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Simple Rocket and Parmesan Salad
This simple rocket and parmesan salad is proof that side dishes don’t need to be complicated to be memorable. Peppery rocket, salty parmesan, and a light dressing come together to create a salad that pairs beautifully with everything from pasta and risotto to grilled meats and seafood. Fresh, vibrant, and endlessly versatile, it’s the sort of recipe you’ll find yourself making again and again.
Simple Rocket & Parmesan Salad
This Simple Rocket and Parmesan Salad is one of those effortless side dishes that goes with almost everything. Peppery rocket leaves, shaved parmesan, and a light lemon dressing come together in minutes for a salad that's fresh, vibrant, and full of flavour. I serve it with pasta, grilled meats, seafood, and hearty comfort food whenever a meal needs something crisp and refreshing. It's simple, classic, and proof that the best salads don't need a long list of ingredients.
Ingredients
- 60g rocket
- 25g Parmigiano Reggiano, shaved (or any hard Italian cheese such as Pecorino or Grana Padano)
- 1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- Sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add the rocket, shaved Parmigiano Reggiano, and red onion to a salad bowl.
- Drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, season with salt and black pepper, and toss everything together.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- This is one of those salads that proves simplicity wins every time. Four ingredients, a good drizzle of oil and lemon, and you've got something that works alongside almost any meal.
- Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil here. With so few ingredients, every single one needs to earn its place.
- Parmigiano Reggiano is the classic choice, but Pecorino adds a sharper, saltier bite and Grana Padano is a little milder and more budget-friendly. All three work beautifully.
- Shave the cheese with a vegetable peeler for thin, elegant ribbons rather than chunky pieces. It distributes through the salad much more evenly.
- Slice the red onion as thinly as you possibly can. A mandoline makes this effortless, but a sharp knife and a bit of patience works just as well.
- If raw red onion is a bit much for you, soak the slices in cold water for 10 minutes before adding to the salad. It takes the sharpness down significantly without losing the flavour.
- Dress the salad just before serving. Rocket wilts quickly once it hits the oil and lemon, so don't dress it in advance.
- Leftovers don't keep well once dressed. This is a make-and-eat-immediately situation.
- Not suitable for storing or freezing.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 121Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 230mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 4g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
Serve this with
- Serve with my Classic Italian Saffron Risotto for a quick Italian-style dinner. The peppery rocket and salty Parmesan cut through the creamy risotto and keep the meal feeling fresh.
- Pair with grilled steak, chicken or lamb and a tray of roasted potatoes. The salad adds sharpness and crunch without competing with the richer flavours on the plate.
- Add it alongside my Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. The simple lemony dressing balances the bold tomato, olive and caper sauce beautifully.
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The Recipe That Was Hiding in Plain Sight
If you’ve spent any time browsing my Italian recipes, you may have noticed a little section right at the very bottom called “Serving Suggestions”. If you’ve never seen it, that’s perfectly fine. It’s tucked down there for a reason. The recipe is the star of the show, after all. But if you have ventured all the way to the bottom, you’ll probably have noticed one recommendation appearing again and again.
Nestled amongst those suggestions is something called a simple rocket and parmesan salad. It pops up under pasta recipes, risottos, and all sorts of Italian-inspired dishes. The funny thing is, despite recommending it countless times, I never actually shared the recipe itself. It simply existed as an idea. A little side note. A casual suggestion without a proper home of its own.
Well, that changes today. This is the salad I’ve been referring to all along. The simple rocket and parmesan salad that quietly accompanies so many meals in my kitchen. It’s incredibly easy to make, wonderfully versatile, and somehow never felt important enough to warrant its own post. Clearly I was wrong, because it absolutely deserves one.
A Salad for Every Season
To be honest, this salad functions a little like a palate cleanser. Rich pasta dishes, creamy risottos, buttery garlic bread, and slow-cooked sauces all benefit from having something fresh and peppery alongside them. The rocket cuts through heavier flavours beautifully, while the parmesan adds just enough richness to stop the salad feeling like an afterthought.
It’s probably not the sort of recipe you’d expect me to be sharing in the middle of winter. Then again, if you’ve read my recent Caprese salad post, you’ll already know that winter in Brisbane barely qualifies as winter. It’s almost July as I write this, and we still haven’t had a day cooler than twenty degrees. The evenings might dip down to nine degrees, which Brisbane residents seem to consider an arctic event, but the days remain warm and sunny.
