Budget Green Goddess Salad (Viral Tiktok Recipe)
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This green goddess salad recipe was made viral by the amazing ‘Baked by Melissa’ on Tiktok. It combines a variety of chopped green/white veggies with a pesto inspired creamy dressing.
Table of Contents
Why this chopped salad recipe works
The chopped salad is great for a number of reasons. By finely dicing all of the ingredients, we get a hint of flavour from each veggie in each bite.
The tangy, creamy green dressing coats all of the chopped veggies in the most delicious flavour. I can see why the Baked by Melissa green goddess salad went so viral now!
Here are some other salad recipes to try out after this one: Panzanella Salad with Halloumi, Pomegranate Halloumi Salad and Tricolore Salad
Ingredients
White Cabbage
The star of the show with this chopped salad. It’s crunchy, vibrant and almost peppery. I have tried red cabbage, as that has the same crunch but for this salad I prefer the white cabbage.
Spring Onion
I added the greener end of the onion into the green goddess dressing and thinly sliced the white end of the onion to go into the chopped salad.
Cashews
To make the dressing and as a healthy source of fats, the cashews blend to form the most creamy dressing. Here are some other recipes I’ve made using cashews to make the creamy sauce; Green Goddess Pasta, Vegan Red Pepper Macaroni and Cheese and Vegan Cashew Curry
Nutritional Yeast
Another essential component of the dressing I used the nutritional yeast to add the creaminess, but also gives off a subtle cheesy element to the dressing.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Make sure you use extra-virgin olive oil here for the rich flavour.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How I made it a budget recipe
To make this Tik Tok chopped salad recipe more budget-friendly, I made some switches.
Walnuts & Cashews –> Just Cashews
Chopped Lettuce to add volume
Shallots in dressing –> Greener end of spring onion into the dressing
2 lemons–> 1 lemon
No chives or garlic
I also reduced the amount of vinegar for more a subtle tang
You can find the original recipe by Baked by Melissa here.
Other Tik Tok recipes you might like to try; Viral Salmon Rice Bowl, Pizza Toast and Chocolate Swirl Custard Toast
How to make this Tiktok green goddess salad
- Start by finely chopping the cabbage into small pieces (Image 1).
- Then slice the cucumber into small pieces on a chopping board (Image 2).
3. Next finely slice the spring onion (Image 3).
4. And then finely chop the iceberg lettuce (Image 4).
5. Prepare the ingredients for the dressing: the lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, rice vinegar, basil, spinach, cashews & nutritional yeast (Image 5).
6. Then add them to a blender to blend together until smooth (Image 6).
7. Now pour the creamy green dressing onto the large salad (Image 7).
8. Combine together to evenly coat all of the ingredients. Serve and enjoy immediately (Image 8).
What is nutritional yeast?
Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast – it is the same type of yeast that’s used to bake bread and brew beer.
I think it entered the food scene at such a pace/ had an element of ‘superfood’ status to it because it’s such a good source of B vitamins, which means that it’s really popular in vegan/ vegetarian recipes.
The addition of nutritional yeast to this green goddess salad recipe is the addition of a cheesyish/ creamy/ nutty undertone that makes this chopped salad so delicious.
It’s a hard flavour to describe but trust me, it makes all the difference!
Is this recipe healthy?
Absolutely! This chopped salad is loaded with vitamins & nutrients and fibre.
We’re starting with whole ingredients, which ensures that there are also no nasty additives in the recipe.
Some people have claimed that the green goddess salad calories are high, but with my recipe we are using less oil and less nuts which reduces the calories. The lettuce also adds volume to a portion size whilst keeping the calories low. You can use chips/crisps to scoop up the salad which is obviously delicious, but makes the calories slightly more.
Other healthy recipes for you to try are this one; Crustless Pizza Bowl, Rainbow Grain Bowl and Healthy Noodle Bowls
Hints and Tips
Keep that dice finely chopped!
It may take a bit of time, but you want all of the ingredients to be chopped to the same small sized pieces. This ensures that you get a good variety of the chopped elements of the salad within each bite, which is what made this tik tok green goddess salad so viral!
Salt generously
We’re starting this recipe from scratch, so we want to ensure that all of the ingredients and dressing is seasoned perfectly. Add a generous amount of salt, when blending the dressing and taste to adjust before stirring into the chopped ingredients.
Use fresh veggies
As a lot of the flavour for this recipe comes from the brightness and the freshness of the raw ingredients, we want to ensure that they are as fresh as possible. When you’re cooking ingredients, the freshness can sometimes be more disguised, but not so much when slicing up and enjoying raw!
FAQs
This recipe is great to make at the beginning of the week for a quick WFH lunch to grab from the fridge.
For maximum freshness, I’d store the chopped salad separately to the dressing and add to the salad when it’s time to eat. Do not freeze this recipe!
You could stir in shredded chicken breast, pork mince, sliced turkey steaks, chickpeas or quinoa to protein
If you’re looking for a nut-free green goddess salad. Replace the creaminess that the blended cashews provide by adding 2 tbsp of mayonnaise into the blender. Also increase the nutritional yeast by 1 tbsp. You could also substitute the nuts with a small avocado.
Either add a fresh jalapeno or green chilli into the blender to add spice to the dressing, or finely chop pickled jalapenos for a tangy kick of spice throughout the chopped salad.
Other salad recipes to try after this one; Healthy Tortellini Salad, Honey Soy Chicken Salad and Halloumi Vegetarian Caesar Salad
If you tried this Budget Green Goddess Salad recipe, it would be mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Budget Green Goddess Salad (Viral Tiktok Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 white cabbage (£1.07)
- 1 cucumber (£0.45)
- 50 g spring onions (£0.50)
- 1 iceberg lettuce (£0.46)
Dressing
- 1 lemon, juiced (£0.20)
- 1 handful of fresh basil (£0.55)
- 1 handful of spinach (£0.90/2)=(£0.45)
- 35 g cashews (£1.39/4)=(£0.35)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
Method
- Finely chop/dice the cabbage, cucumber, half of the spring onion (reserving the greener half for the dressing) and iceberg lettuce. Add to a large mixing bowl.
- To a blender, adding the liquids first, combine the lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, rice vinegar, basil, spinach, cashews, nutritional yeast and greener end of the spring onion. Season generously with salt and blend until smooth.
- Pour the dressing into the large salad and toss to evenly coat all of the ingredients. Serve & enjoy immediately either on it’s own or with tortilla chips to dip!
Notes
- Finely chop all ingredients to the same small size for a good variety of chopped elements in each bite.
- Salt generously while blending the dressing and adjust to taste before stirring into chopped ingredients.
- Use fresh veggies to ensure the brightness and freshness of raw ingredients are not disguised.
Nutrition
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