Green Goddess Salad Recipe

This green goddess salad piles romaine, rotisserie chicken, and chilled farro into a wide bowl with edamame, cucumber, radish, avocado, and crumbled bacon. I finish it with a homemade herb dressing that pulls every ingredient together into one delicious meal that I enjoy for lunch or even dinner.

My wife is the reason this bowl gets piled instead of plated sparse. She wants vegetables in every direction on her salad, so the green goddess at our house is a chopped board with grains and protein rather than a tidy wedge. If you like a simpler bowl built around the dressing, I recommend my homemade buttermilk ranch on a wedge of iceberg or my balsamic vinaigrette tossed with spring mix.

Green Goddess Salad

The green goddess salad started in 1923 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, where the original was a plate of romaine under a tarragon and anchovy dressing the kitchen built as a tribute to actor George Arliss and the William Archer play “The Green Goddess.” For decades the bowl stayed simple and the dressing did the work. Avocado joined the recipe in the 1950s, cucumbers and onions came along a little later, and by the end of the century the green goddess on a brasserie menu had grown into a chopped board with grains, protein, and half the produce section on top of the greens.

Putting this salad together is definitely simple. I like to spread the greens across a large platter, arrange each vegetable in its own section, and serve the dressing on the side so everything stays crisp until it’s time to eat. I use romaine and spring mix for the base, cucumber and radish for crunch, edamame and avocado for creaminess, pea tendrils and microgreens for a fresh herbal touch, and chilled farro for the chew that turns this salad into a satisfying dinner.

Also, I like adding rotisserie chicken, crisp bacon, and eggs for a loaded complete meal. I typically make this bowl on a Sunday using leftover roast chicken and bacon I already have in the fridge, and it never lasts long. Once you try it, you’ll see why my wife asks for it again week after week.

Ingredients and Substitutions

I love making this Green Goddess Salad recipe, and these are the ingredients I use, along with a few substitutions. It’s a very versatile salad, so you can easily customize it and make it your own.

• Greens – Romaine is a staple in a green goddess salad. In addition to this, I also add in some field greens, such as spring mix. You can also use microgreens in this.
• Vegetables – This part can be altered. However, I use onions, edamame, cucumber, radishes, pea tendrils, and avocado.
• Grains – I use some cooked and chilled farro to make the salad heartier. This is an optional ingredient but you can even replace it with boiled lentils or cooked chickpeas.
• Protein – This is up to you, and you can get creative as you’d like. I added in some roast chicken, crispy homemade bacon, and perfect hard-boiled eggs.
• Dressing – You can use my homemade green goddess dressing or my healthier alternative which is in the recipe card below.

How to Make a Green Goddess Salad

Blend the dressing: I build the green goddess dressing in a blender, then rest it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes while the rest of the salad comes together.

Cook and chill the farro: I rinse the farro in a colander, drop it into a pot of salted water, bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes until the grain is chewy with a little bite. I drain it, spread it on a sheet tray, and chill it in the fridge so the grain stay intact on the plate.

Cook the eggs: You can use either hard boiled or medium boiled eggs, depending on your preference.

Prep the vegetables: I tear the romaine along the natural vein into wide ribbons, slice the cucumber into half moons, slice the radishes thin on a mandolin, soak the red onion in cold water for 10 minutes, halve and slice the avocado, snip the pea tendrils, and pull the edamame and microgreens out so everything is ready in one place.

Build the bowl in layers: I spread the romaine and spring mix wide across a platter or a shallow bowl. I lay the chicken across the top in straight rows, then place the onion, edamame, cucumber, radish, and eggs in their own sections. Avocado slices, chilled farro, bacon crumbles, pea tendrils, and microgreens go on last so every component is visible from the table.

Dress at the table: I spoon the dressing across the bowl in wide ribbons, or set it on the table in a small pitcher so each guest dresses their own plate.

Chef Tip + Notes

To make the best green goddess salad, I highly recommend tearing the romaine off the head along the natural vein instead of cutting it with a knife. Knife cuts crush the cell walls and put a rust-brown edge on the leaf inside an hour, and the lettuce goes limp by day two. Hand-torn leaves split where the vein gives, the cells stay intact, and the salad eats crisp a full day longer in the fridge.

• Chill every ingredient: Warm chicken on cold greens steams the lettuce into a wilted mess. I rest the chicken on a sheet tray for 10 minutes off the heat, then refrigerate it while the rest of the salad comes together. The farro and the bacon get the same treatment.
• Save the avocado for the top: Avocado browns the second it meets acid and oxygen. I slice it last, lay it on top of the bowl, and pour the dressing over the rest of the salad rather than the avocado itself.
• Stretch the dressing: A single blender of green goddess covers a platter for four. For a dinner where the salad is the main course, I double the dressing recipe so each plate gets a generous pour and the leftovers are in the fridge for the next bowl.
• Cook the farro a day ahead: Cold farro out of the fridge holds its shape better on the plate than warm grain straight off the burner. I cook a batch on a Saturday afternoon and the salad assembles in 10 minutes on a Sunday.

