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    Home » Recipes » Gluten Free

    Easy Butter Lettuce Salad with Pomegranates and Pistachios

    May 1, 2022 · Leave a Comment

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    This Easy Butter Lettuce and Pomegranate Salad is perfect when you need a simple salad in a pinch. It's a delicious and simple salad with bright pomegranate seeds and crunchy pistachios.

    A white plate filled Butter Lettuce and Pomegranate Salad

    This delicious salad recipe is the perfect side at dinner time.

    If you need a healthy and gluten-free protein option to go alongside it, check out my Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Breast.

    This butter lettuce salad recipe also goes really well with salmon.

    Why not try with this Easy Baked Salmon with Mayo.

    Inspired by my love for the tender butter lettuce leaves, this salad will be one you can go back to again and again.

    Simple salads can be a fantastic way to get some vitamins, antioxidants and fibre into you - and they can help you stick with your gluten-free diet easily enough.

    Try this Easy Quinoa Salad with Feta if simple salads are right up your alley.

    Here's what you'll need to make this simple salad with pomegranate seeds:

    • Butter lettuce - I love this "living lettuce" and it has 2 different varieties: 1 red butter and 1 Boston green
    • Cucumber
    • Pomegranate seeds - fresh or frozen (thawed) work
    • Pistachios - shelled
    • Apple cider vinegar
    • Olive oil
    • Garlic clove
    The soft butter lettuce leafs - also called Boston or bibb lettuce - get more texture from the crunch of pomegranate seeds and pistachios!

    Variations

    The thing about salad recipes is that they're soooo fun to change up.

    You never know what kind of delicious flavour combinations you'll discover.

    Here are some other ingredients that go well with bib lettuce:

    • Apples
    • Avocado
    • Basil
    • Blue berries
    • Blue Cheese
    • Chives
    • Fresh peaches
    • Feta
    • Grapefruit
    • Grapes
    • Lemon juice
    • Lime juice
    • Oranges
    • Parsley
    • Parmesan cheese
    • Radishes

    Here are a few combinations that would work well:

    • Butter lettuce with grapes and feta
    • Butter lettuce with avocado and chunks of fresh apple
    • Butter lettuce with grapefruit sections and pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

    A large white plate filled with Butter Lettuce and Pomegranate Salad on a blue tablecloth with a gold fork beside

    Substitutions

    If you don't have the butter lettuce on hand, you can easily sub-in other varieties of lettuce, such as:

    • Leaf lettuce
    • Bib lettuce (essentially the same thing as butter lettuce)
    • Ice berg lettuce - brings a lovely crunch

    Instead of the pomegranates, sub-in any other crunchy fruit like grapes or apple chunks.

    See above for other fruit, cheese and veggies to try - really endless possibilities with this one.

    For the dressing, instead of a vinaigrette-style, you can try a creamier one too.

    A creamy dressing mimics the "creamy" leaves of the butter lettuce leaves.

    Try whisking together some mayonnaise or Greek yogurt with lemon juice to thin it out. Add some fine herbs (like dill and chives) and you've got yourself a creamy dressing, perfect for bibb lettuce.

    Bloated and in pain after eating gluten? Grab my list of symptoms (PDF) to see if you might have Gluten Intolerance

    What do you eat butter lettuce with?

    Butter lettuce leaves are the perfect thing to wrap up up deliciousness! You can fill them with shredded BBQ chicken; use them like a "lettuce taco" and fill them with browned ground beef, cheese and salsa; try them filled with shrimp and sticky rice with some gluten-free soy sauce; even try them stuffed with strawberries and a layer of cream cheese - yum! Of course, in salads, butter lettuce is also wonderful - they're a non-bitter leaf that you can add to any salad you make. And if you're making any kind of sandwich, a butter leaf or two adds some great texture and nutrition.

    Want more?

    Sign-up to get all the healthy and gluten-free recipes delivered straight to your inbox each week.

    Why do they call butter lettuce butter lettuce?

    Butter, bibb or Boston lettuce is a light, spring-like and has an almost creamy texture. Hence the name, butter lettuce. It doesn't have any fat, like butter does, and it doesn't pair particularly well with butter or other heavier foods.

    Easy Butter Lettuce and Pomegranate Salad on a white plate and a blue tablecloth with a gold fork beside
    Butter lettuce pairs well with many fruits, fine herbs and lemon. You don't need many ingredients for a delicious, simple salad!

    Is butter lettuce a Superfood?

    Like most varieties of lettuce, butter lettuce brings nutrition to the plate! Packed with Vitamin A, folate iron, niacin, and potassium, this humble leaf delivers in the nutrition department. And when you add more powerhouse ingredients into a salad made with this delicious lettuce like avocado, apples, lemon juice or olive oil for a dressing, you're upping the nutrition even more!

    How do you get the pomegranate seeds out of the pomegranate?

    Ok, I've heard some interesting ways to do this but lemme tell you my friend the best and easiest way to get the seeds outta there is this:

    1. Cut the pomegranate in half.
    2. Turn it upside down in your palm (so the cut-side is in the palm of your hand.)
    3. Whack the back of it with a wooden spoon.

    The seeds just come out! If I'm really in a pinch, I'll just do it right over the dish I'm serving (no one ever minds a little pom juice splatter really). 

    Or you can do it over a large bowl to catch the pomegranate seeds and the pretty juice splatter.

    I hope you love this delicious and simple winter salad as much as we do.

    ~April

    Here's a some more easy and and gluten-free recipes:

    • Healthy Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup (no beans)
    • Easy Weeknight Hamburger Soup with Sweet Potatoes
    • Gluten Free Slow Cooker Chili
    • Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken with Chickpeas
    • Simple Haddock Quesadillas
    • Easy Winter Soup with Beans
    • Simple Coleslaw Recipe (no mayo)

    Originally posted on January 6th, 2021 this recipe post was updated and re-published on May 1st, 2022.

    A white plate filled with lettuce and Pomegranates with a gold fork beside

    Butter Lettuce Salad with Pomegranates and Pistachios

    A delicious winter salad with bright pomegranate seeds and crunchy pistachios.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Salad
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: butter lettuce salad recipe, easy salad
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Total Time: 10 minutes
    Servings: 4 adults
    Author: April

    Ingredients

    • 1 large head of butter lettuce or 2 small (about 8 cups)
    • ½ cucumber sliced
    • 1 pomegranate seeded or ⅓ cup seeds
    • ¼ cup shelled pistachios chopped

    Dressing

    • 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
    • ¼ cup olive oil
    • 1 clove garlic, minced

    Instructions

    • Whisk salad dressing ingredients together.
    • Hand tear the butter lettuce into a salad bowl.
    • Add the rest of the ingredients and toss with the salad dressing. Serve.

    Notes

    I won't douse the salad in the dressing and often have some leftover. You can use the salad dressing again if you keep what you don't use in the fridge in a container with the with the lid on (I'll use a small mason jar.) It'll be fine for about a week to use on other salads.
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    Hey there! I’m April, a Registered Dietitian and mum of 2 young boys. I beat my years of painful bloating and unsightly burping by going gluten-free and I'm here to show you how to #BeattheBloat too! Join in for healthy and simple gluten-free recipes. Let's do this!

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