The Green Jacket Salad is a well-known salad served in Augusta at the Augusta Georgia’s Grand Golf Course. This salad with crisp lettuce, toasted pita chips, and tangy vinaigrette salad dressing is a combination you will want again and again. Make this salad and dressing in minutes.
Nothing beats a freshly made salad when combined with a homemade salad dressing, you have a match made in heaven. This is a wonderful light salad that was once served by the famed Green Jacket restaurant across from Augusta Georgia’s Grand Golf Course (cannot mention the name).
The restaurant is now closed and this recipe is always in high demand. With so many people who visit from out of town the first week in April during the tournament, I am sure there are those out there that have tried this salad, loved it and would like to have the recipe.
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Green Jacket Salad and Dressing – what makes this so special?
The salad is unique, and I feel it is because it has a tangy salad dressing. Many salad dressings are often sweet, but I think the combination of green onions, tomatoes, and red wine vinegar really sets a unique base for this salad dressing. The crispy and crunchy pita chips that top this salad really adds a nice touch.
How to make this tangy vinaigrette.
If you have never made a homemade salad dressing, you will find it so easy you will wonder why you have not made one previously. Want to eliminate preservatives, artificial ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce? Make homemade salad dressing. This salad dressing contains:
- green onions
- chopped tomatoes
- seasoned salt
- oregano
- fresh parsley
- MSG
You will simply whisk all of these ingredients together in a small bowl, and this salad dressing is ready immediately!
Enjoy this well-known classic Green Jacket Salad and Dressing recipe today!
Green Jacket Salad and Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil you can use olive oil
- 1 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
- 2 teaspoons seasoned salt
- 2 teaspoons accent
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 cup green onions
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh parsley
- 1 chopped tomato
- Pita Bread Croutons (Plain)
- 1/2 head of lettuce
Instructions
Salad Dressing
- In a bowl combine the vegetable oil, red wine vinegar, seasoned salt, Accent, and oregano. Mix the dressing together well. Mix in green onions and parsley to the salad dressing.
- Shred the lettuce and place into a serving bowl. Add chopped tomatoes on top of the lettuce.
- After you chop the tomatoes "squish" them in your hands so as to get the juice of the tomato out into the mixture, then put pulp and juice into the bowl.
Croutons Preparation
- To make croutons, separate pita bread, tear into small pieces and brown slightly in the oven until bread is crisp. Do this just before serving so that they will be warm when serving.
- Drizzle salad dressing on top of the lettuce and tomatoes. Top with croutons and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Try your hands at more homemade salad dressings
Simon and Seafort’s Salad with Mustard Dressing
Woodies and Luigetta’s Salad Dressing
Brown Derby Special French Dressing
King Cole Restaurant French Dressing
Sandi Meesseman
For all of you folks who worked at Eejay’s in Aiken, SC – does anyone have the recipe for their pecan-crusted chicken with warm raspberry sauce?
jan71067
used to love going to the Green Jacket when I was a child with my parents…getting to dress up, the dark room, the salad bar!! we would alternate every weekend with it and the Town Tavern. Miss both of them!!
Getalife
And it’s still terrible just like your town. Evolve people…
Belinda Glisson
Kat3458 is absolutely right, my dad was Ben Reese, aka Mr Ben of the Green Jacket and he came up with the recipe. Regular oil not olive and hold the cucumbers if you want it authentic.
Belinda Glisson
Except my dad used lowery’s instead of accent when he made it.
Tanya
You are right, my dad was over the green jacket and I worked there for years and I was confused when I saw cucumbers and olive oil,lol I make this every week and pop ask me how to make it but I won’t tell!
