The Little Green Salad
This simple green side salad recipe is made with Parmesan and toasted nuts, tossed in lemon dressing. Fun seasonal variations are included.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on April 14, 2026
Meet your go-to side salad recipe! Like a little black dress, this little green salad is versatile and easy to throw together at a momentโs notice. It starts with a base of leafy greens, plus hefty handfuls of freshly-toasted nuts and grated Parmesan cheese. My zippy lemon vinaigrette brings it all together.
You can easily dress up this salad to suit the seasons or better tailor it to your meal. Youโll find five variations listed below for inspiration. Every cook needs a basic green salad recipe in her repertoire. Itโs a fundamental building block, and Iโm happy to share mine with you today.
Simple Side Salad Ingredients
Youโll find the full recipe below, but hereโs what youโll need to make this lovely salad in its simplest form.
- Leafy greens: Baby arugula, spring greens, little gem or romaine lettuce. Peppery arugula is my default, but any tender lettuce will do.
- Nuts or seeds: Pine nuts, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds or chopped pecans. Freshly toasted nuts offer superior flavor, so I included toasting instructions within the recipe.
- Cheese: You canโt go wrong with savory, salty, freshly grated Parmesan. If youโre interested in alternatives, try an aged cheddar like Kerrygold, or crumbled feta or goat cheese.
- Lemon dressing: I scaled down my beloved lemon vinaigrette recipe to suit one bag of greens. You could go ahead and make the full batch if youโd like more for future salads.
Seasonal Variations
I often serve the salad as-is, or dress it up with some seasonal ingredients. It just depends on my energy level and meal aspirations.
- Thinly sliced cucumbers, radishes and almonds: Perfect for spring.
- Sliced cherry tomatoes, avocado and sunflower seeds: This option has summer garden vibes.
- Raspberries, blackberries, or sliced strawberries and almonds: Sweet and lovely from spring through summer.
- Thinly sliced fennel and pine nuts: A gourmet option that is the perfect beginning to a vibrant Italian meal.
- Thinly sliced apple or pear, dried cranberries and toasted chopped pecans: Serve this one in the cooler months.
Serving Suggestions
The flavors in this green salad pair well with most main courses, especially those with an Italian or Mediterranean flair. Pasta, pesto, pizza and bruschetta come to mind. Even though Iโm not much of a meat eater, I think it would also go well with fish, chicken or steak.
Of course, your servings donโt have to be little. The more greens we eat, the better off weโll be! This green side salad is the perfect way to balance a heavier main dish.
Please let me know what you think of it in the comments. Iโd be super pleased if this LGS became your new favorite side salad, too.
Storage Tip
Dress only the amount of greens that you intend to eat right away. Store leftover dressing separately from the lettuce and remaining ingredientsโit will keep in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
The Little Green Salad
This simple green side salad is made with Parmesan and toasted nuts, tossed in lemon dressing. Itโs wonderful in its simplest form, but you can add my suggested seasonal variations or put your own spin on it. Recipe yields 6 to 8 side salads.ย
Ingredients
Saladย
- 5 ounces arugula or leafy greens
- ยฝ cup small nuts or seeds (pine nuts, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds or chopped pecans)
- ยฝ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese or aged cheddar, like Kerrygold
Lemon vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ยฝ tablespoon honey or maple syrup, to taste
- 1 medium clove garlic, pressed or minced
- โ teaspoon fine salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Suggested variations
- Sliced cherry tomatoes, avocado and sunflower seeds
- Thinly sliced cucumbers, radishes and almonds
- Thinly sliced fennel and pine nuts
- Raspberries, blackberries, or sliced strawberries and almonds
- Thinly sliced apple or pear, dried cranberries and toasted chopped pecans
Instructions
- To toast the nuts or seeds, cook them in a medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, until theyโre fragrant and starting to turn golden, about 3 to 5 minutes. Set them aside to cool.
- To make the dressing, combine all of the ingredients and whisk until blended. Season generously with black pepper and adjust to taste by adding more honey if the dressing tastes too tart.ย
- In a mixing bowl, combine the greens, nuts and cheese. Add most of the dressing and toss until the salad is lightly coated throughout (you might have some leftover dressing). If desired, toss in the suggested add-ins. Serve promptly. Leftover salad dressing will keep in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Notes
Make it nut free: Use sunflower seeds or pepitas (green pumpkin seeds) instead of nuts.ย
Make it dairy free/vegan: Omit the cheese. You might like a sprinkle of vegan Parmesan instead, although itโs good without. To make it vegan, use maple syrup instead of honey.ย
2026 recipe edits: I made the dressing match the proportions and ingredients in my lemon vinaigrette, since I prefer the more complex flavor that it offers. I also added more flavor variations.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistโs advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Nice post and nice reminder of how great even the simplest things in life are. What is better than a basic vinaigrette over some lightly adorned greens? As your post aptly shows โ very little! Hereโs hoping your weekend is full of summer, and greens!
The other day my mom, grandma, and I went to lunch specifically looking for a little green salad. Luckily I knew a place that was perfect. Now that summer is here that place will be my house soon! Thanks for the inspiration!
I have been living on little green salads lately! I love to switch up the salad greens and use kale, arugula, or a herb mix. Roasted red peppers and julienned carrots work well too. Iโve tried a pesto vinaigrette and thatโs amazing too. A trick is to sprinkle some dried herbes de provence over everything before tossing for some extra flavor. Works wonders!
