10 Salad Bowl Ideas

If you’re in need of salad bowl inspiration, you’ve found yourself in the right place! Today I’m sharing 10 salad bowl combos for you to replicate at home. I switch my salads up so frequently by keeping my pantry stocked with grain blend pouches, nuts, dried fruit, canned beans, canned salmon/tuna, etc. Beyond that, I kind of pick a theme for the week. Like I’ll buy a certain type of lettuce, a bag of mini cucumbers and open up a can of hearts of palm and switch out nuts for something like pine nuts. I truly never get tired of salad bowls because the combinations are endless.

The other important piece of advice that I have is to invest in high quality olive oil and balsamic for your salads…and to salt your greens! HUGE add to the flavor profile and keeps dressings simple and clean. I only use my “good stuff” on my salads and buy cheaper olive oil and balsamic for cooking. For the salads below that call for “sea salt, olive oil and balsamic,” I added the greens to the bowl first, salted them with a pink Himalayan sea salt grinder and then drizzled with olive oil and balsamic. Sometimes I’ll do a second drizzle on top.

1. MY FAVORITE CRISPY CHICKEN SALAD

This salad is a go-to combo for me and I make it often for dinner.

• Air fried chicken nuggets – I like Just Bare or Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free chicken nuggets. Sometimes I’ll toss the nuggets in buffalo sauce after air frying.
• Chopped romaine lettuce – definitely recommend a crisper lettuce for this salad over something like spring mix or spinach.
• Carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers if I have them
• Avocado
• Shredded cheddar
• Croutons – this time I used Trader Joe’s rosemary croissant croutons and OMG they’re so good. I don’t always use croutons in this salad but really like the texture they add!
• Primal Kitchen Ranch (or ranch of your choice)

2. TRADER JOE’S CANNED SALMON SALAD 

• Trader Joe’s lightly smoked canned salmon
• Power greens mix
• Sea salt, olive oil and balsamic
• Cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots
• Chickpeas
• Avocado
• Strawberries, dried cranberries
• Pine nuts

Here’s another one…

• Green leaf lettuce blend
• Sea salt, olive oil and balsamic
• Cucumbers, mini red peppers, tomatoes
• Avocado
• Trader Joe’s rosemary roasted mixed nuts
• Kalamata olives
• Feta
• Trader Joe’s lightly smoked canned salmon

I keep a stack of the Trader Joe’s lightly smoked salmon in the pantry for a salad topper. It’s packed in olive oil and I love the texture with the salmon in big, flaky pieces. Each can has 21 grams of protein.

3. MEATLESS BEAN-BASED PROTEIN SALADS

• Power greens
• Sea salt, olive oil and balsamic
• Tomatoes
• Edamame and chickpeas
• Avocado
• Feta
• Dried cranberries
• Pepitas

• Chopped romaine
• Carrots (I also added tomatoes after this picture)
• Blueberries, dried cranberries
• White beans, edamame
• Feta
• Avocado
• Trader Joe’s goddess dressing
• A drizzle of balsamic

4. CHICKEN, STRAWBERRY + AVOCADO SALAD

• Mixed greens
• Sea salt, olive oil and balsamic
• Chickpeas
• Avocado
• Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots
• Strawberries, dried cranberries
• Feta
• Pine nuts
• Deli chicken

5. RADISH + HEARTS OF PALM SALAD 

• Mixed greens
• Sea salt, olive oil and balsamic
• Avocado
• Radish, cucumber, tomatoes, hearts of palm
• Pine nuts
• Feta
• Dried cranberries
• Deli turkey

6. TURKEY, HARDBOILED EGG + GRAIN SALAD

• Mixed greens
• Sea salt, olive oil and balsamic
• Ready to eat grain blend 
• Hardboiled egg
• Chopped turkey
• Toasted pecans
• Tomatoes, cucumbers, mini yellow peppers
• Feta

7. HARDBOILED EGG, GRAINS + COTTAGE CHEESE SALAD

• Green leaf lettuce blend
• Sea salt, olive oil and balsamic
• Hardboiled eggs
• Tomatoes, cucumbers, mini red peppers
• Avocado
• Cottage cheese
• Grain blend pouch

8. CHICKEN + BEETS SALAD

• Mix of mixed greens and green leaf lettuce
• Sea salt, olive oil and balsamic
• Tomatoes, pickled beets, mini peppers
• Dried cranberries
• Toasted pecans
• Avocado
• Feta
• Leftover chopped chicken thighs

9. CHICKEN, SWEET POTATO + GRAINS SALAD BOWL

• Mixed greens
• Sea salt, olive oil and balsamic
• Tomatoes, cucumbers
• Roasted sweet potatoes
• Leftover chopped chicken breast
• Grain blend pouch
• Toasted pecans
• Feta

10. SHRIMP + AVOCADO CHOPPED SALAD

• Taylor Farms Mediterranean crunch chopped salad kit
• Add chickpeas, tomatoes, avocado and steamed shrimp

YUM! I just love how high in protein shrimp are.

LET’S GO MAKE A SALAD

I hope this post has you feeling inspired to go whip up a delicious salad bowl! They’re soooo easy to make at home and way more economical than getting them out (although that is a fun treat sometimes!).