If you plan on serving rich foods on Shavuot and want a healthy app or side, or if you know you’re just going to want a light meal for the last day of the holiday, a great dairy salad is the way to go.

How often do we get to eat a beautiful dairy salad on Yom Tov? Not often enough!

Take full advantage of the presence of dairy at your table and make some of our top dairy salads below!

1. Spring Salad with Sweet Potatoes, Feta and a Maple-Mustard Dressing by Shaindy Siff

The sweet and salty flavors in this salad come together so beautifully. This one is a favorite of mine.

2. Summer Gems and Goat Cheese Salad by Rorie Weisberg

These delicious kisses of sunshine bring the flavors of summer to your salad bowl. Enjoy for breakfast, lunch, snack, or as a side to a dairy dinner. The optional add-ins provide fiber, protein, nutrients, and crunch. Double or triple for a crowd!

3. Salad with the Works by Chanie Nayman

The salty-sweet combo is a real thing. It always sounds crazy, but when it works it works. This salad just works.

4. Spring Salad with Radish and Feta by Sara and Yossi Goldstein

5. Light Lettuce Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette by Brynie Greisman

Perfect for summer, with grapes and apricots instead of the ubiquitous cucumbers and tomatoes. Topped with feta cheese, it’s a light meal-in-one. I love the fact that there’s no sugar in the dressing!

6. Rainbow Feta Salad by Rorie Weisberg

The flavor in this salad is even more spectacular and unique than the colors and presentation. Because it’s so special, I often serve it without the cheese as a side salad for  Shabbos day lunch or even as an appetizer salad on Friday night, with my 4-minute fish cubes (recipe in the cookbook) on top. This salad is another example of how to make a dairy salad into a macro meal.

7. Taco Cheddar Salad by Sima Kazarnovsky

Everyone and their mother has had a version of taco salad at some point. Making it dairy with some cheddar (if timing allows), and using the mashed avocado and salsa as the actual dressing not only makes for easy prep, it also makes for a very satisfying and savory meal. Shout-out to Chavie P. for this great idea!

8. Salmon Salad with Sweet and Spicy Tahini Dressing by Sarah Lasry

This salmon salad is drizzled with a slightly sweet and spicy tahini dressing that will make you drool and will have you using it way past this salad. 

9. Crispy Gnocchi Salad with Creamy Pesto Dressing by Chavi Feldman

This delicious salad with its unique topping requires a bit of extra effort but the results are so worth it! Pan-frying the gnocchi makes them soft and tender on the inside yet light and crispy on the outside. Once you try them this way, you may not go back to just plain boiled — don’t say I didn’t warn you!

10. Everything But the Bagel Salad by Sima Kazarnovsky

So here’s what we’ve got: roasted eggplant for the chew, crumbly cheese for the creaminess, pickles for that bite, and Everything bagel spice for that zesty bagel flavor. Really, are you even missing the bagel? Of course you are. Toast it generously and have it on the side of this delicious salad.

11. Cracked Wheat and Tomato Salad by Elky Friedman

This one is just so refreshing and crisp—a perfect summer afternoon salad! When the hunger pangs strike and you’re sitting by the pool (or by the lake, the park, on a hike or a long drive…wherever you may be) this summer, this is what you want to be digging into! Satisfying and delicious, you’ll savor each bite…and you’ll probably have to share your portion with everyone sitting around you, too!

12. Citrusy Beet Chop-Chop Salad by Chavi Feldman

Roasting brings out the natural sweetness of root vegetables and makes for a smooth and velvety texture. These beets are no exception! When tossed with the rest of the ingredients and coated with this tangy, citrusy dressing, this chop-chop salad is a filling low-fat option that… um, can’t be “beet”!

13. Mozzarella Stick Salad by Brynie Greisman

I first tasted a version of this salad at my daughter-in-law Shoshi’s home. I go for a very well-seasoned salad that literally dazzles my palate. She graciously shared the recipe, and when she got to the oil, she apologetically said, “You can change it and do it your way.” She knows me already!

I cut down the oil considerably, redid the salad ingredients, and added baked (not fried) mozzarella sticks, à la Shavuos. Feel free to vary the veggies and do it “your way.” You can add cubed Feta cheese too.

The dressing can be made in advance, and there is no need to use a food processor. Altogether a real pleasure to make and savor.

14. Mexican Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing by Sina Mizrahi
This salad shows up at every single gathering I make. Everyone loves it, and it’s usually the first bowl to be emptied. It’s a “must try” that deserves all the accolades — the colors are bright and vivid, as you are “eating the rainbow,” and the creamy dressing complements every component in the salad.

15. Mediterranean Quinoa Salad by Nechama Norman
On one balmy summer day, as the women at Camp Mogen Av were sitting outside with the kids, Nancy K. and I shared a shady spot in the yard. We had a lot of talking to do…we both worked as personal chefs and both lived in Israel and used to love to go shopping in the shuk. As we exchanged ideas, the concept for this recipe arose. I remember the ideas we discussed, and as soon as camp ended and I was back in my kitchen, I whipped this up. It takes me back to the shuk, with the vibrant colored vegetables and Mediterranean spices.

16. Blueberry Spinach Salad with Balsamic Dressing by Sina Mizrahi
I love blueberry season! Once it arrives, I find myself looking for ways to use them in both sweet and savory dishes. This salad contrasts the berries’ sweet and tart flavor against the soft mozzarella, nutty pistachios, and smooth spinach. All dressed in a sweet and tangy vinaigrette. It’s a really nice balance of tastes and textures!

17. Caesar Salad with Cheese Toasts by Nechama Norman
This is a great Caesar salad with a twist. If you have ever been in Israel long enough, you know what toast is: any regular sandwich toasted in a panini machine – hence the name toast. I once went out with a friend and tasted a salad similar to this. I wanted to come up with something equally delicious, relatively easy to throw together, and a little different in presentation. I used wraps instead of bread to make this component Mezonos, so that the salad is suitable anytime, not only for shalosh seudos.

18. Nectarine-Feta Tossed Salad by Brynie Greisman
When I first tested this recipe and served it as a light supper (during a heat wave when nobody was in the mood of eating!), I estimated it would feed 6–8 people. It was so good that three of us finished the entire bowl. It’s a combination of sweet, salty, crunchy, and soft, and the dressing and topping are literally bursting with flavor. I know what you’re making for lunch or supper today!

19. Greek Chopped Salad with Noodles by Jamie Geller
I love a traditional Greek salad, but it is not filling enough on its own for a full meal, so I added noodles and now it’s lunch!!

20. Caprese Pasta Salad by Esty Wolbe
Watch Esty create this bright, flavorful pasta salad here!

21. Strawberry Spinach Salad with Yogurt Poppy Dressing by Esther Deutsch

22. Strawberry Feta Cheese Salad from the Dining In Cookbook
This sweet salad with fresh strawberries and salty feta cheese is a great party salad or first course appetizer.

Originally published May 2022. Updated and improved May 2023.