilled sirloin steak add just enough smokiness without overpowering all of the fresh flavors, while a creamy lime dressing brings everything together.



Copycat Panera Green Goddess Cobb Salad


Will Dickey

This copycat Panera Green Goddess Cobb Salad is easy to make at home. Adding a simple Dijon mixture to the chicken gives it a boost of flavor that works well with the green goddess dressing. The dressing would also work well as a dip or spread, or over potato or pasta salad.



Strawberry Chicken Salad with Mint & Goat Cheese


Fresh mint appears twice here: finely chopped mint in the dressing and whole mint leaves in the strawberry chicken salad, tossed with tender greens.