Homemade Steakhouse Wedge Salad Recipe

Creating a classic wedge salad that gives you major steak house vibes at home is easier than you may think. In fact, food blogger and professional chef Maren Epstein, who shares healthy diet tips at Eating Works, has developed a simple and approachable recipe inspired by the diner salad she enjoys ordering when eating out at a restaurant. "I always loved the presentation of a wedge of lettuce," Epstein told us, adding that her wedge salad — which is chock full of flavor with blue cheese dressing and a garnish of bacon bits — is ideal "served with classic American fare like burgers and hotdogs." She added, "It's a great barbecue starter!"

We also think this wedge salad would make a yummy lunch served on its own. Or, perhaps it could be served with eggs for a fresh brunch item. The bottom line is that there's no wrong time to chow down on this wedge salad. It ultia comes together in 15 minutes with less than fewer than 10 ingredients.

Planning to fix this scrumptious, savory wedge salad soon, either for yourself or for lucky friends and family? Add to your shopping list these simple items: bacon — if you do not already have some in the house — as well as blue cheese (crumbles are fine), apple cider vinegar — again, if you aren't already the proud owner of a bottle. You'll also want to snag some iceberg lettuce and chives, as well as mayo, milk, salt, and pepper from the kitchen cabinets and your fridge. 

Of course, you may not be a bacon fan — we won't judge if that's the case. We promise! If bacon is just not your thing, simply skip this ingredient. You could also try a meat-free substitute instead. For instance, did you know you can make vegan bacon from carrots? You can also buy real bacon bits to save time, but true bacon lovers know nothing quite compares to homemade, hot, crispy bacon. Save an extra strip for us!

You will prepare your bacon before anything else. The first step is to add bacon to a cold pan and turn your burner on low. If you are not accustomed to making bacon at home, Epstein explained to Mashed that "Bacon is traditionally always added to a cold pan because the pan needs to heat up slowly so that the bacon cooks evenly." Aha! Makes sense, especially with Epstein elaborating that, if you do not follow this and certain other bacon-baking tips, "Some parts will burn before the others are even cooked." No one wants burned bacon!

As a result, Epstein advises home chefs to cook the bacon for just a few minutes on each side, with the goal of the bacon getting nice and crispy and not utterly carbonized. Once that's done, you will set the bacon aside to cool while you turn your attention to making the wedge salad dressing. Then, after the bacon has cooled, you can cut it into small cubes to garnish your lettuce wedges.

Okay, so your bacon is cooling and filling your house with all the delicious smells generated by cooking up cured meats. As you're enjoying the experience, make the dressing for the salad. In a bowl, you will simply combine the blue cheese, mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Now, whisk all of the ingredients together until your dressing is nice and smooth. 

Epstein shared with Mashed that this is one dressing "you can absolutely make ahead." So, say you are headed to a barbecue this weekend and you figure that you'll be pretty tight on time beforehand. Why not ease some of the pressure by prepping this part of the recipe early? She notes that your make-ahead dressing "will last three days if you store it in an airtight container in the fridge." Done and done!

Of course, you can also prepare the dressing right before enjoying your wedge salad. That is mere moments away, anyway, with the bacon cut into cubes and waiting patiently to top the dish. There's just one last thing to do, as the final step in reaching the wedge salad promised land is to assemble all of the components.

To assemble your wedge salad so it looks like it came hand-delivered out of the nearest steak house or diner, you will quarter a crisp head of iceberg lettuce. "For best results, you should use the lettuce right out of the fridge," Epstein tells Mashed. "When you slice into it the lettuce, it should have a nice bite to it. Without the crunch of cold, stiff iceberg this salad falls flat and will be off-putting."

So, using your just-out-of-the-fridge, crisp and delicious head of iceberg lettuce, you'll simply place one wedge per plate. Go ahead and drizzle the blue cheese dressing over the top of each wedge of lettuce. The final step is to garnish the dressed lettuce with a quarter of your chopped-up bacon and the chopped chives, which add an extra kick of flavor to the dish. If you so desire, you can also add a few extra crumbles of the blue cheese. That is, if like us, you can never quite get enough blue cheese!

Finally, enjoy!