How To Build a Salad That is Filling

Can you believe it is the middle of July? Summer is in full swing! Here in sunny Florida, that means it is about as hot as it gets.  Hot and humid! Most of you reading this are experiencing the exact same thing. Some days, we need a quick meal that we don’t need to create a lot of heat to make it happen. In the MVF kitchen, that means it is salad night! Mr. MVF will often push back on salad night telling me that a salad is not a meal. Well, it certainly can be if you build your salad to be filling! Today, my tips will show you how.

Tara’s Tuesday Tips:

How To Build a Salad That is Filling

5 Simple Hacks to Make Your Salad More Satisfying

Salad does not have to be boring diet food! You can create a salad that you will actually want to eat, that fills you up, and dare I say it … makes you happy and wanting to eat salad again another night?!?! Learn how to build a tasty, satisfying salad that is filling. Make a meal out of a salad and don’t walk away hungry with my 5 easy hacks!

1. Build Up Your Base

Say goodbye to iceberg lettuce if you want a filling salad. Get a new green! A hearty, satisfying bed of greens such as kale, romaine, arugula, or spinach. These up your base while increasing the fiber, flavor, nutrients, and in turn the ability to fill you up!

2. Plenty of Protein

I talk a lot about protein around here + for very good reason. Similar to fiber and fat, protein helps keep you full longer, blunts the blood sugar spike you get from your food, and will keep you from looking for a snack 30 minutes after your salad! If your salad is going to be your main meal and not a side dish, treat it like one. Pile on the beans, hummus, tempeh, tofu, hemp or chia seeds, nuts, nut butters, or fake meats.

3. Don’t Skip the Dressing

I love a good salad dressing. I’m not the dressing-on-the-side kind of girl. Give me dressing or don’t give me salad. Store bought options are ok in a pinch and good to have around if you need them. However, making your own dressing is super easy and super necessary to make your salad fill you up. It is one thing to finish a meal and feel full, it’s another to feel satisfied. A tasty dressing helps with that.

4. Carbs + Salads Can Be Friends

I said it. I will say it again. Salad is not punishment. If you are making your salad a meal, give it some grains! Rice, barley, quinoa, potatoes, and dare I say it … bread! It is one thing to walk away from a salad feeling full. It is another to walk away feeling satisfied. For me, when I add a cup of roasted sweet potatoes or quinoa or even homemade croutons, I feel like I ate a meal. Try gnocchi, quinoa, rice, sweet potatoes, even pasta!

5. Finish With a Fat

Avocado, olives, nuts, seeds, tofu, dairy or vegan yogurt or cheese. Fat is a must when it comes to wanting to build a salad that is filling. The healthy unsaturated fats you pile onto your salad will also help you absorb the vitamins in your greens. Fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) can only be absorbed by your body if you eat them with fat. A few teaspoons of fat is all you need to make it work.

Food For Thought

If you can take away only one tip from today, here it is: don’t bother making a salad if you are going to make a wannabe salad that is dull, lifeless, and leaves you looking for food an hour later. Salad is not a punishment in some weird diet-culture world where we all eat greens drizzled with lemon juice and somehow are skinnier + happier. Oh the magic a bowl of lettuce + lemon juice that is so satisfying we are never hungry again. Come on! Make a salad like you mean it. Put some roasted sweet potatoes on there, make a creamy dressing out of silken tofu or yogurt, sprinkle on some nuts, make it colorful + crunchy + yummy!

Remember, you NEED calories and carbs and protein and fat. If you don’t give your body what it NEEDS, it will keep asking for it in the form of cravings. That doesn’t make you weak, that makes you hungry. So, for the love of salad, fill your salad bowl to fill you up! Enjoy a good salad in the company of good people.

Happy Salad Day, Fam 🥗

All the best,

Tara 👩🏻‍🍳💚

Here are a few dressing ideas to get you going:

Oil-Free Salad Dressings

Silken Tofu Vegan Ranch (nut-free!)

Easy Vegan Ranch

Silken Tofu Vegan Spicy Ranch

Creamy Italian Dressing (oil-free + nut-free!)

Creamy Vegan Avocado Dressing (No Oil!)

Vegan Ghost Pepper Ranch Dressing

Dairy-Free Jalapeño Cilantro Dressing

Oil-Free Pomegranate Salad Dressing

Chili Lime Tahini Dressing (Vegan!)

Oil-Free Asian Ginger Dressing

Lemon Tahini Salad Dressing (Oil Free!)

Creamy Vegan Avocado Dressing (No Oil!)

Thai Salad With Peanut Dressing

I do love a good salad article! Have you read my other salad tips?

 How To Build A Healthy Salad (That Still Tastes Good)!

How Do You Eat Salad In Winter?

Tara’s Tuesday Tips: Oil-Free Salad Dressings