The classic wedge salad is a quarter of a head of iceberg lettuce (hence the wedge) topped with blue cheese dressing, bacon bits and chives. That’s the salad in its simplest form.

Some chefs choose to create extra dimensions of flavor and texture by adding ingredients like cherry tomatoes and croutons. Others have moved the salad’s base ingredient away from iceberg to other greens like curly lettuce and baby romaine.

We don’t add any bonus bits in our wedge salad recipe. We instead celebrate the classic American dish as it was meant to be eaten with iceberg lettuce in the starring role.

Discover more classic American dishes.

As with most food histories, the wedge salad’s origin is mysterious and most likely dates back thousands of years. Historians claim to trace variations back to the Egyptians, the Romans and the Greeks.

This history is plausible considering that lettuce grows easily in temperate climates. Plus, the variety of lettuces is prolific. Cabbage, broccoli and even asparagus are forms of the lettuce plant.

When you think about it, this prevalence makes perfect sense…

If you’re eating a steak or some other decadent dinner, would you rather dig into a giant steak or lobster after picking at a salad of dietitian-approved bean sprouts and kale or would you rather eat a salad topped with hedonistic blue cheese and bacon? The answer is obvious.

We like simple wedge salads based on both history and tradition.

Daryl remembers his father ordering a classic wedge (what he, at the time, called hearts of lettuce) salad. That salad arrived unadorned – without cherry tomatoes or croutons. It was just a hunk of lettuce topped with blue cheese dressing and bacon bits. So that’s how me make our wedge salads today.

These are all of the required ingredients necessary in our recipe:

Ingredient quantities are detailed in the printable recipe card below.

Some doctors criticize iceberg lettuce for being non-nutrient dense. They clearly missed the memo that this crunchy, refreshing lettuce varietal is an ideal foil for fatty blue cheese dressing and bacon bits.

Iceberg lettuce is available practically everywhere. We can even buy iceberg lettuce at local chain grocery stores in Lisbon.

Pro Tip
It’s important to discard the outer shriveling leaves before quartering your head o’ lettuce. You’ll also want to cut the woody end of the core from the wedge before serving.

While many wedge salad recipes call for crisp crumbled bacon, we like the pleasing chew and occasional light crunch that thick chunks of bacon bring to the wedge salad party. This is no surprise since we prefer eating thick bacon that’s cooked but not burnt.

We cook our bacon in the oven at a medium temperature in order to cook the bacon evenly.

Pro Tip
Cook the bacon over parchment paper on a baking sheet for easy cleaning.

Is Roquefort the king of blue cheeses? We think so.

No other cheese provides the unique biting sheepiness along with that classic blue penicillium twang of the French classic. It’s the kind of blue cheese to eat when you’re living large. It’s also the blue cheese we add to our wedge salads.

You could substitute a big-time cheese like Rogue River Blue if you can’t find Roquefort. You could also use Stilton or Gorgonzola though the flavors won’t have the same impact.

Buy a wedge of Roquefort from Amazon if you can’t find our favorite blue cheese at your local market.

Sure, we could use buttermilk to create dressing for this salad . But, let’s face it, using plain greek yogurt is so much easier. We came to this realization after being initially frustrated that we couldn’t find buttermilk in Lisbon. It’s available in Northern European countries like Denmark but not in Portugal.

Pro Tip
Don’t throw out the extra yogurt. Instead, add honey or jam to create a tasty breakfast the next morning.

Finely chopped chives give our wedge salad that cheffy look that never fails to impress.

You can chop your chives fine or into one-inch batons. Either way, chives provide a wonderful grassy/oniony finish to the salad.

Pro Tip
Sharpen your chef’s knife to achieve great chive results.

Many wedge recipes add vinegar to create bright acid flavors. This is not one of those recipes.

Yogurt provides enough acid that adding vinegar to the dressing would be overkill. We instead choose to ramp the up the acidity with a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice. This zing completes the dressing’s flavor picture, providing just the right note of acidity with no vinegar added.

Pro Tip
Add about a tablespoon of lemon juice or more if necessary.

We don’t add tomatoes to our wedge salads. Daryl is a purist and his childhood memories of the wedge salad include no tomatoes.

Feel free to add 4 to 6 halved cherry tomatoes to your salad If you don’t share Daryl’s memories or sentiments.

Start with a whole slab of bacon and cut your bacon into 1/4-inch cubes.

Once you cut the cubes, place them in the oven at 350°F/175°C for about 15 minutes (or about 13 minutes in a convection oven.)

We cook the bacon cubes at a medium temperature to keep it from burning.

Pro Tip
Keep an eye on the bacon until it’s brown. You don’t want it to burn.

Our recipe uses milk to give the dressing viscosity. Add the milk in small amounts until the dressing reaches your desired thickness.

Pro Tip
Be careful not to add too much milk. You want the dressing to be just thick enough that the ingredients stick and stand up on top the wedge without falling.

One head of lettuce will feed four people (with a little dressing left over).

When you’re ready to compose the wedge salad, start by peeling the ugly outer layer from the head of lettuce.

Cut your Iceberg into four equal wedges. Trim and discard the root end from each wedge.

Place each wedge round-side down on a plate of your choosing.

Dole out the salad dressing using a tablespoon.

The final step is to garnish the salad with bacon bits and chopped chives.

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