This Vegan Wedge Salad combines fresh, crispy iceberg lettuce with creamy vegan ranch dressing, smoky vegan bacon bits, and sweet acidic tomatoes for the perfect salad! This recipe is easy to make for a flavor packed plant-based twist on a steakhouse classic.
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This vegan wedge salad is satisfying enough to be a meal on its own, but will also make an eye-catching side for your dinner parties. And it requires very little cooking, making it an easy recipe to enjoy when you’re short on time.
In fact, you can make the dressing and the vegan bacon bits several days in advance, allowing you to assemble this wedge salad in minutes!
While Iceberg lettuce doesn’t contain as high a level of nutrients as other leafy greens, it is rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin K, and folate. It is also one of the least caloric foods there is, containing only 10 calories per shredded cup of lettuce. This makes it a great way to increase the bulk of food without increasing your calorie intake.
What is a wedge salad?
A wedge salad is a type of salad that typically consists of a wedge-shaped piece of iceberg lettuce that is topped with ingredients such as chopped tomatoes, bacon bits, blue cheese crumbles, and a creamy dressing like ranch or blue cheese.
It was very popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s, but is recently making a comeback.
I’ve created my own vegan version of this salad using my Vegan Ranch Dressing and my Vegan Bacon Bits. If you want to use the more traditional blue cheese dressing, my friend Cindy of Veggie Fun Kitchen has a wonderful Vegan Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe.
The iceberg lettuce used in wedge salads is particularly crisp and refreshing, making it a popular choice for this type of salad. The wedge shape also allows for the dressing to seep into all the nooks and crannies.
Ingredients for this vegan wedge salad
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Soy Curl Bacon Bits Ingredients
- Butler Soy Curls – you can substitute TVP (textured vegetable protein, but soy curls are less proccessed.
- Low sodium soy sauce – this can be replaced with tamari or coconut aminos
- water
- maple syrup – be sure to use use pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup.
- nutritional yeast – adds a little umami flavor to the bacon bits.
- liquid smoke -for that smoky flavor.
- smoked paprika – adds color and more smoky flavor
- onion powder and garlic powder – for savory taste
- salt and black pepper
Vegan Ranch Dressing
- My Tofu Cashew Mayonnaise. This vegan mayo is made from tofu and raw cashews, and has less than 17 calories per tablespoon (as opposed to 90 or more in traditional mayonnaise), making this dressing much lower in fat. You can substitute this with any mayo you like.
- Soy milk and apple cider vinegar mimic the buttermilk that is in traditional recipes.
- A bit of lemon juice adds just a little more tang.
- A fresh garlic clove, because I like my dressing to be a bit garlicky
- A bit of lemon juice adds just a little more tang. Fresh is wonderful, but bottled lemon juice is fine.
- Seasonings – onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley, dried dill, and dried chives.
Other Wedge Salad Ingredients
- Iceberg lettuce – while Iceberg is the traditional lettuce used in wedge salads, you can substitute with a sliced head of Romaine lettuce for a change of pace with more nutrients.
- Tomatoes – I like to use cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes for the best flavor, but other diced tomato is fine.
- Chives
How to make a vegan wedge salad
Make the vegan bacon bits
These are the bacon bits featured in my Vegan Bacon Bits post. More information about this recipe can be found in that post.
Start by chopping the soy curls. I found the easiest way to do this was with nut chopper. Transfer them to a medium bowl.
In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, water, maple syrup, nutritional yeast, liquid smoke, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to make a marinade.
Pour this over the chopped soy curls. Stir it around to make sure all the bits are well coated.
Allow the soy curl bits to sit and soak up the marinade for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Transfer the bacon bits to a parchment lined baking sheet and spread them into a single layer.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the bacon bits are as crispy as you like. Watch them carefully, because they can go from crispy to burnt very quickly.
Make the salad dressing
Place all the ingredients except the chives in the blender and blend them until they are well combined.
Add the chives and just pulse the blender a few time to mix them in. Pour into a jar and refrigerate.
The dressing can be made up to 4 or 5 days in advance. For more information about this dressing, see my Vegan Ranch Dressing post.
Assemble the Vegan Wedge Salad
Begin by removing any outer, damaged leaves. Cut the head in half lengthwise, then in half again, cutting through the core. Finally, remove the tough core end of each wedge.
Place each lettuce wedge on a plate, cut side up. Drizzle ranch dressing over the top, then sprinkle on vegan bacon bits and diced tomatoes. Garnish with chopped chives or green onions.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this vegan wedge salad with a protein entree like Lentil Loaf or BBQ Tofu. It would also be a tasty side salad to accompany a burger like my Black Bean Burgers or my Chickpea Burgers.
Frequently asked questions
You might not be aware, but most store-bought bacon bits are vegan. To avoid the artificial color and processed ingredients, you can make my easy Soy Curl Bacon Bits.
First remove the outer limp leaves. Then cut the head of lettuce in half lengthwise, cutting through the core. Cut the lettuce in half lengthwise again into quarters. Then cut off the tough core on the end of each quarter.
This salad requires a fork and a knife for eating. Stab the salad with a fork to stabalize it. Then use the knife to cut off a bite size piece of lettuce from the end. Be sure to swipe up some dressing, bacon bits, and cherry tomatoes with your bite. Repeat this until you’ve eaten the whole salad.
Other vegan salad recipes:
- Vegan Ceasar Salad
- Southwest Salad
- Vegan Potato Salad
- Vegan Macaroni Salad
- Pesto Pasta Salad
- Vegan Coleslaw
- Mexican Coleslaw
- Taco Salad
- Cucumber Salad
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a rating and feedback below. It only takes a few seconds, but helps other visitors to my site. Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment!
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Vegan Wedge Salad
Ingredients
Vegan Bacon Bits
- 4 ounces Butler Soy Curls
- 4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or tamari
- ⅓ cup water
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoons liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Vegan Ranch Dressing
- 1 cup Vegan Mayonnaise
- ¼ cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ½ teaspoon organic sugar or other sweetener
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried chives
Wedge Salad
- 1 head iceberg lettuce
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
- ½ cup Vegan Bacon Bits
- ½ cup Vegan Ranch Dressing
Instructions
Make the Vegan Bacon Bits
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Break the soy curls into small pieces. This is a good use for the small bits of soy curls at the bottom of the box when you purchase them in bulk. I found that they break into bacon bit sized pieces easiy in my nut chopper. Place the soy burl bits into a medium sized bowl.
- Mix the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Pour the marinade over the soy curl bits and stir to coat them all. Allow the soy curl bits to sit and absorb the marinade for at least 10 minutes.
- Spread the soy curls out on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until they are as crispy as you like. Be sure to check them frequetly as they get close to done, as they can go from crispy to burnt very quickly.
Make the Vegan Ranch Dressing
- Place all the ingredients except the chives in a blender and blend until well combined.
- Add the chives and pulse a few times until they are mixed in, but not pureed.
- Pour into a jar and refrigerate.
Make the Wedge Salad
- Remove the loose wilty leafs from the outside of the head of lettuce. Cut the head in half lengthwise through the stem. Then cut it lengthwise again to form 4 wedges. Finally, remove the core from the end of each lettuce wedge.
- Place each wedge on a separate plate. Drizzle each with ranch dressing. Sprinkle on some bacon bits and top with diced tomatoes. Garnish with chives or green onion.