Iceberg Salad with Peanut Dressing
This easy iceberg salad recipe features iceberg wedges dressed with a rich and creamy peanut dressing that takes only a minute to whip up.
What I like about iceberg lettuce is its crispness and mild sweetness. The high water content makes it refreshing to eat, especially when the weather is warm. Also due to its high water content, iceberg is mild in flavor, but when you pair it with the rich, savory and nutty peanut dressing, the salad will become flavorful and fun to eat.
Related: if you want a lighter salad, try this iceberg lettuce salad with ginger dressing instead.
Transform Iceberg With Dressing And Add-ins
This creamy peanut dressing is made by mixing peanut butter, mayonnaise, rice vinegar, and soy sauce together. I prefer using smooth peanut butter with no added sugar. You can also use peanut butter to make this peanut dipping sauce for Vietnamese summer rolls.
You can add some water to adjust the consistency of the dressing to your liking. I like mine to be slightly thick since iceberg is on the watery side.
Serve the salad with chopped tomatoes, herbs and roasted peanuts for more colors, flavors and textures. Here I use chocolate cherry tomatoes which have an exceptional sweet tomato flavor. I personally believe it is the best tasting cherry tomato :), which is also why I choose them for my roasted beet with cherry tomato salad.
How To Make Ahead
You can make the dressing ahead, store in the refrigerator, and use it in the next 1-2 days. It will thicken after being refrigerated, but you can easily adjust its consistency with water.
Once you are ready to serve it, slice the iceberg lettuce into wedges. Drizzle the sauce, scatter the cherry tomatoes and sprinkle roasted peanuts on top.
Iceberg Salad with Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce (to taste)
- 2-3 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon sugar (to taste)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed roasted peanut (and more for garnishing)
- 1 small head of iceberg lettuce (about 10.5 oz or 300g)
- a handful of cherry tomatoes
- chopped herbs such as scallion, parsley or cilantro (for garnishing)
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together peanut butter, mayonnaise, rice vinegar, soy sauce, water, olive oil and sugar. Stir well until smooth. I recommend starting with 1ยฝ teaspoons of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of water, and then taste and adjust the consistency, acidity and saltiness/sweetness to your liking. Stir in roasted peanuts. Place the dressing in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes or until ready to serve the salad.
- Discard the outer leaves of the iceberg lettuce head. Slice through the core into wedges. You can cut the end to remove the stem and core, but make sure each wedge can hold together.
- Dice 1-2 cherry tomatoes and quarter the remaining. Arrange iceberg wedges on clean plates and scatter cherry tomato wedges around. Drizzle the dressing generously over the lettuce. Sprinkle diced tomatoes, chopped herbs and crushed peanuts on top. Serve right away.
Notes
Nutrition
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