Shortcut 1905 Salad Recipe - Grilled Cheese Social (2024)

If you're from Florida, you know that 1905 Salad is one of the most iconic dishes of our state! This hearty salad, originally created by the Columbia Restaurant, is so flavorful and delicious. It's made with iceberg lettuce, ham, swiss, tomato, olives, romano cheese and a super amazing dressing. And although I share the link to the original dressing recipe, I also share my family's shortcut for creating it!

Backstory

The Columbia's 1905 salad is probably one of the most iconic dishes in all of Florida.

This hearty salad is super simple yet very flavorful and filling.

It's made with ham, swiss cheese, tomatoes, olives, iceberg lettuce and romano cheese.

And although the dressing is pretty easy to make, I'm sharing my hack to make it even easier!

I first had this salad when my family moved to Clearwater.

On the weekends, we'd go to YBOR city to walk around and explore the old charm.

As per tradition, we'd always get lunch at the Columbia Restaurant.

My lunch was always the same. I'd order the 1905 salad and a big bowl of Spanish Bean Soup.

At the Columbia, they'd make it table-side which was always fun to watch.

The server would roll the cart over and the magic would begin.

When my family moved over to New Smyrna Beach, we missed the Columbia so bad that we started making this salad at home,

Luckily, the restaurant shares the recipe on their website but I always felt like it was missing something.

Over the years, we've tried so many different methods to get it right.

And this is the final recipe that we've settled on for the last few years.

It's a regular staple in our family and we legit eat it once a week.

I hope you love it as much as we do!

Ingredients

(scroll down to the bottom of this post for the exact measurements)

• iceberg lettuce
• swiss cheese
• deli ham (such as tavern ham)
• vine ripe tomatoes
• spanish olives
• romano cheese (parmigiano works too)
• 1905 vinaigrette

Or my shortcut recipe for the dressing

• ¼-1/2 cup Garlic Expressions Dressing
• 1-2 tablespoon Worcestershire
• juice from ½ lemon

How to make 1905 Salad

Making this salad is super easy.

To begin, you can either buy the dressing, make it yourself from their original recipe. Or you can try my shortcut which is just Garlic Expressions, Worcestershire, and fresh lemon juice.

Once you've decided on the dressing, let's start building the salad.

Chop up a half a head of a large iceberg lettuce. Place it in a big bowl.

Then grab your swiss cheese and your deli cut ham. Chop both of these into tiny squares so you get equal amounts in each bite. And add them to the lettuce bowl as well.

Then, chop your vine ripe tomatoes into tiny chunks and add them. Hit them with a little salt if you're into it.

Now give your pitted Spanish olives a rough chop, too. Add those on top, too.

Now it's time to grate the cheese on top. If you're a measurement type of person, you can do ¼ cup. However, if you're like me and don't like to measure cheese -- just go ahead and grate however much your heart desires on top!

The original recipe calls for pecorinio romano cheese but I switch out parmigiano regularly. It works perfectly so don't stress if you can't find romano cheese!

So at this point, it's time for the dressing.

Pour it all over the top and toss everything together.

Give it a taste and add any salt or fresh cracked pepper if needed.

I always add a little more grated cheese on top because well, I LOVE CHEESE.

Now that it's ready, you'll want to eat this right away! Enjoy!

Original 1905 Dressing vs Our Shortcut Dressing

So I know making salad dressing isn't the hardest thing in the world, but it does take some time.

And with being a new mom and having to make dinner on the fly most nights, I've come up with an adaption of their original recipe that works perfectly.

But before I begin, I should clarify something. Publix sells 1905 dressing. And although it's pretty good, I always feel like it's missing some of the brightness.

So what we've started doing is swapping out the original dressing for Garlic Expressions, Worcestershire, and fresh lemon juice.

If you follow me on instagram, you know I'm obsessed with this stuff!

It's so bright and flavorful. It works on everything from salads, to meat marinades, to dipping sauce, to homemade antipasta!

And real talk, this is not a sponsored post. I'm just obsessed with Garlic Expressions and I know you will be too!

Ok, so anyways, all you have to do to make the dressing with my shortuct is to drizzle the salad with ¼-1/2 cup Garlic Expressions, a few heavy dashes (about 1.5 tbsp) Worcestershire, and half a fresh lemon.

You will LOVE how delicious this dressing is.

We make this salad at least once a week and I bet you will, too!

Ways to make the 1905 Salad more filling

Although I think the 1905 salad is totally perfect as-is, there are more ways to make it more filling!

Since my SIL is vegetarian, we often leave out the meat and it's still just as delicious!

And lot of people actually add grilled shrimp to the salad.

At the Columbia Restaurant, you can also add turkey to it. Although, truth be told, I've never done this.

It's also delicious served alongside some grilled chicken. And you know what I'm marinating my chicken in?!?! Garlic Expressions! hahaha

What goes with a 1905 salad

Since it's so versatile, I love pairing 1905 salad with almost any recipe!

If I were making it for lunch, I'd pair it with my rustic tortellini soup or some jerk chicken salad sandwiches.

For dinner, I'd pair it with my apricot candied salmonrecipe and some honey garlic cauliflower or honey sriracha brussels sprouts.

Save this recipe for later

Want to make this 1905 salad at a later time?! I got you!

Just hover over any of these images and click the "pin it" option. Select whatever pinterest board you'd like and it will be saved automatically!

And if you don't already, you can follow me on pinterest for more tasty recipes, fun DIY projects, baby stuff and more!

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