There is a special satisfaction in the partciular grouping of ingredients called a Chef’s Salad. The smoky bacon, the croutons’s crunch … the umami and heft brought on by the egg. I especially love leftover baked ham in a chef’s salad along with an assertive cheese, like sharp Pinconning.
Chef’s Salad
Course: SaladsCuisine: American4-6
main-dish servingsA chef’s salad with homemade croutons and homemade French dressing: quite a meal
Ingredients
- For the croutons:
2 plain, whole wheat, or onion bagels
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/8 tsp garlic or onion powder
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan (optional)
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup fresh parsley (optional)
- For the dressing:
3 Tbs sugar
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground dried tomato (optional)
3/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Dash of ground red pepper
3 Tbs (apple cider) vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
3/4 cup olive oil
- For the eggs:
2-6 eggs
- For the salad:
1 lb. bacon
3 cups iceberg or leaf lettuce, cut into salad-size pieces
3 cups Romaine or spinach, cut into salad-size pieces
4 oz. cooked ham, cut into bite-sized strips
1 cup cubed Pinconning cheese
2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges, or 20 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small bell pepper, deseeded and cut into rings
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
Avocado (optional)
Cucumbers (optional)
Directions
- Make the croutons.
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Cut bagels into 1/4-inch-thick wedges. Melt butter in microwave. Stir in dill, (pepper flakes, parsley), and garlic powder. Pour into a large mixing bowl. Tilt and swirl the bowl to coat the inside with the mixture, about 2/3 of the way up the side of the bowl. Add wedges (and Parmesan), stirring with a flexible spatual to coat, being dilligent to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Spread wedges in a single layer in a baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Stir; continue to bake until dry and crisp, about 15 more. Let cool. To store, place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 month. Bring to room temperature before serving. Makes 2 cups.
- Make the dressing.
- In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine (on high, for 5 seconds) sugar, vinegar, paprika, (Worccestershire), salt, mustard, garlic, and red pepper. With the processor running, slowly add oil in a thin, steady stream. (This should take 2 to 3 minutes.) Continue processing until the mixture is thick. Taste for seasoning.
- Serve immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Stir before serving. Makes almost 1 cup.
- Boil the eggs.
- Place the eggs into an Instant Pot, on the steam rack. Add 1½ cups water. Set the pot to PRESSURE COOK, high (pressure), normal (5 minutes). Natural release for 5 minutes. Soak the eggs in an ice water bath until they’re cool enough to peel, then peel under cool, running water.
- Make the salad.
- Without separating the bacon into strips, use kitchen shears to cut it into 1-inch pieces. Fry until crisp. (The pieces will separate themselves in the process, perhaps with a bit of coaxing.) Move to a paper towel to cool.
- In a large salad bowl toss together the greens. Arrange meat, cheese, eggs, tomatoes, pepper rings, onions, (avocado, cucumber), and bacon atop.
- Store croutons and dressing in separate containers. Toss into salad at serving time.
Notes
- Substitutions: safflower oil for the olive oil, or go halvsies. Buttermilk, creamy Italian, or herb dressing for the French dressing. Chicken, turkey, beef, pork, or lamb for the ham. Swiss, cheddar, American, provolone, Gruyère, or crumbled blue for the Pinconning.
- I developed this recipe for a six-quart Instant Pot. If using a different size or type of pot, you may need to make modifications.
Social Learning
Many French dressing recipes call for mayo and ketchup. You can add those to this one if you want to, but it’s absolutely creamy, delicious, and packs a whollop of flavor without them. If you do decide to add them, you should do it before drizzling in the oil.
What makes a chef salad different from any other green salad is that it is laden with hard boiled eggs, meats, and cheeses, and it’s traditionally served in a composed fashion. There’s a ton of flexibility built in: in addition to eggs, meat, and cheese, you can include just about anything. The greens can be just about any sort. The meats, too, can be anything that you’d enjoy cold. Even the dressing can be whatever you want.
Adult Lunchbox
A fourty-four-oz. container will hold a serious, big-meal-sized salad. You’re going to pack the container about two-thirds to three-quarters full with salad, leaving enough room on top to place a four-oz. container of dressing and a small packet of croutons on top, inside the container. When filling the container, about half of it should be gently-packed greens. Layer the rest of the ingredients over that.
Four ounces is a lot of dressing. Don’t fill the dressing container all the way. Leave some room, so that you can shake the dressing vigorously before using. If the croutons are small enough, another four-oz. container might do for them. However, you can also wrap them very tightly in plastic wrap, and then encase that tightly in foil and place that into the salad container, too. That should keep them crunchy.
When it comes time to eat this salad, I take out the dressing and crouton containers, dump the croutons into the salad, and then pour in the dressing. Then I shake the salad container like crazy, and eat the salad right from the continer.
