A side salad recipe inspired by Texas Roadhouse' famous house salad. Crisp lettuce, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, chunky seasoned croutons topped with a creamy buttermilk ranch dressing is a classic fan favorite.
My kids love to eat at Texas Roadhouse when we are in the city. Honestly, it's a little embarrassing how many baskets of rolls they can go through. The Texas Roadhouse House Salad combines all the elements most people love about a good steakhouse salad - crisp and fresh lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, a generous topping of croutons and homemade ranch dressing. I've always believed that if it takes a little ranch dressing to get my kids to eat a good serving of vegetables, that is a tradeoff I'm willing to take.
With prepared hard-boiled eggs, this salad can be made in under 10 minutes. This makes a great side salad for dinner or add some cooked protein to turn it into a full meal. The recipe is written to make four individual servings, feel free to scale up or down.
Ingredients
- Lettuce - You can use romaine or a blend of romaine and iceberg lettuce. Choose a head of lettuce that is green, crisp and fresh.
- Tomatoes - Cherry or grape tomatoes.
- Egg - Each salad is topped with ½ of a boiled egg.
- Cheddar Cheese - Shred a block of cheddar cheese yourself for the best taste. If you really like cheese on your salad, double the amount in the recipe.
- Croutons - Texas Roadhouse reportedly makes their own croutons from white bread. You can make your own or choose a seasoned, thick crouton such as the New York Bakery Texas Toast Croutons.
- Salad dressing - People love their homemade ranch dressing. You can make your own from a mix or try my recipe for buttermilk ranch dressing. We sometimes like to get it with blue cheese dressing and extra blue cheese crumbles. Dressing is served on the side.
How to plate salad
Starting with four salad plates, layer each plate with ¼ of lettuce, tomatoes, eggs, cheese and croutons on each plate in that order.
If you are preparing ahead of time, wait to add the eggs, cheese and croutons till just before serving. Salad dressing should be served on the side. Most people use between 1 and 2 tablespoons of dressing for a salad this size.
Variations
Additional toppings could include sliced red onion, cucumber slices, and shredded carrots. Some diners also prefer to leave the egg off.
Some Redditors claim that line cooks add a pinch of salt to the lettuce before the salads go out.
Serving and Storage
Serving suggestions: I recommend this salad as a side dish for a variety of meat-based entrees. Sometimes my kids want this for dinner with pizza. It can also be used as a meal prep for lunch, although I recommend waiting to add the eggs, cheese and croutons until just before serving.
Lunch Box: I like to put the components of the salad in my kids' lunch box with diced ham or turkey deli meat.
Storage: Store prepared Texas Roadhouse Copycat Salads covered in the refrigerator. Dressing, eggs, cheese and croutons should be added just before serving.
📖 Recipe
Texas Roadhouse Style House Salad
Ingredients
- 6 cups romaine lettuce or romaine/iceberg lettuce blend , chopped
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
- 2 hard-boiled eggs , chopped
- ¼ cup cheddar cheese , shredded
- 1 cup seasoned croutons
- ½ cup buttermilk ranch dressing
Instructions
- Place 1 ½ cups lettuce on each salad plate.
- Add 3-4 cherry tomatoes, ½ boiled egg, 1 Tablespoon shredded cheese and ¼ cup croutons to each salad. Serve with buttermilk ranch dressing on the side.
Notes
- Cheese: If you really like cheese, you can add 2 Tbsp. per salad.
- Croutons: look for a larger crouton, such as New York Bakery Texas Toast style croutons.
- If you are preparing ahead of time, wait to add the eggs, cheese and croutons till just before serving
Nutrition
What salad dressings does Texas Roadhouse offer?
Ranch is the most popular choice. Other dressings you can serve with the house salad include Blue Cheese, Italian, Thousand Island, Caesar, Honey Mustard, French, or a simple Oil and Vinegar.
We have a local Roadhouse (unaffiliated with the chain restaurant) and they serve the salad, but with Jalapeño Ranch Dressing.
I know some people think they can't make the side salad taste as good at home as in Texas Roadhouse, but I think it's the same as how a sandwich just tastes better when someone else makes it for you.
Enjoy this Texas Roadhouse inspired house salad!
Alaine
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Alaine says
It's hard to go wrong with this Texas Roadhouse Copycat House Salad, especially if you make the homemade buttermilk ranch dressing 😉