5 Tips for More Flavorful Salads
Most salads are an afterthought. A pile of greens, a few limp veggies and maybe a bottled dressing that claims to be “zesty” but tastes more like chemicals.
But summer is peak salad season, and the moment to do better. Thanks to markets full of juicy stone fruit, sweet corn, genuinely juicy tomatoes and crisp greens, the raw materials have never looked more inviting. (We love a winter salad, too, but let’s not pretend it’s a fair fight.)
We’re borrowing tricks from some of our favorite recipes to help your off-the-cuff salads shine brighter, crunch louder and actually earn a spot at the center of the table.
1. Tomatoes, Meet Fruit
Yes, tomatoes are technically a fruit, but you know what we mean. Too often, they’re kept separate from sweeter summer players, which is a missed opportunity. Our Tomato, Peach and Burrata Salad With Chile-Lime Vinaigrette makes a winning case for letting them mingle. It riffs on the caprese formula, then upgrades it with juicy peach wedges that deliver a sweet-tart contrast. The chile-lime vinaigrette pulls everything together with a blast of umami and brightness, thanks to the fish sauce-lime juice duo.
The result? A salad that’s equal parts refreshing, punchy and impossible to relegate to the side. Other tomato and fruit combos we love include tomato and watermelon, tomato and mango, and nearly any stone fruit, given that tomatoes play so well with peaches.
2. Lean Hard Into Crunch
There’s something about trying to spear a forkful of limp greens that’s enough to put you off them for a while. Texture is what makes a salad worth eating, and crunch is where it starts. Sure, a single crisp ingredient helps, but aim for three or more to really transform your bowl.
In our Snap Pea & Radish Salad With Creamy Lemon Poppyseed Vinaigrette, snap peas, radishes and toasted pistachios team up for full-spectrum crunch. More high-impact additions you can find at the farmstand include cucumbers, shaved fennel, raw corn and thinly sliced green beans. And while we love a market moment, we’re not above croutons, crispy chickpeas, nuts, seeds or a well-placed parm crisp.
3. Spice Is Life
Not every salad needs to bring the heat, but a little fire can go a long way. Spice adds contrast, complexity and that wake-up call your summer vegetables didn’t know they needed. In our Smashed Cucumber & Melon Salad With Spicy Sesame Crunch, a pepper flake–infused seed crouton brings the bite. A chile-spiked vinaigrette balances the sweet, creamy richness in Tomato, Peach and Burrata Salad.
Try whisking your favorite hot sauce or chili crisp into a vinaigrette, or toss in spice-forward add-ins like pickled jalapeños, hot giardiniera, Calabrian chiles, kimchi or chili-dusted nuts for extra kick.
4. Bring in the Funk
If your salads are falling flat, the problem might not be the produce but rather the dressing. A little funk can transform a basic vinaigrette into something seriously complex. A dash of fish sauce adds deep umami and saltiness to tart dressings, giving them the backbone they didn’t know they needed. It’s the flavor engine behind both our Burmese Tea Leaf Salad and our Tomato, Peach and Burrata Salad.
Other funk-forward ingredients worth leaning on: kimchi for tang and heat, miso for richness, preserved lemon for briny intensity, and anchovy paste for a salty, savory edge.
5. Make It a "Grills Night"
Grilled vegetables make a great side, but they’re even better when they’re the star of the salad. Char adds depth, smoke and that summer-in-a-bite quality no raw veg can touch. In our Grilled Sour Cream & Onion Potato Salad, boiled potatoes get a crisped-up finish thanks to a spin in the Hybrid BBQ Grill Pan. Grilled Little Gem Salad With Calabrian Chile Caesar proves that lettuce isn’t off-limits either—the heat softens the leaves just enough, and the spicy dressing seals the deal. And in our Warm Grilled Zucchini, Feta & Basil Salad, simple squash coins transform into something far more exciting than their raw selves.
These salads are bringing big Main Dish Energy this summer.
