Salads, whether served as a meal or an accompaniment to another dish, don’t have to be boring. Use ingredients in season for the best salads, but always make sure to add the element of freshness and flavor to your vegan salads.
Besides crunchy vegetables, a good salad should include plant-based protein, fats, and carbohydrates, especially if you plan to eat them without another main dish for lunch or dinner.
Here are some fresh, flavorful vegan salad ideas for every season:
Fresh and Flavorful Vegan Salad Recipes
Spring and summer lend themselves to the freshest and most flavorful salads. During these two seasons, you will find many seasonal fruits, berries, and greens for refreshing salad dishes.
If your idea of a salad is some tomatoes, cucumber, and lettuce sliced in a bowl with some onions and dressing, it’s time to reimagine what you can do by making a few changes to your salad ideas.
These seasons provide foods and fruits with vibrant colors and great flavors. You can use nature’s abundance at this time of the year to experiment with vegan salad ideas. Maybe you don’t feel confident that you can balance ingredients to make a fresh and flavorful salad, so why not try some of these nourishing main-dish spring salad recipes from Bad to the Bowl?
Add plant proteins like wheat, buckwheat, noodles, legumes, nuts, or quinoa to make your salads filling enough to enjoy as your main course. Besides the vegetables and plant proteins, a good salad needs spices and a good dressing.
Once you have tried these recipes, you may find it easier to create salad variations with other ingredients you favor.
Quick and Easy Vegan Salads
A quick and easy salad is always a great idea for a meal, especially if you are in a rush. You will need a full salad when eating one as your main meal. However, if serving it with another meal, then serve a portion as a side.
Are you looking for quick and easy vegan salad recipes? Here’s a salad that you can make quickly to accompany a meal or enjoy on its own:
Quick enough to prep in a few minutes, this easy avocado salad yields four ample servings. It resembles a Greek salad, but the avocado replaces the feta cheese.
Vegan Greek Salad with Avocado
Tomatoes are delicious and juicy during the summer months. To avoid any liquid in your salad bowl, chop and serve this salad immediately.
Ingredients for the Salad
- 3 large tomatoes, cut into wedges or two cups halved cherry tomatoes (you can use various colors, but red works best)
- 1 English Cucumber cut lengthwise in half, seeded, and chopped into bite-size portions
- 1 medium red onion, sliced and soaked in water
- 2 avocadoes, cubed
- 1 green bell pepper
- 4 T. chopped mint leaves
- 4 T. pitted black olives
Ingredients for the Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil, extra-virgin
- 3 T. vinegar, red wine works best, but you can also use apple cider
- ½ t dried oregano
- 1 minced garlic clove
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ t. Dijon mustard (optional)
Whisk all the ingredients together.
Instructions
Place all the salad ingredients in a bowl and mix or arrange on a platter, except for the mint. Drizzle the dressing over and sprinkle the mint leaves over the salad. Check for seasoning and serve with pitta bread or as an accompaniment to your main meal.
Variation
Swap the mint and oregano with fresh cilantro. Add lime to the dressing instead of vinegar and a few chili flakes if you want a Mexican flavor. Serve with your favorite vegan tacos or fajitas.
Delicious Vegan Salad Ideas
Salads can make a delicious accompaniment to any meal. If you like entertaining but aren’t sure what salads will complement your vegan meal or barbecue, look for delicious vegan salad ideas online.
Depending on the food you plan to serve, you may want to accompany it with a substantial salad or a lighter one. Here are some delicious vegan salads from VegNews that will have you covered if you wish to serve some of these ideas, like the Vegan Tahini Caesar Salad, a Black Bean Salad with Mango, or a deliciously refreshing Watermelon & Cucumber Salad. There are quite a few more, so look them up.
Best Vegan Salad Recipes to Try Today
Whether you’re looking for a salad recipe for a leisurely lunch or want one for when entertaining, it’s important to remember that a plant-based diet provides options that will please anyone. Look for ideas if you wish to prepare a gluten-free salad or one with mixed grains, seeds, nuts, and herbs.
