simple side salad

Make this simple arugula salad recipe with balsamic vinegar and olive oil! It takes seconds to prepare. Meet your new favorite side salad! Make as many side salads as you'd like with this basic formula.

Super Simple Arugula Salad

arugula (about 1 1/2 cups)

olive oil

Lighter drizzle of thick balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze*

black pepper

Add a couple handfuls of arugula to a bowl or small plate. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, followed by a lighter drizzle of balsamic vinegar (the ratio is really up to you—balsamic is sweeter than most other vinegars, so you might enjoy equal parts vinegar and oil).

Sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Sprinkle with a small pinch of flaky sea salt, crushing it between your fingers as you sprinkle, or other salt (use a little more salt if not using cheese, which is salty).

Finish the salad with a couple twists of freshly ground black pepper or a small pinch of red pepper flakes. Repeat for additional salads, if needed. Enjoy promptly, as the salad will wilt over time.

I always have arugula in the house, partly because I make this same salad! It pairs well with everything.

Arugula is my favorite salad green, so I make this salad a lot. I use shaved Parmesan instead of grated, and instead of sea salt, I add roasted, salted sunflower seed nuts. Those really seem to complement the nutty flavor of the arugula. (Arugula tastes best, of course, when grown in one's own garden or from the garden of a friend/neighbor/relative--or the local farmers' market.)

All my olive oils and balsamic vinegars come from Olivelle, a small women-owned business in Bozeman, Montana. For this salad, I use their black pepper infused olive oil and their barrel-aged balsamic vinegar--nice and thick.

Thanks so much for posting this recipe!

Hi and Greetings to you and Cookie from the UK.... Your blog post is so spooky as I have been dressing Rocket (UK) arugula and baby watercress salads exactly this way for the last few months during Lockdown (3) It is so lovely and light. The key thing that I’ve found is to dress it with the best and finest olive oil and balsamic vinegar you can afford... I just had to write this as the timing of your post is almost supernatural hahaha. Keep well and especially  stay safe is these difficult times ♥️

I agree that this method of eating arugula should be shared with everyone! I recently discovered what a great vinegar can do for a bunch of greens -- so much so that I often skip the oil entirely! So, for the uninitiated, please follow Kate's advice and try this salad!

This is a perfect salad. It's simplicity is beautiful. But if I want to make it a little more of a meal I add either mandoline-fine shavings of fennel or the classic toasted walnuts and very very hard thin slices of pear. Thank you for your wonderful recipes which I devour all the way from Melbourne, Australia. They kept us going through one of the world's longest lockdowns.

This salad was so easy and tasted sublime. We had as a side with flat enchiladas. It was a perfect counterpoint to the heaviness of enchiladas. I made a balsamic reduction using TJ’s balsamic vinegar. Easy and tasty.

Super, super side salad.  I added some olives and dried peppers in a jar.  Pam

I enjoy the straightforward delish recipies you give to the world - I have your cookbook and am enjoying more veggies than ever.  Thank you for making cooking easy and tasty.

This salad is amazing.  I usually eat them at formal events.  This time I used your recipe.  I used walnuts, strawberries and shrimp  in my’s.  Mouthwatering!

This salad is amazing! I made it with regular runny balsamic vinegar since I was short on time, but will definitely be trying this again with the balsamic glaze. I used nutritional yeast in place of the Parmesan, and it turned out so well!

Love it! Finally, the salad season is coming. The colors, the flavors, and it's always healthy. I'll definitely try this one. I have really good balsamic vinegar (my favorite), can't wait to use it. 


Love this salad. I use white balsamic vinegar with EVO in a glass jar. Once I tried balsamic in a plastic jar and it tasted horrible. Glass makes such a difference. (I once had a infant who was allergic to her whole world. Couldn’t bathe her in tap water,  or purified water from a 5 gal plastic jug. Had to go to the plant and get glass!) Plastic leashes so much
Back to the salad. Then drizzle with just a bit of the thick balsamic or glaze. 
Some blue cheese sprinkles take it to a different level. 
Fabulous with sliced sweet grape tomatoes. Ask your produce manager for Sunset Sugar Bombs. Totally amazingly sweet and sustainably farmed. 
And S&amp;P and toasted or raw sliced almonds.

Kate,
       You are a lifesaver!  Thank you for this posting.  Living in New England, I start to feel veggie starved in the transition months of spring- craving all things green, but having limiting options available.  This simple salad filled the void and soothed my soul.  I am LOVING your balsamic vinegar recommendation.  It made the dish. Thanks.

Delicious and so simple! I added cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds, and shredded parmesan. Everyone loved it!

Thank you for sharing. You are so right about arugula and balsamic dressing. My absolute favorite salad is arugula, beets, thinly sliced onion, feta crumbles and a sprinkling of sunflower seeds! Balsamic dressing brings it all to life!

This salad is a big success! For me it is so easy to make, for my family and guests - always a tasty side dish. It tastes great even if I don't have all the ingredients. Thank you so much for sharing!

I’ve been making this salad for years, but quite honestly forgot about it until I stumbled across your recipe! Thank you for reminding me about this simple, delicious little salad.

This was so easy and so good.  My 16 year old said, "This salad is really growing on me."

I made this without the cheese and added a little bit of lemon juice to it and I'm OBSESSED! It's seriously so light, so yummy, and the perfect pairing for nearly anything! Thanks so much!

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/TWogKIlD.mp4

Watch how to make this super simple arugula salad in this short video! It takes seconds to prepare. Meet your new favorite side salad!

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Top 1 simple side salad recipes from across the web

The most viewed simple side salad recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Super Simple Arugula Salad

The most viewed simple side salad recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine