If you love wedge salads but can’t do the dairy-based dressings then you’ll love this dairy free Outback Steakhouse Wedge Salad.
This wedge salad is one of my favorite menu items at Outback Steakhouse. If you’re okay with dairy, top this easy-to-prep salad off with blue cheese crumbles (if you need to avoid gluten, be sure the blue cheese you use is gluten-free. Bel Gioioso’s gorgonzola is a good bet).
Because Outback Steakhouse makes the effort to accommodate diners on special diets, we give them our business. Their food and service is consistent. Like Starbucks, you know what you’re going to get. When our boys dine with us (they are 3 and 4), we can get away with splitting an Outback Special GF—a 6-ounce steak accompanied by a naked sweet potato and unseasoned green beans. Ask mom what her favorite menu item is and she’d have to say the Wedge Salad. It’s a simple little salad of iceberg lettuce topped with a blue cheese dressing, diced tomatoes, bacon bits, red onion and a drizzle of a sweet balsamic vinegar glaze. I just had to recreate it for our gluten-free dairy free-friends after all, how can a salad I adore not be enjoyed by everyone!?
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/8 cup honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6-8 strips bacon
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, quartered
- 1 cup vegan mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a small saucepan combine, vinegar, honey and salt. Bring to gentle simmer and cook until reduced to a thick syrup. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, cut bacon into 1/2-inch pieces and and fry until crispy. Set aside. Dice tomato, thinly slice red onion and quarter the iceberg lettuce. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk remaining ingredients.
- On one large plate or on four individual serving dishes, arrange and top lettuce wedges evenly with a spoonful (or two) of ranch dressing, tomato, red onion and bacon. Drizzle with balsamic glaze.
Notes
If you tolerate dairy, a spoonful of blue cheese crumbles tops this salad off perfectly!
21 comments
Total yum, Lexie! I need to treat myself to this at home some time. 😉 Some restaurants do a wedge for a Caesar salad and I love that, too. 🙂
xo,
Shirley
Wow! That looks great! Wedge salad was one of those things that I thought was in my past; however, this is awesome looking! I can't wait to get the ingredients and make this!
I didn't realize that Outback was a safe place to eat out at!? I am very excited to hear this 🙂 Now we have another place to add to the very short list!
ohhh my! this looks ridiculously yummy! A salad never looked so delicious!!!!!!
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Hi Ruthie, thanks for the thumbs up 🙂
-Lexie
I made this tonight! It was delicious and we devoured it 🙂 I messed up a bit on the glaze though…I simmered it too long and it was SO THICK! I could barely pour it over the lettuce. Great recipe!
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Hi Kelly!! Thanks for the feedback and thumbs up. I LUUUUV this salad, too. Really appreciate your taking the time to share. Oh and you can always thin the glaze with a bit of water if it gets too thick. Should probably note in the recipe that the glaze requires close watching toward the end so that it doesn't burn. 🙂
-Lexie
Thanks for sharing the recipe, this is my husband's all-time favorite salad.
Ella, you are very welcome. I tell ya, I could go to Outback and be happy with just this salad and nothing else : ) I love it that much, too. xoLexie
Can't seem to find this Sara's Ranch Dressing recipe???
They use blue cheese dressing.. not ranch
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Heather, if it is blue cheese, it is a very weak blue cheese. I've studied it many times—a weak blue cheese or ranch with blue cheese sprinkles on top. Order it without the blue cheese sprinkles and tell me what you think (if you eat dairy). Plus this site is dairy-free so I create recipes that are close to the real dairy-full, gluten-full thing without being just that. Lexie
Is the balsalmic dressing ok to make and keep in the fridge? If so how long does it last? Thanks
Kayla … for sure. I would keep it for a week or so, no problem.
Hi,
I made this last night and it was delicious. However, I did something wrong with the glaze. When I drizzled it on to the wedge it become very hard and chewy. Any suggestions on how to prevent this in the future? Did I thicken it too much?
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Hi Danny, Yep … boiled it down to long. I've done it, too! Nothing like a chewy salad. It boils down faster than we think. Glad you liked it 🙂 xoLexie
They do use blue cheese. I work there right now and trust me, it's incredibly different from the ranch they make. All of the dressings are homemade every morning and the blue cheese is very chunky while the ranch has a kick (since they use a small amount of Kayan pepper. You can definitely tell the difference between the two. Along side the blue cheese crumbles, also add feta crumbles for a more sweeter cheese taste. They taste great together. I experiment a lot at work. 🙂 I bet the ranch tastes great with the reduction though. I, just obsessed with our blue cheese dressing. Haha
This is the best and closest recipe for the wedge…Great job.
We make the Outback wedge salad at home regularly. Outback will allow you to buy a container of the balsamic dressing. However, we don't always do this. We use Marie's Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing with crumbled blue cheese and Kraft Sweet Balsaic Dressing (It is very close to the same-and not a hassle to make).
I made this recipe also . I used ranch dressing and made the drizzle just as you had said. I also used feta cheese. Outback is my favorite restaurant and the wedge salad is my bf favorite salad, so I had to try this at home. Thanks for giving us another meal we can have at home. The nearest outback is 45 min. away.
Blue cheese is NOT gluten free. Please mention that when mentioning it as an optional ingredient. Thanks.
Thank you Kathy! Great catch. I really appreciate it. I will note that in the post.
Great salad the only thing I added was more honey and an avocado delicious…I fixed brisket and baked potatoes with wedge salad it was yummy I will make this salad from now on ….thanks
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I did what some of the other people here did and my glaze was caramelized. So I just need to not simmer it for the 5 minutes the recipe says to? Otherwise it was just like the restaurants
I could have that salad now