Grilled Romaine Salad
on Dec 07, 2019, Updated Jun 17, 2026
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I know, it seems strange to grill lettuce on the BBQ, a grilled romaine salad!? When I think of heat and romaine lettuce, I think of green, bitter mush, but the secret is to only let the romaine kiss the grill. In less than a couple minutes on the fire, the romaine picks up just enough of the smokey grilled flavor and a bit of char on the ends of the leaves making for one of the best salads I have ever had!
Stack on some smokey bacon, a sharp blue cheese, some pomegranate seeds for a bit of sweet crunch, and a tasty, creamy cilantro dressing. A grilled romaine salad so good you won’t even realize that you are being healthy!
How to make the best grilled romaine salad
- Slice the head of romaine in half lengthwise. This will keep the head of romaine intact in two pieces and open up all the crevices of the leaves to allow the smokey flavor to fully infuse the lettuce.
- Oil and season the romaine. Once the head of romaine is sliced in half, paint a healthy dose of olive oil over it. Season the lettuce with salt and pepper before placing on the grill.
- Place the romaine on the grill. Cook each side of the romaine for about a minute or so on the grill. You do not want to leave it on the grill for too long otherwise you will have a mushy grilled romaine salad. You will want just enough char on the leaves, so pay attention and adjust the time based on the heat of the grill.
How to serve a grilled romaine salad
When it comes to salads, I need some heft. I am not a fan of boring salads tossed in a light dressing, I want a pile of goodies on top. So why not serve your guests or family a halved grilled romaine head with the fixings on the side? Set up a salad bar, have them dig in and build their own salad. Plus, it saves you the prep time and you can focus on enjoying a glass of wine or beer!
- Salad bar with a plethora of toppings to choose from – see below for some ideas
- Add some grilled meat for a steak or chicken salad
- Make it a grilled taco salad and add some ground beef along with cheddar cheese, salsa, grilled corn, and avocado
Toppings for your grilled romaine salad
- BACON! Always! The answer is bacon.
- Cheese (you have to have cheese), try blue cheese, gouda, and parmesan
- Fresh fruit, my favorites are clementine or orange slices, apples, and raspberries
- Fried onions
- Nuts like chopped pistachios, almonds, cashews or candied pecans
- Seeds like pomegranate, pumpkin or chia
- Grains, try out some quinoa, farro, or barley
- I love beans and legumes on salad, try black beans or kidney beans
- And lastly, of course, a dressing! I really enjoy this blue cheese salad dressing.
How do you store lettuce?
If you’re like me, you stock up on way too much food when you go shopping. It does not help that I live only a 5-minute walk away from Costco. If you end up having lots of extra lettuce and need to store it, there are a few tricks you can do to make it last longer.
Most people just throw their lettuce in a plastic bag or bowl and call it good. If you want your greens, or lettuce, to stay fresher, longer there is an easy trick. Grab a kitchen towel or terry cloth. You can soak this in water and wring it out, leaving it damp to the touch. You don’t want it wet, at all. Then wrap your lettuce in the towel and place it in a plastic bag. You can also use a paper towel if you don’t want to surrender one of your kitchen towels.
Some other recipes you will dig!
A grilled romaine salad could be a meal all on its own, but sometimes you need some meat to go with it, right?! Check out these other delicious recipes for some great accompaniments to your salad.
You need to try this air fryer bacon, plus, it goes extremely well with this grilled romaine salad! It is super easy to cook bacon in the air fryer and it comes out extremely crispy! It would add the perfect amount of crunch and saltiness to the salad.
These grilled bacon wrapped scallops need to have a delicious grilled romaine salad to go along with them. Scallops might be my favorite treat from the ocean, they are so tender! Plus wrapped in bacon and flavored form the smoke on the BBQ, YUM!
WINGS! Of course, salad always goes well with wings. Try out these air fryer buffalo chicken wings – from frozen, or these air fryer honey mustard chicken wings.
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Grilled Romaine Salad
Ingredients
For the blue cheese dressing
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup cottage cheese, whole milk
- 6 oz blue cheese, crumbled
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp whole-grain mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp fresh ground pepper
For the grilled romaine salad
- 2 heads romaine lettuce
- 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 6 oz pomegranate seeds
- 6 oz blue cheese crumbles
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic glaze
Instructions
Make the blue cheese dressing
- Put everything except for 2 to 3 ounces of the blue cheese into a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
- For a chunky dressing, stir in the remaining crumbled blue cheese after processing.
- Pour the dressing into a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Make the grilled romaine salad
- Slice the heads of romaine in half lengthwise.
- Brush the romaine lettuce with olive oil.
- Place the romaine cut side down on a medium-hot grill.
- Flip the heads of romaine after 1 to 2 minutes and cook for an equal amount of time on the other side.
- Transfer the romaine cut side up to a serving platter and pile on the bacon, pomegranate seeds, and blue cheese crumbles.
- Drizzle the homemade blue cheese dressing over the grilled romaine.
- Finish with balsamic glaze and serve.
Video
Notes
- Be sure that you do not overcook the lettuce. Only grill it for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Otherwise, the lettuce will become wilted.
- The blue cheese dressing can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
