I have only tried one other “copycat” recipe for those famous recipes that so many of us wish we could get our hands on the secret recipes. It was for the coleslaw recipe from KFC. And just like this copycat recipe for the Chopped Salad at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, it was spot-on delicious! I’m always a little bit skeptical of recipes stating that they’re good duplicates of a cherished recipe. But I have to say that I’m batting 100% with the two copycat recipes that I’ve tried.
Now I don’t know if you’ve dined at Ruth’s Chris or not, or if you are a fan of the restaurant or not. It is hands-down our favorite steakhouse in our neck of the woods. We’ve never had a bad experience or meal at the location in Greenville, South Carolina. Along with one of the famous steaks, we religiously order the Ruth’s Chris Chopped Salad. I’ve always wanted to prepare this salad and I finally did today.
It is ridiculously delicious! So I just had to share it with you! ♡
I have to say that if this is not the famous secret recipe for Ruth’s Chris Chopped Salad than it is pretty darn close. And it’s wonderful to my taste buds!
Ingredients in the recipe for Ruth’s Chris Chopped Salad:
This colorful chopped salad combines layers of flavor with spinach, radicchio, and iceberg lettuces . . . mixed with an assortment of chopped artichoke hearts, green olives, hard-cooked eggs, hearts of palm, bacon, red onion, crumbled blue cheese, and dried onion rings. The creamy, yet slightly tangy dressing is perfectly light with lemon juice, basil, seasoned salt . . . and I add some garlic powder.
To make this salad even more of a sensory experience, there is this wonderful crunch from the dried onion rings and thick bacon. And my husband and I love ‘crunch’ in our salads. I might even add some slivered almonds to this the next time I prepare it.
I guarantee that I’ll make this chopped salad again and again now that I have the recipe!
What’s great about chopped salads is that when you take a bite, you get all of the flavors at once including the dressing.
Perfect Salad for Entertaining Too!
So if you’re in need of an incredible salad that can be made ahead, trust me, this chopped salad is a keeper! Talk about a great salad for entertaining since you can make everything ahead of time. Just toss everything before serving to your guests so that the lettuces don’t wilt and the bacon doesn’t get soft.
With the holidays coming up, this salad will make a LOT of people happy and craving for more! I know that I’d enjoy seconds of this famous salad and forget about some of the other holiday food options!
Let me know if you make this recipe for Ruth’s Chris Chopped Salad! I’d love to know what you think!
And as always, send me a photo and I’ll share it here for the community to see!
COOKING TIPS for Making Chopped Salads:
- Start with a nice blend of your favorite lettuces, such as your go-to iceberg if you enjoy more crunch. Then add some romaine, spinach, red leaf, red cabbage, and/or mesclun. Some are more earthy lettuce than others and some have more flavor and zing than others. It’s good to have a good balance. Choosing and prepping great greens is the first step in salad excellence.
- Don’t buy lettuce that’s browning or has bruises. Notice if the edges of spinach or mesclun have yellowed, and skip those. We really dislike the taste of packaged lettuce, but if you like them and are in a time-crunch where you need to use those pre-washed lettuces, then do make sure to check for condensation in the bagged lettuces, because moisture in the package means the greens inside will soon wilt.
- Whenever you’re making a salad, it’s always best to use lettuce that has been washed and dried, not wet or damp, so that the dressing/vinaigrette can cling to the lettuce better. You want to remove any of the grit in lettuces from growing in the dirt, so don’t skip giving them a nice bath. Fill a huge bowl with cold water. Tear apart the leaves and swish them around in the water, then let them rest for a few minutes so any released dirt can settle at the bottom. Lift the greens out of the bath and place into a salad spinner.
- One way to make sure that your lettuce has the grit and rinse water ‘gently’ removed is by giving the lettuce a nice little whirl in a salad spinner. You may have to do this twice. Dry washed lettuce well in that spinner. Throwing a paper towel in with the leaves helps absorb water. Take this seriously—for chopping, lettuce has to be totally dry. I have been using the same salad spinner to dry off lettuce for decades now.
- Add more chopped vegetables. Be creative and go beyond the basics of carrots, avocado and tomato. Throw in some chopped red and green peppers, broccoli, radishes, cucumbers, broccoli, or radishes to add some extra crunch. Beets add more color and nutrition to the salad.
- Adding fresh fruit adds a welcome sweetness to any chopped salad, while dried fruit can contribute chewiness and tang.
- Cheese is always nice in any salad, ranging from manchego, asiago, pecorino, feta and parmesan to blue cheese or gorgonzola . . . all which add more tangy zing to your mix and make your chopped salad even more extraordinary. Don’t use too much to prevent the cheese from overpowering everything else in the salad.
