How to Grill Lettuce + Simple Grilled Romaine Salad Recipe

Learn how to grill lettuce, an amazing way to transform romaine lettuce into something delicious! Grilling lettuce is simple and infuses it with smokiness and great flavor. You can top the salad with lemon and parmesan, or blue cheese and bacon!

Prep time: PT5M

Cook time: PT5M

Total time: PT10M

Rating

4.57 stars (118 reviews)

Keywords

grilled vegetables, grilling, romaine lettuce

Ingredients

2 heads of fresh and firm romaine lettuce (cut vertically (you will have 4 halves))
3 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper
1 lemon, (cut in half)
2 ounces fresh parmesan cheese, grated

Cuisine

American

Steps

Make sure grates of grill are clean and turn to medium high.
Brush lettuce halves liberally with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, cut side and back side. Then sprinkle each halve with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt.
Grill for 3 minutes, cut side down, pressing with your tongs to make sure the lettuce gets a good sear. Flip and grill for 2 more minutes.
Remove from grill. Sprinkle with a touch more salt and 4 grinds of fresh black pepper for each half, drizzle with remaining olive oil. Then squeeze fresh lemon juice over each half.
Use a grater to shave LOTS of fresh parmesan on each halve. Or, another great way to serve it is by crumbling blue cheese and bacon over the top. I also like to chop the grilled romaine heads up, then toss with cheater homemade caesar dressing and sourdough croutons or this flavorful Green Goddess Dressing! If you'd like to make it vegan, my 5-Minute Vegan Salad Dressing is so good it's drinkable, and would be an excellent way to finish the grilled lettuce.

Reviews

Lisa Dever on 2025-07-05 (5 stars):
Wow! This knocked our socks off. I brought it to my daughter's house on the 4th and asked her husband to grill these real quick before the burgers. We stood there in the kitchen and scarfed them up! Even the young grands! No dressing needed, it was perfect. Thank you!!
Karon on 2024-05-30 (5 stars):
Perfect and so simple!
Kylie on 2023-07-06 (5 stars):
This is surprisingly delicious. I fully expected this to taste like grilled salad but it was enjoyed by even the staunch salad haters. It has a lovely flavor and texture.
Liz Baldwin on 2023-06-02 (5 stars):
Super easy and delicious! Anyone can make this tasty dish.
Tom Thoren on 2021-09-18 (5 stars):
Thank you the simple but easy trick of slicing the lettuce in half, much easier and better all around. The first time I tried to grill Romaine the recipe kept the lettuce whole - you need to cut it in half