Make That Viral Salad Even More Nutrient-Packed With Our 5-Ingredient Green Goddess Dressing

If you're on TikTok—or Instagram, or the internet, really—you've probably seen the viral green goddess salad sweeping the feeds. This latest craze comes from the mind of Melissa Ben-Ishay, who is normally more well known for her cupcakes since she is the Melissa behind the brand Baked By Melissa. Lately on social media, however, she's been sharing plenty of salads—and her green goddess creation is the latest "it" recipe.

The simple ingredients in the salad aren't necessarily what's making it so popular; it's her method of preparing it. The key is to chop your veggies into bite-size pieces. This technique ensures that the dressing coats all elements evenly and changes up the texture from what we're used to in a salad—making it something that feels really original, even though we've been loving green goddess salad for years. Here's her salad base, which she shared on the Today show.

If there's an ingredient in the mix that doesn't appeal, or if you'd rather use whatever veggies you have on hand, Ben-Ishay says feel free to "go wild" with whatever you want to include. For example, we might swap in kale for some of the cabbage, add some diced avocado for extra healthy fat, or maybe even throw in chickpeas for bonus protein.

Slightly simpler than the dressing mentioned above, mbg Collective member and registered dietitian Jess Cording, M.S., R.D., CDN, created this nutritious green goddess recipe just for us. "This recipe is a good blank slate for when you're short on ingredients but want something satisfying," she said. "It's bright and balanced as is, but it can also be easily customized to complement other flavors."

Pair our base recipe with Ben-Ishay's salad (or consider simply adding organic veggies+ to her recipe) to make a nutrient-packed lunch that tastes as good as it looks.

Optional add-ins inspired by Melissa Ben-Ishay's recipe: garlic, shallot, chives, nutritional yeast, spinach

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Enjoy!