These salads are awesome!! Really beautiful and so green!
I love how fresh and light this salad looks and sounds. It looks like the type of salad you make right after a trip to the farmerโs market, which is my favorite type!
Long live the LGS. It is SO classy and generally the first thing I bee line to at any food-focused gathering. 3/4 of the plate covered in greens and then I think about eating some other stuff, usually complaining that thereโs no more room on my plate. Fancy lady dilemma! Pretty, pretty photos Kathryne.
I love a LGS and your lemon vinaigrette is a must-make!
Itโs always a good idea to have a simple salad recipe!
Beautiful! I finally have a got to side salad recipe! YAY!
Yum! This is a great side or main salad!
I made this after buying some arugula at our local farmerโs market. Absolutely deliciousโthis is now my go to favorite salad! Ready in five minutes. I made this exactly as is. The second time I added some thinly sliced Gala apples. Delicious!
Everyone has a favourite little green salad and this one looks beautiful. I love that youโre filling in the gaps on your blog to make it more complete โ canโt wait to see what comes next!
What a beautiful green salad! So bright, and beautiful.
That lemon vinaigrette looks so delicious โ I love the bright colour!
Also, fennel and pine nuts are SO good together โ the idea of dressing up a simple rocket salad with them is fantastic!
Lately my LBS has been Ottolenghiโs spinach and date salad (reallyโฆamazing. make it.) but I think now that summer is here I need to incorporate more of the seasonโs produce into my life! Enter YOUR LBS. Which will likely become MY LBS. Love it.
The perfect side salad. Yum.
Gotta love a simple salad like this! Also, I treat my blog like a little cookbook too! It can be so fun finding stuff thatโs missing and then creating it :)
I completely agree โ a side salad can make or break a meal. I love the combination of spicy arugula and the bright dressing. Perfect!
craving this now
Sounds like a great combination to me, I love the way you describe it in the second paragraph. Weโve been having a lot of salads for dinner lately around here :) Too hot for anything else!
Iโm excited to try your dressing- I have a go-to honey basalmic I always make (especially when I have company). I forsee this making its way into the rotation!
This looks delicious. I canโt wait to try this.
Kathryne,
I love your little black dress/salad analogy. Perfect!! Itโs funny how we donโt always remember to share these basicsโฆ and I eat a salad almost every day. And itโs fun to see your go-to salad set up. I feel like weโre eating lunch together.
I share so many of the same lovesโฆ arugula, toasted nuts, shaved parm, avoโฆ Iโm getting hungry now.
Hope you are well Kathryne,
xo
E
hi kate! what a perfect little salad, but iโm thinking mine wonโt be so little. after a 10 day trip back to NYC to see family and friends, i feel like greens on a very-large-scale is just what i need. oh sure, bagels, pizza, doughnuts and challah bread are a must-eat when back in the boroughs of the big-bad cityโฆbut now that iโve returned to colorado, itโs time for some good old fashioned greens, drizzled with an awesome sounding vinaigrette. thanks for the post!
I like the idea of a little black dress side salad. I would always get requests from friends to bring โthat balsamic saladโ whenever there was a party so I guess that must be mine!
Love this, Kathryne! Youโre right -the side salad is the little black dress we all need in our closet, and I, too, am always looking for one. Like you, I like my side salad turned into a main salad on warm days. :)
I have made this 3 times now (with cucumber and radish) and itโs fantastic! Thank you for posting.
Thank you, Claire! Iโm so glad to hear it!
So necessary, this Little Green Salad. I have so many plant based books with such terrifying recipes that take hours!! The salads psyche me out โ so complicated and time consuming. This validates my meals. Treasure!
Plan to make it sans oil & nuts (maybe sesame seeds?) and nutritional yeast for cheese.
I love this salad. Since discovering it, I have taken it to a few summer bbqs. Itโs great being able to change it around too. It is currently my favorite salad to make and I too just love the simplicity of the fennel and pine nut variation. Simple and elegant.
Great to hear, Vicki!
Bookmarking this for regular rotation! I was looking for a nice light salad to go with a quiche and this is perfect. The dressing is SO GOOD!!
Made a large version of this salad for the first time for a friendโs open house. Exceptionally good and pretty too (arranged cucumber and radish slices and halved cherry tomatoes very slightly mixed in around the edge of the platter) No leftoversโฆ Right out of the gate this recipe became a go-to keeper!
Iโm glad you enjoyed it, PFoster! Thank you for your review.
Just discovering your recipes, soup and salad is a go to weeknight meal at our house. This simple delicious salad reminded me of many years ago when I was a new mother and relatively inexperienced cook. One day I โinventedโ the 3 ingredient salad. Made of lettuce and any other 2 ingredients at hand. I needed to give myself permission to make a very simple salad, especially when the option was no salad. Somehow growing up I came to believe that salad had to be a complicated affair with many different chopped raw vegetables. Have been happily eating simple salads for many years.
Delicious salad. Had it on New Yearโs Eve along with fondue. Our version was arugula, fennel, sun flower seeds, sliced almonds, sliced radish, grated parmajan cheese and the lemon, mustard vinegrette. Excellent! Will make it again!
Great to hear, Jo!
Amazing
Thank you for your review, Calvin!
Kate!!!!! I live in Georgia and weโve hit close to the 90โs already , so I can surely say its salad weather!!! Thank you for this great fresh light salad!!!
Hi Catherine, I hope you are able to stay cool! I hope you enjoy the salad recipe.