Simple Arugula Salad
This Simple Arugula Salad is full of clean, tasty ingredients and dressed perfectly with an emulsified balsamic vinaigrette. An ideal side dish for any meal!
A peppery Rocket Salad is healthy, delicious, and super easy to toss together!
Why You Must Make
- It’s a delicious combination of ingredients plus a creamy vinaigrette!
- The tasty salad dressing can be used on almost any green salad.
- As with most salad recipes, you can tweak the ingredients depending on your palate. My husband would prefer no cucumbers!
My youngest sister, Maddy, has a knack for cooking without a recipe. As more of a baker, I always rely on written instructions and rarely mess with the proportions of leavening to flour and fat. My tweaks tend to be changes in flavorings or kind of chocolate. While we were back in Iowa visiting our family home, she whipped up some fabulous broiled salmon and this delightful salad. I have a feeling you’ll love this arugula recipe as much as I did.
Expert Tips
- Look for triple-washed arugula in the grocery store. If you have to wash it yourself, make sure any grit or sand is rinsed off and let the greens dry before using.
- You can prep most of the ingredients ahead of time, but do not toss until right before serving. It’s best to add the avocado along with the dressing so the cubes do not oxidize, or turn brown.
- Once the dressing is tossed with the arugula, the greens will wilt.
- Use a whisk to make the arugula salad dressing. When adding the oil, drizzle it in slowly while whisking so that the mixture emulsifies, becoming homogeneous.
- Start with 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt in the dressing. Taste and add another 1/4 teaspoon if you think it needs more.
- To pulverize the fresh garlic, add it to your cutting board along with the kosher salt. Start mashing it with the side of a chef’s knife, using the salt to help break it down.
- The addition of mayonnaise may seem odd, but it helps temper the bitter arugula and help with emulsifying the dressing.
Serving Suggestions:
Since this salad does not have any dominant flavors or spices, it will be a perfect addition to almost any meal. Try it with some of my favorite entrees:
- Grilled Flank Steak
- Cedar Plank Salmon
- Marinated Lamb Chops
- Penne alla Vodka
- Plus, check out all my Main Course Recipes
Frequently Asked Questions
Arugula, pronounced uh-ROO-guh-lah, is a slightly bitter salad green with a peppery mustard flavor. It’s also known as Italian cress, rocket, roquette, rugula, and rucola. Very popular in Italy, it’s gained popularity with Americans, too.
From CooksInfo.com: “In North America, Rocket is usually called Arugula. Many people think that is the Italian name, but it isn’t. The Italian word is for arugula “rucola” or sometimes “rochetta.”
“Arugula” is an English corruption of the word in some Italian dialect, perhaps from Lombardy where they call it “arigola.” “Eruca” is the Latin word for a variety of cabbage and the word rocket in English, German, and Italian. Yes, it’s confusing!!!
Yes, just like spinach arugula is a healthy green with Vitamin A, K, C, and Folate, Iron, and other minerals, low in calories and fats, and high in antioxidants.
You May Also Like:
- Green Salad with Feta and Beets from The Food Charlatan
- Tomato and Burrata Panzanella Salad
- Burrata Caprese Salad
- Marinated Vegetable Salad
- Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing
- More Best Salad Recipes
Simple Arugula Salad
Fresh produce tossed in a light vinaigrette makes or a fabulous, healthy side dish!
Ingredients
- 5-ounce container of fresh Arugula
- 12 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 English cucumber, sliced, then quartered or 4 mini English cucumbers, sliced
- Avocado, cut into cubes
Dressing:
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Instructions
- Fill a salad bowl with arugula. Top with chopped veggies.
- To prepare the dressing, put salt on a cutting board. Put the garlic clove on top of salt and mince and mash the garlic and salt together.
- Whisk garlic/salt mixture with vinegar, then whisk in olive oil. Whisk in mayonnaise.
- Toss salad with dressing just before serving. Refrigerate any extra dressing.
Notes
Use syrupy, well-aged balsamic vinegar for the tastiest salad dressing. I use an 18-year traditional balsamic vinegar.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 303Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 295mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 4gSugar: 3gProtein: 2g
60 Comments on “Simple Arugula Salad”
I remember the first time I had arugula (rocket) was in the UK. Immediately addicted to that peppery flavor. Simple is delicious.
I love arugula! Unfortunately Manservant does not. That doesn’t stop me though and I make him eat it!
Love arugula! And this looks like a fantastic salad. Just the thing for us at the moment — we’re practically living on salads this summer. Thanks!
This is delicious and very refreshing and since here we are in the midst of the mango season, i would love adding some Alphonso to this salad. Thanks for sharing 🙂
That dressing sounds really interesting, especially with the addition of mayo! Looking forward to trying it:@)
Simple yet delicious summer salad. And it’s also very versatile as you can add other ingredients (I love similar salads with the addition of feta or goat’s cheese.)
It might be simple, but very fresh, crunch and tasty, Liz.
I never use mayo in my dressing, always dijon, but it looks so good I might have to switch it out and give it a try!
We like all greens including Arugula. This sounds like the perfect salad!!!
I pile my dish high with salads just like this too. Next to soup, it’s my favorite type of dish. Well, ok, unless we’re listing dessert too. Then soup is second, and salads are third 🙂 I almost always have arugula in the garden that I go pick for my salads.
Yummmmy. Healthy. DeeeLISH! Xx
Love this! So light and healthy! I love Grape tomatoes, cucumbers and avocado in my salads!
Lol, Liz, I just read your comment on my blog about how you brought a salad this week to avoid a baking catastrophe like mine! I don’t blame you one bit for writing about this salad – it’s delicious! I love every single component in there. This sounds so fresh, vibrant, healthy and flavourful, everything you can ask for in a healthy meal. Throw in a lean protein and dinner is done!
My husband loves arugula but I tend to avoid it because I am not a fan of the bitterness but I am going to try your sisters dressing and see if I can like too 🙂
My husband loves arugula but I tend to avoid it because I am not a fan of the bitterness but I am going to try your sisters dressing
Arugula is so good but alone yeah bitter. I have to try that simple but wonderful dressing! Very nice salad.
Wow, this is a beautiful salad Liz. Apparently Maddy is the yin to your yang. Her recipe for the entree and your recipes for dessert.
Lovely looking salad and the dressing sounds fabulous!!It would pair well with any food 🙂
simple and elegant!
Love the dressing, Lizzy! This salad sounds perfect for me!