Serving Suggestions

This is the bowl I bring out when the family wants a real meal that still eats like a salad. Sunday afternoon I plate it next to a loaf of homemade artisan bread, a glass of dry rose for my wife, and a peach cobbler on the counter for dessert.

For a dinner party I plate smaller portions as a starter course before a pan-seared ribeye steak or a piece of grilled salmon, so the bowl opens the meal with herbs and acid and the main course gets the rest of the table’s attention. For a picnic, I build the salad up to the protein layer in a wide deli container, pack the dressing on the side in a small jar, and assemble at the picnic table so the greens stay crisp on the drive.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: I make the dressing, the farro, the eggs, the bacon, and the chicken up to 3 days ahead and store them separately in airtight containers in the fridge. I wash and dry the greens up to 24 hours ahead, slice the cucumbers and radishes the day of, and slice the avocado the moment the salad goes together.

How to Store: I keep undressed leftovers in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 2 days. Dressed leftovers go soggy fast, so I only dress what is about to be eaten.

How to Freeze: I do not freeze any of the salad components together. Greens, cucumbers, radishes, avocado, and the dressing all split or wilt on the thaw. Cooked farro is the only component that holds up on its own in the freezer.

More Salad Recipes

• Kale Salad
• Tabbouleh
• Greek Salad
• Chef Salad
• Cobb Salad

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Green Goddess Salad Recipe

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5 from 14 votes

This green goddess salad piles romaine, rotisserie chicken, and chilled farro into a wide bowl with edamame, cucumber, radish, avocado, and crumbled bacon. I finish it with a homemade herb dressing that pulls every ingredient together into one delicious meal that I enjoy for lunch or even dinner.

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

For the Dressing:

• 1 ½ cups yogurt
• 1/3 cup milk
• ½ cup fresh green onions
• ½ cup fresh basil leaves
• ½ cup fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon honey
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

For the Salad:

• 5 cups field greens and romaine lettuce leaves
• 1 rotisserie chicken, torn or cut into bite size pieces
• ½ peeled and thinly sliced red onion
• 1 cup edamame
• ½ sliced cucumber
• 3 sliced radishes
• 6 medium boiled eggs, peeled and cut in ½
• 2 cups pea tendrils
• 3 chopped crisp cooked bacon strips
• 2 peeled, seeded and sliced avocados
• 1 to 2 cups of cooked Farro
• micro greens for garnish

Instructions

• Add all the ingredients for the dressing to a blender and blend on medium speed until smooth and combined. Serve or cover and keep it in the refrigerator until it’s ready to be used.
• Prepare the farro and then chill it until cool.
• Make the medium boiled or hard-boiled eggs. Chill them in an ice bath and then peel and slice them.
• Cut the chicken into edible sized pieces
• Place the greens in a large salad bowl.
• Evenly spread out or layer on the chicken.
• Next, place on the onions, edamame, cucumbers, radishes, and eggs.
• Now place on the pea tendrils, bacon, avocados, farro, and microgreens.
• Serve alongside the dressing.

Notes

To make the best green goddess salad, I highly recommend tearing the romaine off the head along the natural vein instead of cutting it with a knife. Knife cuts crush the cell walls and put a rust-brown edge on the leaf inside an hour, and the lettuce goes limp by day two. Hand-torn leaves split where the vein gives, the cells stay intact, and the salad eats crisp a full day longer in the fridge.

Chill every ingredient: Warm chicken on cold greens steams the lettuce into a wilted mess. I rest the chicken on a sheet tray for 10 minutes off the heat, then refrigerate it while the rest of the salad comes together. The farro and the bacon get the same treatment.

Save the avocado for the top: Avocado browns the second it meets acid and oxygen. I slice it last, lay it on top of the bowl, and pour the dressing over the rest of the salad rather than the avocado itself.

Stretch the dressing: A single blender of green goddess covers a platter for four. For a dinner where the salad is the main course, I double the dressing recipe so each plate gets a generous pour and the leftovers are in the fridge for the next bowl.

Cook the farro a day ahead: Cold farro out of the fridge holds its shape better on the plate than warm grain straight off the burner. I cook a batch on a Saturday afternoon and the salad assembles in 10 minutes on a Sunday.

Make-Ahead: I make the dressing, the farro, the eggs, the bacon, and the chicken up to 3 days ahead and store them separately in airtight containers in the fridge. I wash and dry the greens up to 24 hours ahead, slice the cucumbers and radishes the day of, and slice the avocado the moment the salad goes together.

How to Store: I keep undressed leftovers in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 2 days. Dressed leftovers go soggy fast, so I only dress what is about to be eaten.

How to Freeze: I do not freeze any of the salad components together. Greens, cucumbers, radishes, avocado, and the dressing all split or wilt on the thaw. Cooked farro is the only component that holds up on its own in the freezer.

Nutrition

Calories: 516kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 49gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 268mgSodium: 711mgPotassium: 1029mgFiber: 8gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 3381IUVitamin C: 57mgCalcium: 197mgIron: 4mg

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Author: Chef Billy Parisi