Chef’s Salad with Homemade French Dressing and Bagel Croutons
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor. References: Ally’s Kitchen. “Chef’s Salad,” and “Bagel Croutons,” in Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. (Des Moines, IA: BHG, 1996), 421, 431. Food.com, Martha Stewart, Food Network, Recipes.net, The Daring Gourmet. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #14 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.
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I too love a good chef’s salad. So many options, but I love the bacon as well. Your dressing sounds wonderful. Pinconning cheese? Need to look that up!
Ah, probably because I live so near to Michigan, which is where this cheese originates. It didn’t occur to me that its popularity might be regional! It’s like a cheddar, and like a colby … kind of along those lines.
I have never tried cooking eggs in my IP…always worried about overcooking them. The salad looks delicious and filling.
It’s worth a try. Once you get the timing that you want – you can actually set the pot to zero if you want – they’ll come out exactly the same way ever time, with no guesswork.
I really tuned in to the dressing. I envision it as tasting very great.
Oh, it’s a good one, for sure. Thanks!
I love a good salad and this one definitely fits the bill. It’s beautiful too with all these colours and textures. Whaaaat? Boiling eggs in an Instant Pot???? OMG, that’s incredible. I’m making devilled eggs for Easter so I’m definitely trying it!
Oh, you should! Try a few in advance, so that you get the timing down to exactly what you want. From there, it’s perfectly repeatable.
So cool thank you, I never would have thought of it.
You’re welcome!
Such a full and flavorful looking salad. Thanks for the tips on the French dressing. It is interesting that it often is made with mayo when French salads usually use olive oil and hardly ever contain mayo
Well, I’m certainly no expert on dressing, nor on French foods. Maybe it’s just here in the U.S. where it is apparently commonly made with a bit of mayo. I seemed to see a lot of recipes that called for it.
I’ve never come across dried tomato – an ingredient in the dressing. But I would substitute 1/2 good ripe tomato in the recipe. I’ve made great vinaigrettes with ripe tomatoes but these dressings have to be used when fresh.
As a vegetarian, I would use some good blue cheese and omit the ham and bacon.
You know, that dried tomato powder was a gift. I hadn’t heard of it either. But I really love it. It has the flavor of sundried tomatoes, and it’s fantastic to add to all sorts of things.
Gorgeous!! We eat a chef salad or a BIG salad as I like to call them at least once a week. I will be trying your recipe for French Dressing without the ketchup or mayo. That is the big guys favorite. Thank you for sharing this.
I hope you like the dressing as much as I do!
I love a good chef’s salad, and yours looks great (not just good), Jeff. Homemade dressings are the best!
Thanks, David!
There are so many delicious components to this Chef’s Salad Jeff! I love salads like this that truly are a stand alone meal. Your bagel croutons are so unique, what a great idea!
Thanks!
Chef salads are my favorite. I mean, I get irritated when I don’t have a boiled egg in my salad these days LOL. Delicious recipe!
I know. I love adding eggs to just about any green salad.
Thought I had commented but maybe not Jeff, I certainly read your incredible recipe when it first published. It reminds a little of the Caesar Salad, but has so much more going on. Chef’s salad is such an appropriate name for it and I love it’s flexibility. It’s a meal in itself which is perfect.
Thank you, Pauline!
Favoloso, salvo lo zucchero non per me, da fare…prima o dopo. Grazie buon weekend.
Yes, I agree with you about that. You could try it without sugan.
qu’elle superbe salade, elle donne envie de ce mettre à table!
bon week-end
a bientôt!
Thank you!
this sounds great apart from the bacon. Sadly we no longer eat it but i bet this tastes fine without it. I just can’t bring myself to eat pigs anymore! Maybe I could add some capers or caperberries …
I’ve said it many times: it’s nothing other than a lack of character on my part that allows me to eat meat. So more power to you on the no-bacon front. I know there are plant-based bacon products. I also think you’d still have a great salad on your hands even without the bacon. (I can’t believe I just said that.) 🙂
Una ensalada muy sabrosa, perfecta para el trabajo porque es realmente completa. Odio pelar huevos duros pues lo mismo pueden resultar un éxito si se pelan bien como un absoluto fracaso de cáscara llena de trozos de clara.
Un saludo.
I know what you mean! The Instant Pot makes them very peelable. Thanks for you comment!
I do love a good chef’s salad. And the bottom part of the bowl/plate where all of the good stuff is hiding? That’s my heaven! But what I appreciate the most about this post is the way you’ve packed an incredible meal to go by separating the dressing and croutons. Well done, sir! And now I’m craving a chef’s salad…
Thank you! Well, I’ve figured out how to pack one. I guess I’ll have to figure out how to ship one next!