- Add good quality meat to anchor your salad. We use a lot of thick, crispy, crumbled, smoky bacon in our salads.
- Add hard-boiled eggs that really make a salad sing.
- Make a crunchy impact by adding dried onion rings, crispy wonton noodles, croutons, tortilla chips, slivered almonds, cashews, or peanuts.
- Use a large chef’s knife or a mezzaluna on a wooden cutting board to chop everything up. Chop ingredients to the size that you prefer.
- When dressing a chopped salad, spoon or drizzle a few tablespoons of dressing into the mix and then toss the salad. You want the dressing to coat the ingredients without bogging them down. Taste a bite as you go, adding a little more dressing and then some freshly cracked salt and pepper to finish.
- Serve chopped salads right after tossing.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse Chopped Salad — Copycat Recipe
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salads
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is just one of my all-time favorite salads that is famous on the menu at all Ruth’s Chris Steakhouses. The recipe is a copycat and if you ask me, it is the real deal. It is so delicious with the chopped lettuces, hearts of palm, bacon, eggs, blue cheese and the creamy lemon basil dressing! I could eat a gallon at a time! Enjoy!
Ingredients
Chopped Salad:
- 8 packed cups iceberg lettuce, sliced in 1/4″ julienned slices
- 1 packed cup spinach, chopped
- 1 packed cup radicchio, sliced very thin
- 1/3 medium red onion, sliced very thin and then halved
- 1/4 cup chopped green olives
- 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 can artichoke hearts, drained, and using just the chunky ends, cut ends into 1/4″ chunks, saving the layered portion of the hearts for another recipe or salad (I added this ingredient and it’s fantastic)
- 1–14 oz.can hearts of palm, drained, and cut into 1/4” chunks
- 6 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped
- 8 slices of super-thick smoked bacon, cooked until dark brownish-red, fat drained, cut into 1/4” bits
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, cut into 1/4” chunks
- 1–1/2 cups crispy, dried fried onion rings, crumbled and used to top the salad
- garnish: cherry tomatoes cut in half
- freshly cracked black pepper and salt to taste
Lemon Basil Dressing:
- 2 cups sour cream
- 4 Tbsps. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup freshly chopped basil
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- seasoned salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Chopped Salad:
- In a very large bowl, combine lettuce, spinach, radicchio, red onions, green olives, mushrooms, eggs, hearts of palm and bacon; toss well.
- Add crumbled blue cheese and about 1/2 of Lemon Basil Dressing; toss until well mixed.
- Divide salad among 4 dinner plates, garnish with cherry tomato halves and top salads with crispy fried onions.
Lemon Basil Dressing:
- Combine all ingredients, add seasoned salt and garlic powder to taste.
- Mix well; refrigerate until serving.
- Refrigerate any leftover dressing.
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This recipe was originally posted in 2018 and updated and re-posted in 2020
Seems simple to prepare and looking so very appetizing!
It really is simple Angie!
Ciao,
Roz
Hi Kathy,
You are so right! I apologize for that error! I have made the correction so that you can see what goes into the dressing and what goes into the salad itself. I appreciate your kindness so much! I hope you enjoy this copycat version of the chopped salad from Ruth’s. It’s so delicious and so EASY! Please let me know what you think and snap a picture if you’d like me to share it on the blog!
Ciao,
Roz xo
We love Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse salads and love this chop salad ! Pinning this recipe!!
Thanks Roz- have a great week!
Thanks Liz and Anna!
Ciao,
Roz
★★★★★
Pinned the recipe as I’m a real salad person. One question, about how much basil did you use in the dressing?
Hi Karen,
Use ½ cup of basil, but it’s always a taste thing. I know you’ll love this since you are such a salad-lover!
Ciao,
Roz
★★★★★
This was fabulous!!! Since you’re a texture nut like I am, try toasted Pine Nuts? I use the almost as much as use slivered or sliced almonds!!! The artichoke hearts really added something! Thanks for posting this!!!
★★★★★
This salad dressing sounds amafzing. What a beautiful salad..
Thanks Debby,
So nice to have you stop by, you’re an excellent cook and I appreciate your thoughts!
Ciao,
Roz
★★★★★
I’m really getting hungry reading this recipe. I cant wait to prepare it tomorrow. I love salad . Your recipe looks so delish
And beautifully arranged . Yummm Thanx for sharing ..
Helen,
Please send me a photo and let me know what you think of this copycat recipe please!