Tanya
I just told my mom about this and she knows your dad, my dad was Cary Neely
Kat3458
As a employee at this restaurant back in my younger days, I WAS one of the “infamous GJ salad preparers”, so I DO KNOW the recipe.. First of all I not only prepared the salad as it was ordered for ‘freshness’, but I can ascertain that IT WAS ACCENT used in the salad.. We were told that this was a ‘secret recipe’ and for yearsssssssssss, I held my tongue until now. We DID NOT use olive oil, we used REGULAR OIL and you got the wine vinegar correct. But for one (1) salad, you use a industrial size spoon, waaay larger than a table spoon. I would say one of those large spoons you use to mix large pots of soups or a large serving spoon. You use one large spoon of regular oil and half of that spoon with the vinegar. Poor both in large bowl, add one (1) slice of a sliced tomatoe , cut tomatoe up, then squoosh with back of fork. Mix that up, then you add a teaspoon of seasoning salt (measured) and 1/2 teaspoon of Accent, stir.. Then you add a heaping teaspoon of oregano and mix all those ingredients well. Thennnnnnnn, you add your fresh cut up lettuce, and to measure the lettuce, you just place the lettuce in the bowl your are going to eat the salad from and make sure it’s a small heaping, then to that, you add 2 tablespoons of green onions and fresh parsley, washed, chopped and drained. And the baked pita chips are thrown in last, toss generously and serve, thennnnnnnn you sprinkle the top of salad with GRATED PARMESAN cheese :-).. Y’all forgot the cheese and you do not add cucumber.. NEVER DID WE ADD CUCUMBER to the ORIGINAL RECIPE!! Nor did we EVER use olive oil, but for those who care to use a substitute, by all means go for it, but this IS the ORIGINAL recipe that was served up at the INFAMOUS GREEN JACKET RESTAURANT that once stood directly across the street from the Augusta National Golf Club. I don’t know why they closed this restaurant down, but I do know the corporate office was out of Florida.. We also had a ‘smaller version’ of the restaurant in Daniel Village. And EJ’s that was mentioned in one of the above comments, was owned by the same folks. Do not know if that place is still open, and I have still yet to try out Rae’s Coastal Cafe, but now I find it a ‘MUST’, JUST to see how their version of the salad tastes.. Bon’a petite’!!!
Belinda Glisson
You are absolutely right. My dad was Mr Ben, did you work with him?
Kathleen Pratt Cox
What year (s) did he work there, Belinda Glisson? I was one of the First Salad bar attendee hired when they first opened and I was 15 at the time and my mother was one of the Hostesses.. Btw, I am kat3458.. Can’t remember how I signed in under that name 3 yrs ago.. Lol
Barflypress
From an original “Green Jacket Girl” for 14 years the GJ salad does not have cucumbers, you do not dhill the dressing, the lettuce is the LAST ingredient to put into the salad, and the dressin g has NEVER been chilled. Otherwise..you’re pretty close give or take a tbsp or two
Chuck Baker
Hint: For best results, mix everything but the lettuce and pita chips in the serving bowl. Then add the lettuce and “fold” the dressing up into it. This keeps the lettuce healthy. Pouring the mixture on the lettuce makes it more limp.
Valerie
Don’t leave out the toasted Pita croutons, they make the salad. I live in Augusta and also miss the Green Jacket. Another Augusta area restaurant that has an excellent version of this is EJ’s in Aiken, SC.
BethB
This is a fabulous salad – one that MUST be tried! I live in North Augusta and trust me, the Green Jacket Salad is one that you’ll want everytime you think salad! By the way – I really miss the Green Jacket Restaurant – it was fabulous. If anyone comes to Augusta for the tournament they can get this salad at Rae’s Coastal Cafe in Augusta (our favorite restaurant since the Green Jacket closed).
NancyC
Beth, I live in Augusta and I really miss the Green Jacket Restaurant. I’m looking forward to getting that salad at Rae’s when we have our office Christmas dinner there in December. Sad we lost the restaurant but now even the building is gone!
Tmiller
This calls for “accent” What is that please?
Stephanie
It is a brand for MSG. MSG is monosodiumglutamate, it is a flavor enhancer you can purchase at your grocery store.
Gwynneth
It’s wrong. Accent is a type of seasoning salt, but it’s not the type used in the salad. I’ve been sworn to secrecy, but it’s an entirely different seasoning salt blend used in the salad. Here’s a hint- think of who owns the restaurant… & what other restaurants they own.
Barflypress
Dear Gwyneth…SWORN TO SECRECY is why no one has duplicated this salad. however, i make it 3to 4 times a week. yum yum myself, am sworn to secrecy you have no idea what closing the GJ did to a very close crew ran by mr Don Criswell. OOut turnover was nill to none. myself, 14 years.
A very sad end to a wonderful thing
Jana
Shoney’s Seasoning Salt! 🙂
Shelby
Kat said she worked there and accent was used. You say you worked there and it wasn’t used. I do not remember Parmesan cheese being used. But I’ve made it with olive oil, red wine vinegar, accent, oregano, seasoning salt. I took the tomatoes and smashed them to get juice and mixed it with oil and red wine vinegar with the seasonings. This is oretty darn good too. Once the I toasted the pita bread I served these warm with the rest ingredients. I thought onion was sliced in it. It’s been so long since I’ve made it.