As seen on Feasting at Home, a professional chef, Sylvia, created plenty of salad ideas. Sylvia provides expert tips, ensuring you get the best results when preparing the simple but delightful Soba Noodle Salad, the deliciously Creamy Vegan Broccoli Salad, or the wintery tabbouleh with farro, kale, pomegranates, and toasted almonds. One is better than the others, so you will want to work your way through all 40 of these must-try salads.
Simple and Tasty Vegan Salad Recipes
When looking for simple and tasty vegan salad recipes, you’ll be amazed at how many variations you can find for using your favorite ingredients in a salad. There are dozens of ideas for a delicious salad using lettuce leaves, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, grains, pomegranates, tofu, and other plant-based ingredients in salads.
Creating salad combinations that work is simple because most ingredients work well together. However, if you are new to this and aren’t confident enough, these vegan salad recipes from Eating Well are simple and tasty. Once you have mastered these, you may want to create more complex salads using variations you have thought about.
Easy Vegan Salad Recipes for Every Occasion
Are you looking for easy vegan salad ideas for every occasion? Here is one recipe that is easy to make and several ideas for variations to the main salad.
Easy Flavorsome Salad (2 Servings)
Use a ready salad mix that you like for this salad, making it super-easy to prepare.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of your favorite salad mix
- 1 cup sliced cucumber
- ¼ cup carrot, ribboned or julienned
- 1 cup tomatoes, preferably halved cherry or grape (if you don’t have just cut one or two tomatoes into small wedges to make up the quantity)
- ½ red onion, slice thinly and soak in water
- ⅓ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds). If you prefer raw, use them like this or toast them lightly for added flavor.
- 1 avocado, sliced
Dressing
- 1-2 T. Lemon juice
- ¼ cup Olive oil
The dressing is optional, but it does give the salad a lovely flavor.
Instructions
Drain the onions from the water. Toss all the salad ingredients except pepitas and sliced avo in a bowl. Divide into two bowls and top with the avo slices and pepitos.
Mix the ingredients for the dressing and drizzle over the salad just before serving.
Variations
- Add air-fried tofu, vegan nuggets, or tempeh to the salad
- Add vegan mayo and stuff the salad in a bread roll or sandwich bread slices for a hearty meal
- Sprinkle with nuts of your choice or hemp hearts for added protein
- Add sliced bell peppers or whole mini sweet peppers
- Toss with another dressing or your favorite homemade pesto drizzled over the salad
Creative Vegan Salad Ideas to Spice Up Your Meals
Vegans don’t only eat salads. Vegan meals like pasta, lasagne, a burrito, a wrap, or a burger often need the refreshing accompaniment of a salad to complete them.
A salad can spice up any meal, but you must do more than toss two ingredients with oil and vinegar into a bowl. Getting salad inspiration is not always easy. Luckily, a quick look online will give you many creative vegan salads to add excitement to meals.
A good rule to remember when making a vegan salad to spice up your meals is to keep the salad uncomplicated. That way, it will enhance your meal but not overpower it.
Whether you want salad ideas using creative combinations of plant-based products, you’ll be impressed with these recipes from Veganuary. Some excellent salads to accompany a meal include the Roast Butternut Squash and Spinach Salad, the Green Barley Salad, the Charred Fig and Rocket Salad, and the Middle Eastern Style Salad.
Wholesome and Nutritious Vegan Salad Recipes
Plant-based ingredients provide a fantastic opportunity to create delicious vegan salads that are wholesome and nutritious. Create a base with chickpeas, edamame, beets, corn, beans, rice, lentils, or quinoa, to name but a few, and then think about the fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based ingredients that you would like to add for their color, fiber, and flavor. The final touch to a delicious salad is the dressing and the toppings.
Plenty of exciting dressings and vinaigrette ideas can lift your salads. You can use several vegetable oils, including olive oil combined with lime or vinegar, mustard, garlic, and spices. Vegan mayonnaise is another fantastic way to add flavor to coleslaws, potato salads, or a fresh noodle salad.
Olive provides some of the best vegan salad ideas for a wholesome and nutritious plant-based lunch or dinner. Try the delicious Vegan Coronation Tofu Salad and the Roasted Corgette, Chickpea, and Lemon Salad, and you will understand why these vegan salad recipes will become everyone’s favorites.
