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    Home » Easy Czech Recipes

    Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

    Published: Jun 18, 2021 · Modified: Jan 2, 2022 by Petra Kupská

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    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.

    head lettuce with buttermilk dressing czech hlávkový salát s kefírem
    Table of Contents hide
    About This Recipe
    Ingredients
    Instructions with Photos
    Serving
    Cooking Tips
    Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

    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

    head salad with buttermilk dressing 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.

    head lettuce leaves in a collander

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

    making buttermilk dressing

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

    pouring dressing over lettuce leaves

    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.

    lettuce salad with dressing

    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
    • Czech potato salad – often served as a Christmas dish with řízek (schnitzel)

    Recipe card

    head lettuce with buttermilk dressing czech hlávkový salát s kefírem recipe

    Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

    This is a simple recipe for a refreshing salad with buttermilk dressing.
    Print Pin
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Chilling time: 1 hour
    Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
    Servings: 2
    Author: Petra Kupská
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Course: Salad
    Cuisine: Czech
    Keyword: Easy head lettuce recipe

    Ingredients

    • 1 butterhead lettuce
    • ¾ cup (180 ml) whole buttermilk in Czech kefír or podmáslí
    • ¼ tsp salt
    • ½ Tbsp vinegar or freshly pressed lemon juice

    Instructions

    • Trim the lettuce into individual leaves. Remove wilted or rotten leaves. Wash each lettuce leaf thoroughly under running water. Leave to drain.
    • Mix buttermilk, salt, and vinegar in a bowl and whisk shortly.
    • Tear the lettuce leaves into bite-size pieces, place them in a bowl and pour the kefir dressing over them.

    Notes

    1. Makes 2 portions.
    2. 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.
    3. This salad is especially suitable for hot summer days when it is perfectly refreshing.
    4. 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.
    5. If you want the dressing to have a sharper taste, add a little ground pepper.

    DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:

    Conversion chart
    Do you like the recipe?I would be happy for your feedback! Please, rate the recipe and share your opinion or questions in comments bellow. Thank you very much.
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    Hi there, I’m Petra, a self-taught home cook and a Czech mom of two teen boys with more than 20 years of cooking experience. I am here to share traditional recipes from the Czech Republic, a small country in the very heart of Europe.

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    Hi there, I’m Petra, a self-taught home cook and a Czech mom of two teen boys with more than 20 years of cooking experience. I am here to share traditional recipes from the Czech Republic, a small country in the very heart of Europe.

    More about me →

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