Our 20 Best New Salads for Summer
The weather is heating up, which means it's time for sandals, shorts and refreshing, flavorful salads. Whether you serve them on the side at a cookout or make them the star of your dinner, summertime bowls of greens, veggies and all the fixings are a must when you need to cool down. These new recipes, like our Avocado Caprese Salad and Cucumber Vinegar Salad, are so delicious, you'll make them on repeat this summer.
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Avocado Caprese Salad
This avocado caprese salad has all the flavors of a classic caprese salad with the addition of creamy avocado. The sweet and tangy balsamic dressing pulls everything together, with fresh basil adding a refreshing pop of color. Add capers for an even bigger flavor.
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Cucumber Vinegar Salad
This cucumber vinegar salad has the perfect balance between sweet and sour flavors, plus a hint of fresh dill. The red onion adds nice crunch. Enjoy this salad right after you're done making it or store it away to snack on for later.
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Mâche & Chicken Salad with Honey-Tahini Dressing
If fresh peas aren't available, thawed frozen peas make an excellent substitute. Look for tender mâche at farmers' markets and natural-foods stores.
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Southwest Chopped Salad with Tomatillo Dressing
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.
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Sesame Kohlrabi & Chicken Salad
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.
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Garlicky Grilled Steak & Kale Salad
A bright lemon, garlic and tarragon vinaigrette coats this salad topped with grilled steak. Since the grill is already fired up, we throw on some bread for homemade croutons.
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Wild Rice Salad with Arugula Pesto
Here, fresh arugula is whirred into a peppery pesto for dressing this wild rice salad featuring cherry tomatoes, crumbled feta and toasted pine nuts.
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Crab Salad
This fresh and clean crab salad sits on top of crunchy romaine lettuce with extra crunch coming from bell pepper and celery. The sweet crab is laced with a creamy dressing (thanks to Greek-style yogurt and mayo) with just a hint of Old Bay seasoning. Lemon and herbs bring it all together and brighten everything up.
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Collard Green Salad with Peanut Vinaigrette
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.
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Caesar Salad with Crispy Artichokes
This Caesar salad skips croutons in favor of cheesy pan-fried artichokes for an extra boost of vegetables and the same satisfying crunch.
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Caprese Pasta Salad
This light and fresh caprese pasta salad is brought together with a bright and tangy dressing, with fresh mozzarella pearls adding creaminess to every bite.
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Orange-Mint Freekeh Salad with Lima Beans
This salad is loaded with colorful produce: fresh mint, snap peas, radishes and oranges. For pretty snap pea slices, cut them into long, thin strips.
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Orzo Salad with Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Feta & Olives
This Greek-inspired orzo salad has just the right amount of tartness from red-wine vinegar and just a hint of sweetness. Fresh veggies give it crunch and texture.
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Sesame-Garlic Spinach Salad
The magic of this easy spinach salad is the warm, garlic-infused dressing, which makes the spinach, carrots, radishes and scallions slightly tender and helps them absorb a bit of the dressing.
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Chopped Salad with Chicken & Creamy Chipotle Dressing
This chopped salad with chicken is smoky and zesty thanks to the creamy chipotle dressing. Cilantro adds a pop of freshness to each bite.
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Waldorf Salad with Chicken & Rutabaga
A cross between turnip and cabbage, rutabagas have purple-tinged yellow skin and yellow, slightly sweet flesh. Adding this veg along with chicken to this classic side transforms it into a hearty dinner salad.
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Avocado Tuna Spinach Salad
Avocado adds creaminess while sunflower seeds provide texture and crunch in this easy tuna-spinach salad.
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Romaine Salad with Orange & Radish
Inspired by a traditional Moroccan salad, which consists of oranges and radishes, this version adds romaine lettuce and a classic vinaigrette. Fresh orange juice adds acidity and brightness to the vinaigrette. Pomegranate seeds bring color and crunch. This recipe is perfect for a Kwanzaa celebration; read more in "Why the Karamu Feast Is My Favorite Part of Kwanzaa—and a Simple Menu to Celebrate".
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Greens & Mango Salad with Ginger-Raisin Vinaigrette
The combination of golden raisins, malt vinegar, fresh ginger and chile yields a complex dressing for an otherwise simple green salad.
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Caprese Salad with Cherry Tomatoes
The basil dressing packs a punch in this caprese salad with cherry tomatoes. Dark balsamic vinegar is traditional, but to make the color pop, white balsamic vinegar can be used in its place.