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This copycat steakhouse chopped salad is loaded with crisp iceberg, bacon, blue cheese, olives, hearts of palm, croutons, and French fried onions. Every bite is packed with crunchy, salty, tangy flavor, all tied together with a creamy lemon-basil dressing. It’s hearty enough for dinner and fancy enough for a steakhouse-style presentation at home.
Why You’ll Love It
- Loaded with texture — crisp iceberg, crunchy croutons, and French fried onions in every bite.
- Big steakhouse flavor — bacon, blue cheese, olives, and hearts of palm make it feel extra special.
- Creamy basil dressing — fresh basil and lemon brighten the rich ingredients.
- Hearty enough for dinner — this is far more than a simple side salad.
- No ring mold required — serve it in one big bowl or make individual towers.
Ingredient Notes
Iceberg lettuce is important here. It is crisp and cold and does exactly what this salad needs it to do. Don’t swap it for tender spring mix; it will wilt quickly after dressing.
Use cooked bacon that has cooled a little before chopping. Cook it until it’s crisp but not shattered into dust.
Radicchio brings a slightly bitter edge and that pretty purplish color. If it’s unfamiliar, it looks a little like a small purple cabbage wearing a fancy hat. Hearts of palm come in a can or jar, usually near artichoke hearts. They’re mild, tender, and a bit briny.
For the blue cheese, choose a block or crumbles with good flavor. This isn’t the moment for the dry little plastic tub that tastes like the back of the refrigerator. And fresh basil really does matter in the dressing. Dried basil will not give you that green, herby, almost summery flavor. It will just sit there acting like basil’s distant cousin.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup fresh basil, finely chopped — yes, a full cup; it looks like a lot until you chop it down
- 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
- 1/2 pound bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1 small radicchio, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup green olives, chopped
- 1/2 cup hearts of palm, chopped
- 2/3 cup blue cheese, crumbled
- 4 medium white mushrooms, chopped
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup croutons, chopped — I give them a rough chop so they get into every bite
- 1 cup French fried onions
- 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
Instructions
Whisk the sour cream, lemon juice, kosher salt, garlic powder, and finely chopped fresh basil together in a small bowl or, easier yet, right in the large bowl you plan to serve the salad from. The dressing will be thick and green-flecked, which is exactly right. If it seems almost too thick at first, don’t panic; the salad ingredients will loosen it up as you toss.
Chop the iceberg lettuce, cooked bacon, radicchio, green olives, hearts of palm, white mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs, red onion, and croutons into small, bite-friendly pieces. Keep the pieces fairly small so you get a little of everything on each forkful.
Add the chopped iceberg, bacon, radicchio, olives, hearts of palm, blue cheese, mushrooms, eggs, red onion, and chopped croutons to the bowl with the basil dressing. Add it all in there. It will look like too much for the bowl for a minute, and then it settles down.
Toss the salad very well until every ingredient is coated in the creamy dressing. Use two big spoons and take your time here, scraping up from the bottom so the bacon, olives, and blue cheese aren’t all hiding down there. Taste if needed, though between the olives, bacon, blue cheese, and salt, it should be plenty flavorful.
Divide the salad into four portions. For the steakhouse look, pack each portion firmly into a ring mold set on a plate, then carefully lift the mold away. If the little tower slumps, call it “rustic” and carry on.
Top each portion with French fried onions and halved cherry tomatoes just before serving. Do not add the fried onions early unless you want them soft and gloomy. They need to stay crisp—that’s their whole job.
Variations
Add extra tomatoes and use less blue cheese for a milder flavor.
Serve the salad in one big bowl for a casual dinner. The ring mold version is nice for a special dinner at home, but it is not required.
A version with romaine instead of iceberg and feta instead of blue cheese is fine. Fine is not an insult; fine gets eaten. But it does not have the same cold, crunchy, salty magic. Skipping the olives also removes some of the salad’s good little salty flavor.
Storage & Reheating
This salad is best right after it’s tossed, no question about it. The croutons soften and the fried onions lose their crispness if they sit too long, which is just the way of salads with ambition.
If you know you’ll have leftovers, keep the French fried onions and cherry tomatoes separate until serving. The dressed salad can be refrigerated in a covered container for about a day, though the iceberg will soften some. It’s still tasty—just not quite that fresh, crackly salad.
There’s nothing to reheat here, obviously. Please don’t put this in the microwave.
Final Notes
There’s something oddly comforting about a salad that asks you to chop a pile of things and then rewards you with a bowl that feels a little extravagant.
Make the towers if you’re in the mood. Skip them if you’re not. Serve the bowl in the middle of the table. Just don’t skimp on the basil or the bacon, and save those fried onions for the end. Some things are worth being fussy about.
Copycat Ruth’s Chris Chopped Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup fresh basil finely chopped
- 1/2 head iceberg lettuce chopped
- 1/2 pound bacon cooked and chopped
- 1 small radicchio finely chopped
- 1/2 cup green olives chopped
- 1/2 cup hearts of palm chopped
- 2/3 cup blue cheese crumbled
- 4 medium white mushrooms chopped
- 2 hard-boiled eggs chopped
- 1/2 red onion finely chopped
- 1 cup croutons roughly chopped
- 1 cup French fried onions
- 8 cherry tomatoes halved
Instructions
- Whisk the sour cream, lemon juice, kosher salt, garlic powder, and finely chopped fresh basil together in a small bowl or directly in the large bowl you plan to serve the salad from until the dressing is thick and green-flecked.
- Chop the iceberg lettuce, cooked bacon, radicchio, green olives, hearts of palm, white mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs, red onion, and croutons into small, bite-friendly pieces so you get a little of everything on each forkful.
- Add the chopped iceberg, bacon, radicchio, olives, hearts of palm, blue cheese, mushrooms, eggs, red onion, and chopped croutons to the bowl with the basil dressing.
- Toss the salad very well with two big spoons until every ingredient is coated in the creamy dressing, scraping up from the bottom so the bacon, olives, and blue cheese are evenly distributed.
- Divide the salad into four portions, or for a steakhouse look, pack each portion firmly into a ring mold set on a plate and carefully lift the mold away.
- Top each portion with French fried onions and halved cherry tomatoes just before serving so the fried onions stay crisp.