When visiting Aspen, Colorado, a stop at the White House Tavern for lunch is a must. Their Macho Salad with Cornbread Croutons is exceptional. This is a copycat version.

This Summer Salad has fresh corn, tomatoes, avocados, dates, and more which are all tossed in a wonderful Champagne Vinaigrette. It may not taste exactly like the restaurant version, but it’s mighty tasty.

Macho Salad ingredients in a white serving bowl.

Why You Must Make

  • This is THE salad I eat every time I visit Aspen, Colorado!
  • The combination of ingredients, cornbread croutons, and champagne vinaigrette is a delightfully delicious combination!
  • The restaurant adds shredded chicken pieces to make it entree worthy! You can, too.
Macho Salad ingredients with labels on a sheet pan.
Macho Salad Dressing ingredients with labels on a sheet pan.

Ingredient Notes

  • Cornbread Croutons – Make a box of Jiffy Cornbread, cut it into cubes, and brown them in butter in a skillet. Or buy cornbread, cube, and brown.
  • Leaf Lettuce – I used green leaf lettuce.
  • Grape (or cherry) Tomatoes – Cut in half.
  • Fresh Corn – Steamed and removed from the cob. Thawed frozen corn may be substituted.
  • Dates – Slice or chop into bite-sized pieces.
  • Avocado – Cube and add to the salad right before serving to minimize browning. Cover with dressing before serving as the lemon juice will slow the oxidation process.
  • Slivered Almonds
  • Goat Cheese – Crumbled
  • Chicken (optional) – Poach and shred a chicken breast into bite-sized pieces. Or use a rotisserie chicken. I did not add chicken.
  • Salad Dressing – Olive Oil, Champagne Vinegar, Maple Syrup (or honey), Fresh Lemon Juice, Minced Garlic, Dried Oregano and Basil, Salt to taste.

How to Make

  1. First, make the dressing by whisking together all ingredients except the oil. Slowly incorporate the oil while whisking continuously.
  2. Make the cornbread croutons.
  3. Prep all the ingredients except for the avocado.
  4. Add salad ingredients to a large bowl.
  5. When ready to serve, cut the avocado into cubes.
  6. Add the avocados and croutons and toss with the salad dressing.
Overhead view of a small macho salad with a red handled fork.

Recipe Tips

  • Add avocados last to prevent bruising and discoloration. The vinaigrette will slow oxidation (browning), so you can gently toss the cubed avocados in the dressing if you must cut them ahead of time.
  • PRO-Tip: When making any vinaigrette, slowly drizzle the oil into the other ingredients while whisking continuously. This will emulsify the dressing, making it homogeneous and less likely to separate.
  • If you have access to fresh corn on the cob, it makes a fun presentation. I like adding larger pieces sliced off the cob. But frozen corn works well, too.
  • Use any favorite lettuce type. Iceberg, Romaine, and other varieties will work, too.
  • I used maple syrup to sweeten the salad dressing, but honey or brown sugar will also work well.
  • To make cornbread croutons, cut your cornbread into cubes. Toss in olive oil or melted butter, sprinkle with fine sea salt, and saute until lightly browned.
  • Add shredded chicken or chunks of cooked salmon to make this macho salad an entree salad.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Makes This a Summer Salad?

Though all the ingredients in this salad can be found year-round, using fresh local summer corn and tomatoes make it especially tasty.

What Can Be Used Instead of Goat Cheese?

If you’re not a fan of goat cheese, it’s easy to substitute another cheese like Feta. Cubes of fresh mozzarella would be delicious, too.

How Do You Store Leftovers?

If you won’t eat the whole salad in one sitting, just mix what you will eat with the salad dressing. Then you can keep the leftovers for 2-3 days in an airtight container. The avocados won’t fare well, so you can toss them in dressing to minimize browning or add new cubes when eating the leftover salad.

You May Also Like

Stay in touch through social media @ InstagramFacebook, and Pinterest. Don’t forget to tag me when you try one of my recipes! And if you love the results, please give it a 5-star rating in the recipe card.

Macho Salad ingredients in a white serving bowl.

White House Tavern Macho Salad Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Yield 4 servings

A copycat salad from Aspen's White House Tavern.

Ingredients

  • Cornbread Croutons* (saute cubed cornbread in butter to brown)
  • 6 cups leaf lettuce
  • ½ cup grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in halved
  • ¾ cup fresh corn, steamed and removed from the cob (defrosted frozen corn may be substituted)
  • 6 dates, sliced
  • ½ cup slivered almonds
  • ½ cup goat cheese crumbles

Salad Dressing:

  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • Juice of one lemon
  • ½ teaspoon dried basil
  • ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¼ freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ salt

Instructions

  1. Make your cornbread croutons, cool and set aside.
  2. Make the salad dressing by whisking together all ingredients except the oil. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking continuously until the mixture emulsifies (comes together into a creamy dressing). Set aside.
  3. Toss all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.
  4. Add salad dressing to taste, toss again and serve with croutons.

Notes

*I used a box of Jiffy cornbread to make my croutons. When cool, cut into cubes and saute in oil or butter to brown.

To make an entree salad, add 1 cup of shredded grilled or rotisserie chicken.

Adapted from There's Always Pizza and Kalejunkie blogs.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 549Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 31gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 458mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 5gSugar: 16gProtein: 12g

Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.

HOW MUCH DID YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest