Wilted Lettuce Salad
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Ever heard of hot lettuce or wilted lettuce? Seriously, it’s awesome! This simple wilted lettuce recipe and our homemade dressing makes for a quick, healthy, and simply GOOD addition to your favorite meal. Great way to use up garden lettuce.
Is Hot Lettuce Any Good?
Friends, I’m here to tell you that Wilted Lettuce Salad (aka Hot Lettuce) is a thing and it’s a very good thing.
Several years ago, a friend from church sent my husband home with two bags of fresh garden lettuce and a recipe called “Wilted Lettuce Salad (so simple, so good).” We didn’t realize until later that night what a gift this was!
The hot lettuce wilts down a little and absorbs all the flavor of the hot dressing. The resulting sweetness and tanginess of the salad make it go down like a spoonful of sugar. 🙂
Ingredients
All you need are lots of tender lettuce leaves (preferably garden fresh) and these simple pantry ingredients…
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Tip: Next time you make bacon, save the drippings and use those in place of the olive oil in this recipe. Sooo good!
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Sugar
- Salt
How to Make Wilted Lettuce
1. Rinse and dry your lettuce.
Our lettuce-grower friend’s instructions, which I’ve heard numerous times on Food Network, said to rinse the greens under cold water and then dry them in a salad spinner. This method makes for a crisp, rather than wet and limp, salad.
2. Tear Lettuce
Then, either cut up or tear up the lettuce, if needed. A chef will probably tell you to tear it by hand to avoid bruising. Baby lettuce may not need any tearing up at all, but the idea is to make the lettuce bite-sized.
3. Make the Dressing
Next, you’ll mix up a simple dressing that only requires four ingredients: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and sugar. Or, if you’re someone who saves bacon drippings, I’m telling you right now–this is the time to use it! Swap out the olive oil for the bacon drippings. Place the dressing ingredients in a glass mason jar or glass dressing container. Microwave until it’s boiling (maybe 30 seconds).
4. Toss Lettuce with the Dressing
Dump the hot dressing on the greens and toss. Taste and season with salt and pepper, as needed.
If you want to get a little fancier, add some freshly grated Parmesan and/or some feta or blue cheese crumbles, thinly sliced or diced apples, and toasted pecans to take this wilted lettuce salad over the top. Doesn’t that sound amazing??
FAQs
You can refrigerate the dressing and keep it for up to a week.
This depends on the type of lettuce. The softer lettuces can be kept in an air-tight container with a paper towel for up to a week. Harder lettuces like iceberg and romaine can last up to 2 weeks if you are able to remove most of the moisture.
More Salads Recipes
If you like this one, you’ll love these other salad recipes from our site…
Wilted Lettuce Salad (aka Hot Lettuce)
Ingredients
- 6 cups lettuce (tender, fresh garden lettuce is the best!)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or bacon drippings)
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
Instructions
- Rinse and dry the salad in a salad spinner. (Or rinse in a colander and let dry on a towel on the counter.) Tear into bite-sized pieces into a large serving bowl.
- Combine oil, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a microwave-safe glass jar or bowl.
- Microwave for about 30 seconds, or until boiling.
- Immediately pour hot dressing over the large bowl of salad. Toss and taste. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired.
- Serving suggestion ideas: Add freshly grated Parmesan, feta or Gorgonzola crumbles, thinly sliced or diced apples, and toasted pecans.
Notes/Tips
- Tip: Next time you make bacon, save the drippings and use those in place of the olive oil in this recipe. Sooo good!
Nutrition
I made this on 4/30/25 with fresh lettuce from my garden (added thinly sliced Vidalia onion and used bacon drippings…let me just say that I’m having again on 5/1 for lunch….delicious.
So glad you enjoyed this Peggy! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
AWESOME memories of my gramma’s garden and her hot bacon grease dressing!
Yes! Love that it brings back memories for you Judi. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
This salad is amazing! It’s one of those that doesn’t sound like much (because there’s not much to it), but it so much more than you’re expecting. We had it on Christmas (with our chicken dumpling soup!) & we were blown away. I have both of your cookbooks & love your recipes. This is another winner. Thanks so much!
Hi Kelly! Thank you for the kind words. So glad you enjoyed this simple salad. We appreciate you taking the time to leave a review.
Friend shared fresh lettuce from her garden. All I could think of
Wilted….your receipe is was like Mom made, easy and very tasty
So glad you enjoyed it Sharon. Thanks for leaving a review.
even the picky eater loved this one!
Yay! Glad to hear it John!
Made this but added a little water with a little corn starch. My thinking was that a little viscosity to the dressing would help it stick to the lettuce. It did. Added a 1/4 C of finely chopped sweet onion to the sauce just before putting on lettuce.
Hi Larry! Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for letting others know what substitutions you made and that it was delicious!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have not had this since a little kid. Was sure recipe no longer existed. Loved it then and now.
Wonderful!
Used mostly baby spinach,and a little romaine, bacon grease just a pinch of sugar and brought back memories from when my grandma would make it when I was little. Loved it then and now.
Glad you enjoyed it and it brought sweet memories. 🙂
Wilted lettuce was always a summer favorite on the farm. I absolutely loved it; however, ours was made with hot bacon grease (our salad had crumbled bacon bits also). Poured it over garden lettuce with chopped green onions and sliced hard-boiled eggs. Yum!
That sounds absolutely delicious! How can bacon grease be bad? 🙂
Sweet, Beth. Glad to know someone else likes it as much as we do. Hope your fam is doing well!
I grew up on this salad as a kid! Our garden produced so much lettuce I think we had it just about every single night. I didn’t like it as a kid (so picky!), but love it now as an adult. Great recipe to share!