How to Make the TikTok Green Goddess Salad… Which Is Basically a Chunky Dip

It may be surprising at first to hear that a salad was going viral on TikTok… but when you realize that said salad is actually a chunky, creamy dip — that’s vegan, filled with nutritious ingredients, and Lizzo-approved — it all starts to make sense.

TikTok’s famous Green Goddess Salad was created by Melissa Ben-Ishay, founder of Baked by Melissa, a New York City-based bakery chain that sells miniature cupcakes.

Her original TikTok showcasing the salad, posted in September 2021, went viral, and currently has 19.2 million views and 1.3 million likes. And in January, she even went on The TODAY Show to make it for a live audience.

Music powerhouse and vegan queen Lizzo recently made the salad, and she shared the process in a TikTok of her own. To celebrate, the Baked by Melissa team was kind enough to share the recipe with Green Matters.

Lizzo has been vegan since the spring of 2020, and ever since the beginning of her plant-based journey, the Grammy Award-winning singer has been sharing her adventures in food with her TikTok followers. She’s posted videos of herself making recipes including the famous Nature’s Cereal, her very own Brussels Nachos, a Vegan Spicy McChicken, and so much more.

And in January 2022, Lizzo gave in and made Baked by Melissa’s Green Goddess Salad. “I’ve been haunted by this salad, and now I’m finally, finally, finally doing it,” Lizzo says in the beginning of her TikTok.

She then gets started putting the salad together, substituting lime juice for lemon juice, and adding a bit of water to the dressing to loosen it up a bit. After taking a bite at the end of the video, her eyes widen in delight — presumably meaning she’s a fan.

Melissa Ben-Ishay duetted Lizzo’s video, beaming with pride and joy the entire time, mouthing that she is a huge fan of the musician.

You’ll need:

For the salad base:

• 1 small head green cabbage (or iceberg lettuce), finely diced

• 3-4 cucumbers, finely diced

• 1/4 cup chives, finely diced

For the Green Goddess dressing:

• Juice of 2 lemons

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 small shallot

• 1/3 cup chives (optional)

• 1/4 cup walnuts, cashews, or nut of choice

• 1 cup fresh torn basil leaves

• 1 cup fresh spinach

• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

Recipe:

• Combine your finely diced cabbage, cucumbers, and chives in a large bowl.

• Add all dressing ingredients to a blender, and blend until you have a smooth dressing.

• Pour dressing over salad and mix well.

• Serve your salad with chips (Ben-Ishay uses blue tortilla chips), and enjoy by dipping the chips into the salad.

Though Ben-Ishay is not vegan, many of the recipes she shares on her TikTok are vegan. The same goes for Baked by Melissa, which has several vegan cupcakes on the menu.