Healthy Lettuce Recipes

Find healthy, delicious lettuce recipes including lettuce cups and lettuce wraps. Healthier recipes, from the food and nutrition experts at EatingWell.

Staff Picks

Green Goddess Salad with Chickpeas

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In this cucumber, tomato, Swiss cheese and chickpea salad recipe, a healthy green goddess dressing is made from avocado, buttermilk and herbs. The extra dressing is delicious served with grilled vegetables.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

No-Cook Black Bean Salad

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A classic black bean salad is a must for picnics and potlucks. This vegan version gets its creaminess from blended avocado. Any mix of salad greens will work well, but try arugula if you want to give this hearty salad a peppery kick.
By Hilary Meyer

Vegetarian Chopped Power Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing

This healthy vegetarian salad recipe features chickpeas and quinoa for a boost of protein. Cilantro adds color and flavor when blended to make a creamy dressing. Serve this cold salad for lunch or dinner.
By Carolyn Casner

Guacamole Chopped Salad

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All of the delicious guacamole flavors you love in a healthy veggie-packed salad. Want to pump up the protein? Add leftover roast chicken or sautéed shrimp. Serve with tortilla chips on the side (or crumbled over the top) to take it up a notch.
By Carolyn Casner

Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps

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We love the retro vibe of these egg salad lettuce wraps. Iceberg lettuce makes a perfect low-carb swap for bread to serve the egg salad.
By Katie Webster

Meal-Prep Vegan Lettuce Wraps

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For this healthy lunch idea, we swap the traditional warm filling with a cold plant-based bean salad loaded with fresh herbs and lemon. Topping each lettuce leaf with a little quinoa before adding the filling helps to keep the wrap from getting soggy.
By Carolyn A Hodges, RD

Homemade Chicken Tenders with Everything Bagel Seasoning over Salad

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Using everything bagel spice is a quick way to season and add extra crunch to breadcrumbs for chicken tenders. If you can't find any premixed, it's easy to make your own to have on hand for quick and easy recipes like this chicken tender-topped salad that's ready in just 25 minutes.
By Devon O'Brien

Tomato, Cucumber & White-Bean Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

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This no-cook bean salad is a delicious way to use summer's best cherry or grape tomatoes and juicy cucumbers for a light dinner or lunch. Fresh basil elevates an easy vinaigrette recipe that dresses up this simple salad into something extraordinary.
By Carolyn Casner

Crab Louie Salad

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At the Bayside Cafe in Morro Bay, California, this classic West Coast salad is made with Dungeness crab caught in the coastal waters. Lump crabmeat is a good substitute.
By Betsy Andrews

Grinder Salad Sandwich

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Inspired by the viral TikTok trend, we put our own spin on the grinder salad sandwich. We stick to one deli meat, in this case turkey, to cut back on sodium. For the salad topping, additions like bell pepper, red onion and tomato add color and crunch while also amping up the veggies. Whether you call it a grinder, hoagie or sub, you'll want to make this sandwich again and again.
By Karen Rankin

Chicken & Cucumber Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce

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We love the crunch from sliced cucumber and jicama in these savory chicken lettuce wraps. Serve with the simple peanut sauce for an easy dinner recipe that will impress kids and adults alike.
By Lauren Grant

Avocado Tuna Salad

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Jazz up a can of tuna with this easy avocado tuna salad recipe. Silky avocado adds creaminess that's cut with a hit of acidity from lemon and a briny punch from feta cheese. Romaine hearts and cucumber offer refreshing crunch.
By Karen Rankin
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Inspiration and Ideas

20 Salad Recipes for When You're Bored of Lettuce
These delicious salad recipes use ingredients like chickpeas, spinach, cucumbers and broccoli as the base instead of lettuce, creating a flavorful salad that's anything but traditional.
Fresh & Healthy Iceberg Lettuce Recipes
From classic wedge salad to lettuce wraps and more, iceberg lettuce is having a moment. Granted, this type of lettuce doesn't pack as much of a nutritional punch as its darker green counterparts, but it's still a low-calorie, delicious way to eat more vegetables. Plus, it's a great option for kids and picky eaters because of its mild taste and fresh crunch. Next taco night, try it in place of tortillas, and you'll question why this versatile vegetable ever went out of style.
Chickpea, Artichoke & Avocado Salad with Apple-Cider Dressing
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Big Beautiful Summer Salad
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Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
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Quinoa Chickpea Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Dressing

This hearty vegan salad is loaded with plant-based power ingredients: chickpeas, quinoa and hummus. We love the crunch of the sunflower seeds and the unexpected flavor of roasted peppers.

All Healthy Lettuce Recipes

Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

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Stuff crisp lettuce leaves with a savory filling inspired by PF Chang's famous lettuce wraps. These low-carb wraps made with tofu, mushrooms and daikon radish are an easy vegetarian dinner. Add julienned carrots to the wraps for a bonus crunch. 
By Carolyn Casner

Chickpea & Roasted Red Pepper Lettuce Wraps with Tahini Dressing

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A tangy, nutty tahini dressing brings together no-cook ingredients like canned chickpeas and roasted red peppers for these easy meal-prep lettuce wraps. Make these wraps ahead of time for a grab-and-go lunch or dinner. A few wedges of warm pita finish off the meal perfectly.
By Robin Bashinsky

Blueberry-Peach Salad with Sesame-Ginger Balsamic Vinaigrette

In this installment of Diaspora Dining, Jessica B. Harris' series on foods of the African diaspora, fresh summer fruit stars in a salad that's perfect for serving at your Juneteenth barbecue. 
By Jessica B. Harris

