Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for exclusive content and receive your FREE EBOOK!

Vindulge

wine food travel lifestyle blog

Grilled Romaine Lettuce with Tomatoes and Basil

By 26 Comments

Pin4K
Share57
Tweet
4K Shares
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Grilling romaine lettuce is easy to do and tastes incredible with some fresh tomatoes, basil, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Find out how to make perfect grilled romaine lettuce to use for an impressive, yet super easy, summer salad.

Grilled Romaine with Tomatoes and Basil

We took the kiddos to their first official amusement park over spring break to Legoland. Basically we blew their little Lego-loving minds!

MY LATEST VIDEOS

lego land pictures

While we were down in Southern California we spent a few days with some good friends, friends who have been highly neglecting their grill (I’m talking to you, Kokoa!). We weren’t having any of this, and decided to show them some easy ways to smoke food even in simplest of grills, like this one. It also got us thinking about a new video series for beginners on how to smoke food when you don’t have a smoker. Keep an eye out for that!

Sean smoking and grilling on a tiny, old grill
Can we actually smoke food on this tiny, neglected, grill? Challenge accepted!

We showed them how to set up their kettle grill for smoking and cooked up one of our favorite foolproof recipes — smoked tri-tip. In addition we came up with this great side to pair – this Grilled Romaine Salad with Tomatoes and Basil.

Tomatoes, basil, and balsamic

The idea behind this was to do a play on a traditional bruschetta with tomatoes and basil, but this would be a more low carb version. Not that we’re switching to low carb around here. Believe me there were plenty of carbs behind the scene of this meal. Instead, we were just hoping to have something fresh and salad-like to accompany our tri-tip.

This Grilled Romaine Salad was the perfect side dish.

The topping can be made quickly by tossing together some fresh diced tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, and salt and pepper.

How to Grill Romaine Lettuce

For grilling it’s important to choose a sturdy green like romaine because it can handle the heat without falling apart.

Simply prep it by cutting your romaine heart in half lengthwise, then drizzling it with some olive oil, salt and pepper.

How to grill romaine lettuce

Grill both sides on direct high heat, for just a couple minutes each side.

Grilling Romaine Lettuce

While the lettuce is grilling place a couple of lemons (cut in half) also on the grill to heat up. You’ll use these to squeeze over the finished salad. They also just friggin’ rock!

Grillig Lemons

What to do with Grilled Romaine Lettuce

Remove the lettuce from the grill and top with your tomato mix, and finish with some fresh squeezed grilled lemon and a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar. This will sub as an impressive topping and “dressing” for your salad.

If you’re serving this as a meal then plan on one half romaine heart per person (pictured below left). Or if you’re feeding a crowd and there are other vegetable options then just cut each half into smaller portions and guests can take as much or as little as they’d like (pictured to the right).

Grilled Romaine with Tomatoes, Basil, and Balsamic, garnished with grilled lemons

That’s it. Seriously. Grilled Romaine is that easy, and incredibly delicious.

0 from 0 votes
Print
Grilled Romaine Lettuce with Tomatoes and Basil
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
5 mins
Total Time
15 mins
 
How to grill romaine lettuce, along with an easy tomato basil and balsamic topping.
Course: easy, gluten free, Salad, vegetarian
Cuisine: bbq, grilling, vegetarian
Keyword: grilled romaine lettuce, grilled salad recipes
Servings: 4 -6 servings
Author: Mary Cressler, Vindulge
Ingredients
For the Grilled Romaine:
  • 2 romaine hearts, halved lengthwise
  • Extra virgin olive oil, for brushing
  • Salt and Pepper, about ½ teaspoon each per half
  • 2 lemons, halved
For the topping:
  • 2 large beefsteak tomatoes, Roma tomatoes work well too, but use 4-5 if using Roma, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
  • 3 tablespoons basil, sliced thinly
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ tablespoon aged balsamic
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • A pinch of fresh ground pepper less than ¼ teaspoon
Instructions
For the Grilled Romaine:
  1. Rinse and dry the romaine (it is important for the lettuce to be fully dry before you grill otherwise it may steam).
  2. Brush both sides of romaine with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  3. Set grill to direct heat.
  4. Grill the romaine hearts on each side until lightly browned on both sides (about 2 minutes each side).
  5. While the romaine is grilling place the lemon halves on the grill about 4 minutes (until you see grill marks).
  6. Remove from heat, and top with the tomato basil mixture and a squeeze of fresh grilled lemon and a drizzle of aged balsamic.
For the Tomato Basil Salad:
  1. Place together tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper, into a bowl and toss together.

Like This Salad? You’ll love:

Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad

Grilled Caesar Salad with Crispy Bacon

Grilled Romaine Lettuce with Tomatoes, Basil, Balsamic and Grilled Lemons. The perfect BBQ side dish!

If you like this recipe we’d truly appreciate it if you would give this recipe a star review! And if you share any of your pics on Instagram use the hashtag #vindulge. We LOVE to see it when you cook our recipes. 

Grilled Romaine Lettuce Salad Pin Image

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • You have no idea how ready and excited I am for summer! This winter has nearly tortured me. Bring on some sunshine and warm temps!

      Reply

  4. That all looks so fun!! I’ve *never* tried grilled lettuce but if you say it’s good, I love the idea!! I don’t like cold food making my hot food too cold so this would be a great base for other grilled food!

    Reply

    • If you wanted to skip the cold toppings, grilled romaine is also excellent with a warm dressing on it as well. You can just heat up your favorite dressing and drizzle it over. Also think about it with some warm blue or goats cheese! Mmmmmm.

      Reply

  5. After having grilled romaine, regular romaine just doesn’t cut it for me anymore… I’ll still eat it with Caeser, but wish it was a grilled salad instead and think about how much less dressing I would use because it would have so much more flavor

    Reply

    • I’m with you exactly! The flavor of grilled is fantastic, and yes it provides it’s own profile of flavors, making you need less dressing than you would if you just chopped up some cold romaine and tossed it with a dressing.

      Reply

Trackbacks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.