Simple Arugula Salad – Lillie Eats and Tells

This simple arugula salad is the PERFECT side salad for everything. The fresh arugula tossed in a combination of olive oil and balsamic vinegar topped with flaky salt and shaved parmesan cheese is simply delicious. I mean come on, it can’t get much easier (and tastier) than that!

The Best Arugula Salad

If you know me, you know that I LOVE greens, and this simple arugula salad makes it so easy to add some freshness to any meal. Pair it with a tasty pasta dish or one of my flavor-packed grilled proteins. You really can’t go wrong! This arugula salad has become a regular addition to our family dinners for sure. 

Simple Arugula Salad Ingredients

It doesn’t take much to make this yummy side salad. Once you have olive oil, flaky salt, and your favorite balsamic vinegar stocked in your pantry, all you’ll need to grab from the store is some fresh arugula and parmesan cheese. Then you’ll be able to throw this salad together any time!

Here are the ingredients you need to make an arugula salad:

Arugula salad dressing

• Balsamic vinegar (I’m OBSESSED with the white balsamic vinegar by Baker and Olive)
• Olive oil

Arugula salad

• Arugula
• Flaky salt
• Shaved parmesan cheese

And that’s it! I wasn’t joking when I said that this salad was super SIMPLE. It doesn’t get much easier than 5 fresh and delicious ingredients!

How to Make Arugula Salad

Making this salad really is simple. Just a few quick steps and you’re ready to eat!

Here’s how to make arugula salad:

1. Toss the salad. Grab your favorite salad bowl and toss the arugula in olive oil, vinegar, and flaky salt. 
2. Top with cheese. Once your salad is tossed, top it with the shaved parmesan cheese.
3. Serve. You can give the salad another quick toss if you want and then dig in!

Ingredient Swaps

I never want you to feel like you need specialty ingredients for any of my recipes! You can definitely use regular balsamic vinegar in this arugula salad recipe, but just so you know, it won’t add the same natural sweetness as the flavored vinegar I use. If you use regular balsamic vinegar and your salad isn’t as sweet as you would like, feel free to add a little honey or pure maple syrup!

When it comes to specialty, flavored vinegar I HAVE to tell you about my favorites from Baker and Olive. I’m always raving about them on my Instagram and here’s why. It only has 3 carbs per Tbsp and no fats since it’s JUST vinegar. But if you have a local olive oil store, they should have similar products! The lemon and peach vinegars from Baker and Olive are my all-time favorites.

If you like eating tasty salads that are macro-friendly and want more recipes like this one, make sure to join my email list, so you never miss a recipe! 

Never Miss a Recipe! Sign Up for My Emails!

If you enjoy having macro-friendly recipes that are delicious and easy to track, then make sure to sign-up for my email list! 

Is This Arugula Salad Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free? 

This simple arugula salad is naturally gluten-free and can be easily modified to be dairy-free. Just make sure to use a dairy-free cheese in place of the parmesan and you should be good to go!

For more dairy-free and gluten-free recipes, check out my blog, cookbooks, or dinner meal plan! Most of my recipes are either naturally gluten-free and dairy-free or have easy swaps.

Serving Suggestions

I love serving this arugula salad recipe as a quick and tasty side dish to the main entree. It goes perfectly with any sort of pasta dish and all the grilled proteins!

Here are some of my favorite entrees to serve with this arugula salad: 

Related Salad Recipes

Having a list of go-to side salads is always a good idea! I love how easy it makes it to add some fresh vegetables to any meal. Here are a few of my favorite side salad recipes:

Arugula Salad Recipe

This arugula salad is the perfect thing to add to your next dinner! It’s simple, fresh, and oh so tasty! I would highly recommend taking a minute to shop flavored vinegars and grab one that sounds good to you. You’ll be so happy you have this side salad to add to your list of go-to recipes!

Make this salad and let me know on Instagram what flavor vinegar you used! I’m always looking for new ways to serve this simple side!

Looking for more tasty salad ideas? Check out all the different salad recipes on my blog. So many delicious recipes to choose from! 

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you. I may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.