Loaded Wedge Salad with Black Pepper Buttermilk Dressing

This Loaded Wedge Salad is drizzled with a black pepper buttermilk dressing and topped with bacon, blue cheese, hardboiled egg, tomatoes and green onions. A fun twist on a classic wedge salad.

If a wedge salad is on a menu, you can bet I will order it. Wedges are my favorite. There’s something deeply satisfying about cutting into a wedge of iceberg with a knife and fork. I love it. There is this restaurant Pat and I go to that serves a very large wedge on a too small of a sized plate drizzle with a blue cheese dressing and a TON of crispy bacon and diced tomato. It’s a meal in and of itself and I order it every time. With a side of filet. 😉

But at home, I don’t make wedge salads nearly as often. Why is that? Well, I’m about to change that right now and it all begins with this loaded wedge salad with black pepper buttermilk dressing.

First of all this dressing. It’s like ranch dressing just minus the herbs and doubling-up on the black pepper. It’s creamy and light and delicious. A nod to my husband who puts a heathy (read: ridiculous) amount of black pepper on everything. With him in mind, I decided to ditch the herbs from my traditional buttermilk ranch recipe and swap in an obnoxious amount of black pepper. Then thinned it out with a touch more buttermilk than called for because we love a creamy salad dressing that wavers on the side of being runny. And this buttermilk dressing definitely fits the bill.

To Make This Loaded Wedge Salad You Will Need:

for the dressing:

• mayonnaise
• sour cream
• buttermilk
• champagne vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
• worcestershire
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper

for the salad:

• bacon
• iceberg
• black pepper buttermilk dressing
• tomatoes
• hardboiled eggs
• blue cheese
• green onion

Make the black pepper buttermilk dressing.

Into a mixing bowl measure and add 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup of sour cream and then a 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon of champagne vinegar, a few splashes of Worcestershire (here’s my homemade version incase you’re interested) and then pour in a 1/2 cup of buttermilk. Finally add in 3/4 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper and whisk to combine. Next, cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve.

With this salad, any tomatoes will do! I’ve used chopped and seeded Roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes before but if you can find some of these baby heirloom tomatoes, USE them! They’re delicious!

Next blue cheese. I looove blue cheese. Like a lot. That’s most likely my favorite of all the cheeses. For this salad, I’m using a smoked blue cheese, but you can use whatever blue cheese you like. Or sharp cheddar even.

Next, cut the iceberg into equal sized wedges. If making this loaded wedge salad in advance, I highly recommend using a plastic serrated knife. Doing this will keep your lettuce from turning that rusty brown color.

Next, arrange onto a platter and drizzle with as much of the black pepper buttermilk dressing as your heart desires. Because why the heck not? Then top with tomato halves, crumbled hardboiled egg, blue cheese, bacon and sliced green onions and then if you’re like my husband, even more black pepper.

Now serve with chicken, steak or pizza. This is a fork and knife salad so be sure to serve with utensils.

Enjoy! And if you give this Loaded Wedge Salad recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!

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Yield: 4 servings

Loaded Wedge Salad with Black Pepper Buttermilk Dressing

This loaded wedge salad is drizzled with a simple black pepper buttermilk dressing and topped with hardboiled egg, blue cheese, bacon and green onions. A fun twist on a classic wedge salad.

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

FOR THE BLACK PEPPER BUTTERMILK DRESSING:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise, homemade or store bought
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar, or white vinegar
• 2 splashes Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more or less to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, more or less to taste

FOR THE LOADED WEDGE SALAD:

• 3 slices bacon
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 medium head iceberg lettuce
• 2 hardboiled eggs, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese, more or less to taste
• 3 green onions, sliced

Instructions 

FOR THE DRESSING:

• In a mixing bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, vinegar, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve.

FOR THE SALAD:

• Cook the bacon until crispy and chop into small pieces. Cut the head of lettuce into fourths and arrange on a platter.
• Drizzle with dressing and top with tomatoes, hardboiled eggs, cooked bacon, crumbled blue cheese and green onions.

Notes

Pro Tip: If making this loaded wedge salad in advance, use a plastic serrated knife and the edges of the lettuce won't turn that rusty brown color.

Serving: 1salad, Calories: 343kcal, Carbohydrates: 9g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 31g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 123mg, Sodium: 686mg, Potassium: 426mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 1302IU, Vitamin C: 14mg, Calcium: 147mg, Iron: 1mg

Author: Laurie McNamara

Course: Salads

Cuisine: American