That said, I do miss Adelaide winters. And Scottish winters too, although perhaps not quite as enthusiastically. Mostly I miss having an excuse to wear coats. I own far too many beautiful coats for someone currently living in a city where they’re largely decorative. Every now and then I open the wardrobe, look at them hanging there untouched, and feel slightly cheated by the weather.
So… I Went on a Date
A week ago I went on a date, and last night we had our second. He’s sweet, he’s funny, very handsome, and on Monday I’m cooking for him, which, if you know me at all, is a fairly significant milestone. Cooking has always been one of the ways I show people I care about them, so inviting someone into my kitchen feels like inviting them into my little world. It’s also worth noting that he’s the first man in many years to make it to a third date. In fact, the first since my best friend, who also happens to be my ex-boyfriend from Adelaide.
I’ve already warned him that dinner comes with a slight catch. Before either of us gets to eat, I’ll need to photograph the Chorizo Chilli Pasta Bake for the blog. Thankfully, he seems entirely unfazed by the reality of dating a food blogger. There will almost certainly be moments where he’s asked to wait while I move a fork three millimetres to the left or chase the last bit of natural light around the dining room. Fortunately, he seems to find the whole thing quite amusing.
Today’s lunch, though, was every bit as lovely as I’d hoped. This simple rocket and parmesan salad sat alongside a generous scoop of my saffron risotto and a beautifully cooked medium-rare steak, finished with a melting slice of my homemade steak butter. Honestly, it was pure heaven. Sometimes the simplest meals really are the best, especially when they’re shared with someone who makes you laugh.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a different cheese? Yes. Parmigiano Reggiano is the classic choice but Pecorino works beautifully if you want something sharper and saltier, and Grana Padano is a slightly milder, more budget-friendly option. All three are hard Italian cheeses that shave well and suit the peppery bitterness of rocket. Just avoid anything soft or crumbly, which won’t distribute through the salad properly.
Can I make this ahead? No. Rocket wilts almost immediately once it hits the oil and lemon juice, so this is a dress-and-serve-immediately situation. You can prep the ingredients in advance and keep them separate in the fridge, but don’t dress it until the moment it’s going on the table.
The raw red onion is too sharp. What can I do? Soak the sliced onion in cold water for ten minutes before adding it to the salad. It takes the aggressive sharpness down significantly without losing the flavour or the crunch, and the onion will still do its job of adding a little bite to the finished salad.
Ingredient breakdown
Rocket
The base of the salad and the ingredient that gives it its character. Rocket has a peppery, slightly bitter flavour that works particularly well against the richness of the olive oil and the saltiness of the Parmigiano Reggiano. It’s also sturdy enough to hold its shape when tossed but wilts quickly once dressed, which is why you dress it immediately before serving rather than in advance.
Parmigiano Reggiano
Shaved rather than grated, which gives you thin, delicate ribbons that distribute through the salad and melt slightly from the dressing rather than clumping at the bottom of the bowl. Use a vegetable peeler directly on the block for the best result. Pecorino adds a sharper, saltier bite if that’s what you’re after, and Grana Padano is milder and slightly more budget-friendly. All three work beautifully here.
Red onion
Very thinly sliced, which is the key to raw red onion working in a salad rather than overpowering it. The thinner the slice the more it becomes a background flavour and textural element rather than something you bite into and notice. A mandoline makes this effortless but a sharp knife and patience works just as well. If raw onion is a bit much, soak the slices in cold water for ten minutes first.
Extra virgin olive oil
The dressing base and one of only two dressing ingredients, which means the quality of the oil is directly reflected in the finished salad. Use your best bottle here because it’s going on raw and there is nothing else to hide behind. It adds richness and fruitiness that ties the peppery rocket, salty cheese, and sharp onion together into something cohesive.
Lemon juice
The acid component of the dressing, adding a clean brightness that lifts the whole salad and balances the richness of the oil and cheese. Fresh lemon juice only. Just enough to make everything taste vibrant without making the salad taste distinctly lemony.
Salt and black pepper
Added just before tossing and adjusted to taste. The Parmigiano Reggiano brings its own saltiness so go easy initially and taste before adding more. Black pepper works particularly well with rocket’s natural bitterness and is worth being generous with.
