Budget Green Goddess Salad (Viral Tiktok Recipe)

Why this chopped salad recipe works

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.  

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!

Ingredients

White cabbage 

The star of the show with this chopped salad. It’s crunchy, vibrant and almost peppery. 

Cucumber

Adds freshness and crunch. I use a standard cucumber instead of the mini cucumber’s used in Melissa’s recipe

Spring onions

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. 

Iceberg Lettuce 

This is a new addition to the traditional baked by Melissa Green goddess salad. She uses more cucumber than I do, so I add a lot of bulk by adding chopped iceberg lettuce. This also adds so much freshness, which I love. 

Lemon 

For acidity, brightness and tang. 

Basil 

For freshness and flavour. I skip the chives to cut back on costs and I don’t think they’re needed when the basil adds so much flavour. 

Spinach 

To add a green vibrance to the green goddess salad. 

Cashews 

A healthy source of fats, which blends to form the most creamy dressing. 

Rice Vinegar 

For acidity, brightness and tang. 

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil 

Make sure you use extra-virgin olive oil here for the rich flavour. 

Nutritional Yeast 

This adds to the creaminess, but also gives off a subtle cheesy element to the dressing. 

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 here .

Other tiktok recipes you might also like

Viral Salmon Rice Bowl (Tiktok Recipe)

Pizza Toast (Hailey Bieber’s Tiktok Inspired Recipe)

Chocolate Swirl Custard Toast

How to make this Tiktok green goddess salad

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.

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!

Variations

Add a protein of choice:

You could stir in shredded chicken breast, pork mince, sliced turkey steaks, chickpeas or quinoa to protein.

Nut allergies:

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. 

Add spice:

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. 

Can I make this recipe ahead of time?

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! 

Other salad recipes … 

Healthy Tortellini Salad 

Honey Soy Chicken Salad 

Halloumi Vegetarian Caesar Salad