Easy Lettuce Salad Recipe with tomato, cucumber, dill, onion, olive oil, salt, pepper and one secret ingredient that makes this green salad THE BEST healthy summer salad.
Other fresh favorites around here are this cucumber and tomato salad, chicken lettuce wraps and creamy cucumber salad.
Table of contents
In Ukraine, there are as many variations of lettuce salad as there are cooks. I grew up eating this green salad in summer and it was always different depending on what was in my grandma’s garden and fridge. This lettuce salad recipe is my version of traditional Eastern European garden salad, and believe it or not, it contains no garlic, rather one secret ingredient that makes this salad SO MUCH better than any other garden salads.
I based my chickpea salad on this lettuce and tomato salad, and this shrimp avocado salad. Possibilities are endless and depend on your personal taste, fridge contents and mood. Yes, sometimes I feel like a splash of vinegar and other days a dollop of Greek yogurt or I use one of my favorite healthy salad dressings. No matter what you do, it is very hard to mess up this green salad recipe unless you add way too much salt.
Love spinach too or more than lettuce? Then you will enjoy my spinach salad recipe and spinach and strawberry salad.
Ingredients for Lettuce and Tomato Salad
This lettuce salad ingredients are simple to a Greek salad recipe minus feta, olives and pepper.
- Cucumbers: Any type of cucumbers (pickle, dill, garden, long English, Persian), peeled or not, work.
- Tomatoes: Any type of full-grown, grape or cherry tomatoes work. I love local beefsteak and Roma for a good garden salad. I love heirloom too but sometimes price isn’t justifiable, and tomatoes on the vine taste as good (especially in winter when all there is in stores plastic-y tomatoes from Mexico).
- Lettuce: Boston, red leaf, romaine, butter, green leaf lettuces are great. Salad spinner is a must if you want to enjoy local veggies.
- Herbs: I specifically love dill in a simple lettuce salad. Italian parsley would work too but not the same as dill, try both ways and you will know what I mean.
- Onion: It’s optional. As a kid, I hated it (that’s why I cut it in large slices, so kids can remove), now I like to add a bit for a zing.
- Spices: Olive oil, salt, pepper and a secret ingredient is toasted sesame oil. It gotta be toasted, you can find it in any grocery store or online. It is a staple in Asian cooking, and without it, sesame cauliflower and homemade Asian salad dressing wouldn’t be the same – the toasted kind makes all the difference.
How to Make Lettuce Salad
This lettuce salad is so good, simple and darn cheap, it is on our summer’s menu every week. For more crowd pleasing salads, check out my summer salad recipes roundup.
- Prep: First, wash all vegetables, chop and add to a large salad bowl as you are chopping. Work through ingredients in order listed in the recipe.
- Add seasonings: No extra step to make salad dressing separately is required. Add oils, white vinegar (if using), salt and pepper right on top of veggies in a bowl.
- Combine: Toss gently and only just until combined. Lettuce salad tastes best fresh without fragile lettuce leaves bruised and juicy veggies leaking.
- Serve: It is best to serve this lettuce salad within first 30-60 minutes after tossing. Lettuce leaves wilt really fast. Serve with beef roast, lamb roast or turkey roast at your next Holiday table or during the summer with one of these Instant Pot recipes. Or just with honey garlic chicken or pressure cooker pork chops on a busy weeknight.
Tips and Variations
- Peel tough cucumber skin: I definitely would peel garden cucumbers that can have bitter and tough skin. I wouldn’t buy field cucumbers because they are lifeless and flavourless. I definitely would wash long English cucumber after removing the plastic wrapping (I knew someone who didn’t).
- How to prep any fresh herbs: To remove flavorful and thin dill leaves from thick stalks, the trick is to hold onto them, then “shave” off the top part with a knife, and then chop finely.
- Use garden’s bounty or winter store’s availability: This is a beauty of this lettuce salad, its year round affordability and availability, especially thanks to Costco, of course (see my healthy Costco shopping list). Summer version will taste much better, of course.
- Creamy lettuce salad: Instead of oil, use Greek yogurt with fat content 2% and up. Or sour cream for a true Ukrainian version.
FAQs
It adds a flavour similar to unrefined sunflower oil we used in Ukraine for cooking and eating, one and only oil used in every single dish. Try it and you will never ever have an olive oil only garden salad again.
Boston lettuce, red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, iceberg lettuce and any green leaf lettuces are great for this lettuce and tomato salad. Green salad is made with any thin leaf lettuce varieties and is meant to be enjoyed right away because of the leaves structure.
You can make ahead this salad. Add all ingredients to a bowl except oil, white vinegar (if using), salt and pepper. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 8-10 hours. Season and toss right before serving.
In terms of lettuce health benefits, spinach, kale and Swiss chard rank higher than lettuce varieties. Especially, iceberg lettuce has least amount of nutrients of all. It is basically just 99% water. However, green lettuce (especially local seasonal) is high in vitamins A, K and C, folate and manganese.
What Ukrainian would I be, if on a hot summer day, I wouldn’t serve lettuce salad with smoked salmon toasts?! I hope you enjoy one of our favorite lettuce recipes!
More Green Salad Recipes
- Lemon kale salad
- Quinoa tabbouleh
- Arugula salad
- Mexican kale salad
- Massaged kale salad with winter fruit
- Secret side salad
Lettuce Salad with Tomato and Cucumber
Ingredients
- 1 lb (2 medium) English cucumbers coarsely chopped
- 1 lb (4 medium) tomatoes coarsely chopped
- 1 lb (large bunch) any lettuce coarsely chopped
- 1 small bunch dill finely chopped
- 1/4 cup white or red onion thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil optional (see notes)
- 1 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- Garlic and white vinegar to taste (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add cucumber, tomato, lettuce, dill, onion, olive oil, toasted sesame oil, salt and pepper. The easiest is to prep and add ingredients in order as listed and as you are preparing them (washing and chopping the vegetables).
- Toss gently just until combined.
- Serve immediately or within an hour.
To make ahead: Refrigerate all vegetables covered in a bowl, and add oils, salt and pepper right before serving (as soon as you add salt – salad "leaks").
Notes
- Lettuce: Boston, red leaf, romaine, butter, green leaf lettuces are great.
- Cucumbers: Any type of cucumbers (pickle, dill, garden, long English, Persian), peeled or not, work.
- Peel tough cucumber skin: I definitely would peel garden cucumbers that can have bitter and tough skin. I wouldn’t buy field cucumbers because they are lifeless and flavourless. I definitely would wash long English cucumber after removing the plastic wrapping.
- Tomatoes: Any type of full-grown, grape or cherry tomatoes work. I love local beefsteak and Roma for a good garden salad. I love heirloom too but sometimes price isn’t justifiable, and tomatoes on the vine taste as good (especially in winter when all there is in stores plastic-y tomatoes from Mexico).
- Toasted sesame oil: It gotta be toasted to make a difference in taste or feel free to skip. You can find it in any grocery store or online. It is a staple in Asian cooking.
- How to prep any fresh herbs: To remove flavorful and thin dill leaves from thick stalks, the trick is to hold onto them, then “shave” off the top part with a knife, and then chop finely.
- Creamy lettuce salad: Instead of oil, use Greek yogurt with fat content 2% and up. Or sour cream for a true Ukrainian version.
Nutrition
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My name is Olena Osipov. I'm a mom to 2 boys, a wife to Alex and we reside on magical Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. This is our healthy family recipes blog. Originally from Ukraine, I grew up on real food. As an adult, I struggled with diets for years because none worked long-term. Now for over 10 years, I cook easy healthy meals for my family. I can help you with “What’s for dinner?” too.