The 1905 Salad Recipe is iconic! This new take on the original recipe is filled with ripe tomatoes, crisp lettuce, and homemade croutons!

Side salads have never been so good that when you visit the Columbia restaurant, Florida’s oldest restaurant. Tableside, they’ll combine lettuce, swiss cheese, green Spanish olives, and julienned ham, with the salad dressing in a large salad bowl. They’ll toss and toss, and serve the best salad right alongside your main course.

While I’ve never been in person (my mom has!), I am loving making this at home!

And, I came up with a “New 1905 Salad Recipe.”

This hearty salad is one you’ll keep diving into over and over.

How to Make (The New) 1905 Salad Recipe

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First, let’s gather the ingredients:

You’ll need one head of iceberg lettuce. If you don’t like crisp iceberg lettuce you can use romaine lettuce. You’ll want to cut this up into bite-sized pieces on a wooden cutting board using a sharp knife.

Next, you’ll fry up some bacon. I love using this Roasting Method for making bacon. It’s mess-free (ish!), and the bacon turns out so perfectly melty and crisp!

The bacon in this recipe replaces the cup of ham used in the oldest Spanish restaurant recipe.

Then, you can use green olives if you like them, I’m not the biggest fan. So, I used a quarter cup of pimiento-stuffed olives with 2 tablespoons of capers. The capers still give that briny taste the olives give, but without overwhelming your palate.

Other Salad Ingredients:

Fresh Tomatoes – use what tomatoes you have that are the freshest. I used colorful cherry tomatoes and sliced them in half.
1 cup Romano Cheese – you could also use parmesan cheese… However, because I had some I used Bocconcini or baby mozzarella balls. Y’all! I could have eaten these little cheese balls marinated in the 1905 Dressing by themselves! So good!
Cucumbers
Sliced Green Onions or Red Onion
A few stalks of celery
Black Pepper – to crack over the top for a unique flavor!
Homemade Croutons – or really big, buttery croutons!

You’ll want a large bowl to dump all your ingredients into, so you can toss it really well when it’s ready to serve!

I have been LOVING this Golden Rabbit Enamelware Bowl.

Second, let’s make the 1905 Salad Dressing

Y’all! This dressing is something else… It’s a basic vinaigrette that has the addition of a couple of tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. That little hit of umami flavor is just what you’ve been missing in your salad dressing!

The ingredients you’ll need:

White Wine Vinegar – I like using Prosecco Vinegar & Red Wine Vinegar
Fresh Lemon Juice
Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce
Garlic Cloves – I grate mine into the dressing, however, as it sits the garlic gets really spicy! If you’re worried about spice or letting the dressing sit for over an hour, just cut the garlic clove in half, and plop it into the container. This will still lend the garlic flavor without getting too spicy later!
Dried Oregano
Pecorino Romano Cheese
Extra-Virgin Spanish Olive Oil

For the best results, use a wire whisk to mix all the dressing ingredients together. Using a jar with a tight-fitting lid is also just fine! The full recipe for the amazing salad dressing is below.

Finally, let’s assemble the salad!

The best way to serve this salad is to plop all the ingredients for the salad into your big bowl. Make the dressing in a separate container, and give a good whisk or shake before drizzling over your salad. Don’t use all of the dressing, but give a good drizzle, then toss, toss, toss!

Keep tossing until everything is coated well in the flavorful salad dressing. If you need to add more salad dressing you can, but you can also just keep it on the table for anyone who likes their salad super dressing heavy.

If you end up with leftovers, store them in an airtight container. Mix with two cups of iceberg lettuce when you want to eat the leftover salad the next day. This will help it feel like a new salad with crunchy lettuce!

Main Dishes that Pair Well

Ranch Grilled Meal Prep Chicken pairs perfectly! And, it’s a great way to have a low-carb dinner!

Beef Tenderloin – if you want a different ubiquitous salad bar experience that reminds you of a steakhouse, pair these two together.