Creamy Bibb Lettuce Salad

Lettuce celebrate the new year with my Creamy Bibb Lettuce Salad! If you feel like you’ve overindulged a little too much over the holiday season, you’re not alone! Salad season is officially upon us and why not celebrate with some leafy eats! This salad is full of texture, colour and flavour and couldn’t be more delicious! Bright, creamy, fresh, herbaceous and savoury is the name of the game when it comes to this satisfying spoonful!

My Creamy Bibb Lettuce Salad recipe starts off with Bibb lettuce, also referred to as Boston or butterhead lettuce. This leafy green is crisp, soft, tender in texture and mild, sweet and slightly buttery in flavour. It’s delicate, round, cup-like shape serves as the perfect vessel for vegetables, herbs and salad dressing. Radishes and fresh herbs, including chives and tarragon, are added to the mix, giving this salad some crunchiness and big flavour. Radishes add a pop of red colour, a little crunch and a hint of spiciness while fresh herbs, including chives and tarragon, impart brightness, freshness, pepperiness, savouriness and an anise or liquorice-like flavour. 

Every salad needs a good salad dressing – a dressing that is complimentary in nature, enhances the flavour of all the ingredients and leaves you craving another spoonful! So, for this salad, I’ve opted to go for a light and creamy sour cream-based dressing, one that is near and dear to my heart. My grandmother would always make the most delicious and beautiful salads. They were full of fresh vegetables, always well-seasoned and despite their simplicity, these salads were impeccably decorated, beyond tasty and made with love (and lots of it)! Some say ingredients make or break a dish and although I don’t disagree, I think when love is poured into making a meal, that’s what makes it feel extra special! Her go-to salad dressing, a sour cream dressing, was one of my favourites and takes centre stage in this recipe. The dressing combines sour cream, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper to create a balanced and satisfying spoonful. It’s bold and delicate, creamy yet light, tangy and sweet and perfectly pourable. The dressing is spooned over the salad, coating and marrying all the ingredients, and is finally ready to eat.

You can portion out servings of salad and enjoy it as is or you can create a dinner party worthy presentation by artfully stacking the ingredients. To do so, simply place larger leaves of Bibb lettuce over the base of the plate and continue stacking the leaves from largest to smallest. Garnish with the reserved chives and radish slices and serve and enjoy!

This Creamy Bibb Lettuce Salad exudes effortless elegance and is incredibly delicious. This salad recipe comes together in 10 minutes, uses a handful of simple and everyday ingredients and couldn’t be easier to make! Indulge and enjoy it as a main course or serve it as an accompaniment or a side dish for two! So, let me show you how it’s done. Grab a spoon and come and cook with me!

For more fun and exciting salad ideas, try my Frisée Salad with Bacon, Lentil Salad, Roasted Beet Salad, Asparagus and Snap Pea Salad, Creamy Potato Salad and Cobb Salad recipes!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 1 - 2

Ingredients:

Bibb Lettuce Salad

• 1 head Bibb or Boston lettuce

• 3 small radishes, divided

• 2 ½ Tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped, divided

• 1 Tbsp fresh tarragon leaves (approx. 20 leaves)

  
  

Sour Cream Dressing

• 3 Tbsp full fat sour cream

• 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar (See Notes below)

• 1 ½ tsp granulated sugar

• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Prepping the Bibb lettuce: Remove the lettuce leaves from its core and place them into a large bowl of cold water. Discard the core. Swirl the leaves around to remove any debris or dirt. Drain, rinse and repeat the process one final time. Pat the leaves dry with a paper or tea towel and set aside.

2. Prepping the Radishes: Using a sharp paring knife, cut the radish into 1/8-inch slices and set aside, reserving 10 pieces to be used as garnish.

3. Making the Sour Cream Dressing: To a small bowl, add the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and whisk until fully incorporated. Set aside.

4. Assembling the Creamy Bibb Lettuce Salad: Add the lettuce, radishes, 2 Tbsp chives and tarragon to a large bowl. Spoon the dressing over top and toss until fully incorporated.

5. Garnish with the remaining ½ Tbsp chives and sliced radishes. Serve and enjoy!

Notes:

1. Some Extra Bite: If you prefer a punchier dressing with a little more kick, substitute the white wine vinegar in this recipe on a 1:1 basis with distilled white vinegar.