Salmon Caesar Salad

This easy Caesar salad subs creamy Greek yogurt and buttermilk for the traditional egg yolks and olive oil and mixes in mildly bitter radicchio in addition to classic romaine. Using just a small amount of flavorful Parmigiano-Reggiano shaves calories and sodium too.
By Liz Mervosh

Green Salad with Pita Bread & Hummus

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Elevate hummus and pita by piling your plate high with cucumbers, carrots and mixed greens! Just a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil is all it takes to dress it up.
By Katie Webster

Vegetarian Niçoise Salad

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This vegetarian take on a traditional Niçoise salad omits the fish and piles on plenty of vegetables.
By Lauren Lastowka

Meal-Prep Turkey Cobb Salad

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Cubed deli turkey takes the place of chicken, while Cheddar replaces blue cheese in this easy Cobb-inspired salad. The protein-rich turkey and cheese, plus eggs and bacon, gives the salad staying power, so you won't get hungry an hour after you eat. Feel free to swap out the turkey for cooked chicken or chickpeas to mix things up. Serve the salad right away or pack it up in individual containers and you'll be set for lunch for days.
By Carolyn Casner

Taco-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

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Take taco night to a new level with sweet potato taco "shells." Tender sweet potatoes pair perfectly with spicy taco meat, creamy cheese and crisp lettuce. Let everyone customize their taco potato with their favorite toppings.
By Carolyn Casner

Chopped Cobb Salad

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This single-serving recipe for Cobb salad swaps chicken in for bacon, which makes it a great source of protein for lunch. If you prefer another salad dressing, feel free to use that instead of our honey-mustard vinaigrette.
By Katie Webster

Egg Salad English-Muffin Sandwich

When you boil eggs ahead of time, it's easy to create a lickety-split and delightful lunchtime egg salad. And using the flavorful leafy carrot tops in it is like getting herbs for free.
By Jackie Newgent, RDN, CDCES

Avocado & Corn Salad

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In this fresh summer salad recipe, sweet corn and honey balance nicely with tomatoes, avocado and lime juice. Bring it along to your next summer picnic or pair it with grilled shrimp or chicken for an easy weeknight meal.
By Ali Ramee

Roasted Veggie & Quinoa Salad

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Quick, simple and packed with satisfying protein and fiber, this salad makes a perfect lunch or easy one-dish dinner.
By Victoria Seaver, M.S., R.D.

Spring Roll Salad

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All the tastes, color and fun of a spring roll without all the work! This healthy salad recipe is bursting with the colors of rainbow from generous amounts of fresh vegetables, shrimp and whole grains all topped with a peanut dressing for the ultimate satisfying salad.
By Devon O'Brien

Roasted Chicken & Winter Squash over Mixed Greens

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This hearty salad comes together with little effort, since the squash and chicken can roast together on the same sheet pan. Prep the dressing and the salad greens while the chicken is roasting.
By

Tomato-Vegetable Juice

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This healthy tomato-vegetable juice recipe contains all the components of a healthy salad, such as lettuce, tomato, bell pepper, celery and carrot, but with less salt than bottled vegetable juice blends.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Turkey & Cheddar Lettuce Wraps

1
Crispy green lettuce leaves hold the filling inside this low-carb turkey wrap. It's perfect for lunch or a quick, easy dinner on the go.
By Carolyn Casner

Falafel Tabbouleh Bowls with Tzatziki

Meal-prepping a week's worth of lunches doesn't need to take hours in the kitchen. These Greek-inspired meal-prep bowls can be prepared in just 10 minutes and only require 4 ingredients--greens, falafel, tabbouleh and tzatziki. We love going to our local specialty grocery store for fast shortcut ingredients like these. The high-fiber falafel and tabbouleh will help to keep you feeling satisfied all afternoon.
By Carolyn A Hodges, RD

Balsamic Berry Vinaigrette Winter Salad

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This festive salad features colorful greens, fruit and cheese tossed with a light and zesty dressing.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad with Chicken

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In this healthy copycat of a takeout salad favorite we combine precooked (or leftover) chicken and poppy seed dressing with fresh greens, strawberries and goat cheese for an easy throw-together meal that's ready in 10 minutes.
By Joy Howard

Get Your Greens Wrap

This healthy, quick wrap is packed with plenty of green vegetables—cucumber, sprouts and lettuce add crunch, avocado lends creaminess and edamame provides some plant-based protein.
By Sara Haas, RDN

Chopped Salad with Shrimp, Apples & Pecans

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Sweet and crunchy apples and celery combine with savory shrimp and nutty pecans in this easy, colorful dinner salad.
By Carolyn Casner

Mediterranean Veggie Wrap with Cilantro Hummus

These healthy multi-grain wraps are filled with mixed greens, chopped cucumber, tomato and red onion, as well as feta cheese and a homemade cilantro hummus. As a time saver, the hummus can be prepared up to 3 days ahead, and chilled until you're ready to make the wraps.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Chicken Caesar Lettuce Cups

Upgrade your work lunch with these tasty Caesar salad lettuce cups. This Caesar salad recipe gets a healthy makeover, thanks to homemade dressing made with Greek yogurt.
By Cooking Light

Apple & Cheddar Side Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

This salad is easy and festive--the perfect healthy addition to your holiday table. The no-sugar-added dressing blends well with the sweet notes of apple and sharp Cheddar cheese, and crunchy pecans round out the dish.
By Hilary Meyer
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