Ciao, Roz
★★★★★
I have to say that Ruth Chris is not my favorite for steaks, but everything else I’ve had from there was delicious. (Went to the downtown location and felt it was overrated.) Well you make this salad sound so good that I’m going to have to try it.
Hi Kym,
I totally understand that we have bad experiences where others may have had good experiences. All I know is that I love, love, love the house chopped salad at Ruth’s and wanted to be able to prepare it at home. Again, if this isn’t the real recipe, I think it is pretty darn close and I do recommend it. It would be so great if you could let me know what you think and what you felt needed to be changed from this ‘copycat’ recipe (it’s not mine and I make sure that I make that known to everyone). Let me know also, if you don’t mind, what your favorite restaurants, even if local which my husband and I prefer over chains.
Thanks for writing to me, Kym!
Roz
This looks great. I’ve only eaten at a Ruth’s Chris restaurant one time, since we don’t have one in my town. I agree with Kym Ely, the steak I had was good, but I can make a better one at home. The salad I had that night with the steak was their Caesar salad. It was the best Caesar salad I have ever had in my life. If you ever come up with a copy cat of their Caesar dressing, I would love to try that recipe.!! ?
Hi Kathy,
You’ve got a deal: I’ll look for the recipe for their Caesar and let you know! I love fun (and delicious) challenges! And I’d love to know how you prepare such wonderful steaks at home! that’s impressive!
Ciao,
Roz
Yes, please share!!
Hi Sandie,
I’m still on the prowl looking for the recipe. As soon as I find it, I’ll be happy to share it!
Ciao,
Roz
★★★★★
Also don’t see blue cheese in ingredient list
Joanie, the blue cheese crumbles are listed in the ingredients underneath ‘green olives’.
Joanie,
The croutons are the dried fried onion rings.
Thanks,
Roz
Just to inform you, there are no artichoke hearts in the Ruth’s Chopped Salad. There are croutons in the salad & crispy fried onions on top. I have worked at Ruth’s Chris for 12 years (& I still work for Ruth’s Chris)….just wanted to share that info.
Oh I love your blog. I changed emails and had to sign up again on WordPress. You’re a fantastic cook and have a great teaching style (from one teacher to another).
Ciao bella,
Roz
5 stars all the way! Love Ruth Chris’ chopped salad, my favorite indeed. My favorite steak place also, although I only get to savor their yummy steaks maybe twice a year…thank you so much for this excellent recipe!
★★★★★
This looks so good! I love the variety that goes into this salad! This dressing would be good on other salads too!
Thanks for sharing! Does the dressing keep long?
Hi Vanessa, Since the dressing is fresh and without any preservatives, I wouldn’t use this beyond one week (refrigerated). Great question, thanks!!!!
Ciao,
Roz
Vanessa,
Since the dressing is fresh with no preservatives added, I would not use it after one week (refrigerated). Thanks for asking!
Ciao,
Roz
What brand of fried onions do you recommend for the salad ?
Meleesa,
That’s a really good question! Try “French’s” brand. It will work great in this recipe.
Roz
This is one of my all time favorites cwntvwait to make this
Hi, I plan to make this today . Looks so delicious! This may be a dumb question but here goes- when measuring the greens, pack them, then chop? Or chop then pack? Makes a difference, right? Thanks so much! I plan to double the recipe Bc I love leftovers!
Hi Nancy,
Good question. You chop the lettuce and ingredients first and then you pack them in tightly.
You’re going to love this! Please let me know what you think.
Ciao,
Roz
Beautiful, vibrant and healthy office lunch. Pinned fr later ! Thank you Roz !
★★★★★
You’re welcome! It’s a keeper that I hope you enjoy!
Ciao,
Roz
★★★★★
Chopped salad is something I always order, but I never make it at home. Now why is that? 🙂 Now that we’re not eating out it’s a perfect time for me to change that and this recipe looks like a great place to start. Have never been to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, but it sure looks like I’d love its salad. Loaded with goodness and how can one go wrong with a lemon basil dressing? Thanks for making this Roz and then sharing. I was in need of a new hearty salad.
★★★★★
I felt the dressing was missing something, so I added some anchovies paste and also a little sugar to counteract the sourness of the lemon and sour cream. I blended all of it in a blender which really helped to blend the basil into the dressing.
Thank you for the tips Nanci! I am certainly going to try those when I make this salad again! Plus I know that I’d love the extra anchovy flavor!
I appreciate this very much!Roz
★★★★★
I have never eaten there but this looks really tasty! I think I am going to have to try this.
Always love a great salad. I have never had this before.