Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

This is a simple recipe for a fresh salad with buttermilk dressing. In the past, buttermilk was common in Czech households, especially in farmer families. After all, buttermilk is sour milk. And bohemian grannies knew how to handle it! They flavored the buttermilk and poured the dressing over lettuce freshly picked in the garden.

➜ About this Recipe

It's an easy Old Czech recipe for head lettuce with sour buttermilk dressing. It is very refreshing and healthy, often enjoyed by those on a diet.

In the Czech language, this salad is called "hlávkový salát s kefírem".

MY TIP: Try out a Czech-style cucumber salad! (in a watery dressing made with salt, sugar, and vinegar)

➜ Ingredients

• Buttermilk lettuce
• Whole buttermilk; in Czech kefír or podmáslí
• Salt
• Vinegar; or lemon juice, freshly pressed. The exact amount depends on the acidity of the vinegar; add to the buttermilk carefully in small doses.

➜ Instructions with photos

STEP 1: Trim the lettuce into individual leaves. Remove wilted or rotten leaves. Wash each lettuce leaf thoroughly under running water. Leave to drain.

STEP 2: Mix buttermilk, salt, and vinegar in a bowl and whisk shortly.

STEP 3: Tear the lettuce leaves into bite-size pieces, place them in a bowl and pour the buttermilk dressing over them.

➜ Serving

This salad tastes best chilled; let it cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.

For one person, arrange the salad leaves in one bowl and pour the flavored kefir over the salad. Serve as a side dish or as a light snack, or even dinner.

It is especially suitable for hot summer days when it is perfectly refreshing.

➜ Cooking tips

• The main ingredient in this recipe is good quality buttermilk lettuce. If it is not freshly picked, remove the first layer of leaves, as they tend to be bitter. The inner leaves of the lettuce are the best tasting, as they also have the crunchiest texture.
• I always use whole buttermilk for the dressing. The salad itself contains almost no calories, plus the fat in the buttermilk carries the flavor. If I used low-fat buttermilk, the salad wouldn't have such a distinct taste, and it would taste watery.
• If you want the dressing to have a sharper taste, add a little ground pepper.

More Czech recipes

• Apple-Carrot salad - a sweet version
• Cucumber salad - with sour cream and dill
• Czech potato salad - often served as a Christmas dish with řízek (schnitzel)

📖 Recipe